One of the worst things about TCM is their all day marathons devoted to a certain star or director that cause you to tape all of the films on your DVR, and then they sit there without your having enough time to see them all.
A few weeks back, they had a George Stevens marathon. I recorded most of the films and have been going through them. Unfortunately, I needed extra space so had begun to quickly go through some, seeing if they were worth saving, and deleting those that weren’t.
One of the films I had recorded was the 1939 film VIVACIOUS LADY.
After watching part of it, this was not deleted.
James Stewart plays a straight laced Associate College Professor. He meets a nightclub singer (Ginger Rogers) while in New York City. The two quickly get married and he brings her home to meet his family (his father is played by the great character actor Charles Coburn). But, then he chickens out and can’t bring himself to tell his family he married a nightclub singer.
Ginger Rogers is just amazing in this film. Best known for her dancing with Fred Astaire, this is more of a straight comedy. She is as good a comic actress as she is a dancer. After watching it, I'm definitely going to be watching more of her work.
Sadly, the film isn’t on DVD. But this scene, one of the funniest in the film, is on Youtube.
To set up the clip, Jimmy Stewart is at home and ready to finally introduce Ginger to his family. He goes to get his father. Meanwhile, another woman (Frances Mercer) goes to confront Ginger about her hanging around Jimmy Stewart.
Of the many moments I love here, after she is first slapped, how she blows her veil away. And of course, her laugh (“Ha ha ha”) when Jimmy Stewart catches her.
Released by RKO, it looks like it was never even released on VHS in the US. You can find bootlegs on Ebay. Why it hasn't been released, I have no idea.
Great film.
3 comments:
I totally agree; this is one film that should be released on DVD. I have a feeling it will come out sooner or later. I dig that poster!
My mother was a big Ginger Rogers fan, so we had this taped off of AMC, when AMC actually used to show old movies.
If you have a DVD player that can handle Region 2 disks in the PAL format, there is a French DVD release. The French subtitles are removable (the French phrase for "without subtitles" is "sans sous-titres"). The only extra is a 2 or 3 minute introduction by a French critic or film historian, and that's in French with no subtitles. It retails for about 10 euros (plus shipping).
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