Until last week, I knew Barbara Stanwyck from two places: the film Double Indemnity and the tv show The Big Valley. I never actually watched the tv show but I remember the commercials for it when I was a kid. Double Indemnity, I love, of course. This week, I was introduced to a new side of Ms. Stanwyck and I have to say, I'm even more in love with her than I was before.
Stella Dallas is the tale of a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who calculatedly marries into money and high society but whose inherent tackiness and low-class ways hold her back. Eventually, when she sees that she is the stumbling block for her beautiful, refined daughter, Laurel, she chooses to remove herself from the picture so her daughter can have the success and prosperity she deserves. She gives custody of Laurel to her ex-husband who remarried a high society woman. The final scene is of Stella standing in the rain, watching through a window as Laurel marries the scion of some blue blood family. She's rain-soaked and alone but she walks away from the window with a triumphant smile on her face because her daughter has found happiness in the world she always belonged in.
It's classic Hollywood melodrama but, for all its obvious conventions, it's very good and very affecting. The scene toward the end where Stella is explaining to her ex-husband's new wife why she wants to give Laurel away is touching and sad. I don't get choked up for much in movies but it gave me a little lump in my throat as Stella explained in her low-class slang her hopes for her daughter.
Anyway, I highly recommend it. In fact, watch it and Double Indemnity in the same weekend to see the acting range Barbara Stanwyck had. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
4 comments:
I've never seen the original "Stella Dallas" but I've seen the remake with Bette Midler. I'm sure it doesn't live up to the original; remakes seldom do. However, it chokes me up every time I watch it.
I listened to the radio show version of "Stella Dallas" a couple of times in the past month and even on radio the scenes are touching. I enjoyed it.
Barbara had "it", didn't she ?
Poor Stella ! "She was a "gal" in the day, and got all the parts that Bette Davis turned down.
Where are you hearing her, Laurie ?
I have a satellite XM radio on my night stand for those times I can't sleep and we also transfer it to the car when we travel. Its been so enjoyable on our trips to Michigan. It has a wonderful old time radio show station that is on 24-7 but it is not always drama like Stella. It's a variety from Jack Benny to the Lone Ranger, Mystery Theatre to Alfred Hitchcock. They also have so many other stations NEWS, sports, politics, talk, religion. I even get a Detroit traffic station to know which roads to avoid there while I'm on my way out the door to drive the 2 blocks to the grocery store here! It's fun and a life saver in the middle of the night when TV is even more of a wasteland.
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