Great insights, Miss G. Thanks for your thoughtful remarks.
I see what you mean about Colbert becoming a bit more independent as she learned from Edna May Oliver's example, though I don't feel that is as strongly delineated in the story as it ought to have been. Oliver's outstanding humor and pure courage as Mrs. McKlennar made her far more vivid than Lana for me--but perhaps because of my own limited sympathy for the Colbert character's whining tendencies.
You're right about Nancy Kelly--at least in
The Bad Seed--what a five hankie weeper. Perhaps the front office (meaning Zanuck, of course) did not care for the Blue Back action. I liked him, but wished the character had more of an inner spark of his own. Some of his scenes make me cringe.
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On another Fordian note, did you know that a slew of John Ford and many John Wayne items of equal interest are on the block over at Heritage Auctions this month?
Wayne's bib-front shirt from
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, some
very rare John Ford posters and even a beautifully preserved Fox exhibitor book from the '20s is set to be sold. You can see more
here. Below is a thumbnail glimpse of one part of this advertisement, which you can expand. What amount of effort went into this!:
![Image](http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac140/moirathefinn/th_4005fe06.jpg)