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How to describe THE BLUE VEIL. It seems like a mix of “Goodbye Mr. Chips” and “Good Morning,Miss Dove”. The story of 50 years in the life of Louise Mason (JANE WYMAN) who spends her life looking after other people’s children when she loses her husband in the First World War and then her newborn baby .
She is courted by widower Fred Begley (Charles Laughton) and later by Gerald Kean (Richard Carlson), But she does not marry again.
By the nature of the episodic narrative, we see characters for a short period of time. JOAN BLONDELL is a busy Broadway singer whose teenage daughter NATALIE WOOD turns more and more to Louise for motherly support. It was a nice surprise to see Joan do a number called ‘Daddy’, possibly choreographed by Busby Berkeley. (Though I was surprised to read that Joan was Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actress.)
Charles Laughton, Jane Wyman
Audrey Totter, Jane Wyman.
AUDREY TOTTER plays a young mother during the Second World War who leaves her son in Louise’s charge when she goes back to England with her English husband DAN O’HERLIHY.
”The Blue Veil” has a large cast of well known faces . AGNES MOOREHEAD has another small part , also HARRY MORGAN, WARNER ANDERSON, LES TREMAYNE, DAN SEYMOUR, VIVIAN VANCE, CYRIL CUSACK,EVERETT SLOANE.
Just a pity the script didn’t give all these good performers much to do.
Vienna's Classic Hollywood
Quite a surprise to see Audrey Totter in a film of this type. Not her usual sort of thing at all. Followed a previous piece you did on Audrey featuring the dreaded Skip E. Lowe. He is a candidate for the worst interviewer of all time. Not even a list of the stars films in front of him. If people struggle to remember a title or co star there is no help from Mr Lowe. He has plainly done little or no research as he is constantly corrected by guests for making wrong statements. What a wasted opportunity !
I do so agree about Mr. Lowe. So incompetent. And so frustrating that all the stars weren’t interviewed by skilled and knowledgeable people.