moira finnie wrote:What do you think of as The Essential Glenda Farrell films?
I loved her bit in Johnny Eager (1941) and her rye turn in the noir, I Love Trouble (1948), but I wonder which later roles you enjoyed, and why?
I haven't had a chance to see too much of her television work, but enjoyed her flintier approach to the leading role in the '57 episode of The Marriage Broker on The 20th Century Fox Hour. When this was shown on the Fox Movie Channel some time ago it made me realize that both Glenda & the peerless Thelma Ritter (who played in the movie of The Model & the Marriage Broker in 1951), created characters whose humanity transcended any script. I believe this was a pilot for a tv show. Did Farrell want a series?
Also, have you seen the two part 1963 episode of Ben Casey entitled "A Cardinal Act of Mercy" that earned Glenda Farrell an Emmy. Has this performance held up well and is it worth seeking out?
I have seen her searing portrait of a caustic mother in an Ida Lupino-directed episode of The Fugitive called "Fatso" but wondered what your take on her other tv appearances might be? Are there some well worth a look?
As far as essential films, I just tell people to watch anything she did while at Warner Bros, from LITTLE CAESAR (1931) through the "TORCHY BLANE" series (1939). Each role, no matter how big or small, is worth seeing. There are certain films that stand out: LIFE BEGINS (1932), I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (1932), HAVANA WIDOWS (1933), MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933), Hi, NELLIE! (1934), HEAT LIGHTNING (1934), DARK HAZARD (1934) with Eddie Robinson, WE'RE IN THE MONEY (1935)--and LITTLE BIG SHOT (1935), Warners' answer to LITTLE MISS MARKER, is a lot of fun, and directed by the amazingly eclectic and prolific Michael Curtiz.
JOHNNY EAGER (1941) is a terrific film with a magnificent performance from Van Heflin, and Glenda's scene is very good. And, of course, THE TALK OF THE TOWN (1941) is an essential film, period, and Glenda's scenes with Ronald Colman are worth the price of a DVD.
This may come as a surprise, but I love to watch Glenda in THE DISORDERLY ORDERLY with comic hurricane Jerry Lewis. Glenda is great, Kathleen Freeman is great, plus one of the other actresses I've always been in love with, Susan Oliver, also is in it.
I have seen a lot of Glenda's television work, from her first (live) STUDIO ONE performance (1949) to the BEWITCHED episode. She is good in every single TV show I've ever seen her in. Her role in her RAWHIDE episode is too brief, but she does share a scene with her son, Tommy, in that.
The BEN CASEY episode holds up very well, and Glenda's character is very complex, and she is very moving at several points.
I recommend her WAGON TRAIN episode (in which she plays an eccentric mother), her FRONTIER CIRCUS episode (a single-season WAGON TRAIN-like show, and she is very funny as the mother and leader of a gang of juvenile thieves in this--MY mother LOVES Glenda in this--maybe her favorite of Glenda's later work), the "Fatso" episode of THE FUGITIVE, her ROUTE 66 episode (in which she is moving in just a very brief, single scene), and ABSOLUTELY her BONANZA episode, in which she and the fabulous Dan Blocker make a natural and hysterical comedy TEAM--this is SO MUCH FUN. You can tell both Glenda and Dan had a blast doing it--very essential viewing.
I haven't seen "The Marriage Broker," so I can't comment on that one. But, basically, if you can find any of Glenda's TV work, get it (if it's reasonably priced). Glenda was very versatile, and this is made very evident in the great variety of work she did on television (that period of TV created second careers for so many great film actors, and I will watch any good show from the mid 50s through early 60s just to see all the wonderful actors who came from film, AND all the young actors just starting out who eventually "graduated" to feature films--of course, I could do an entire SSO weekend on Boris Karloff's prolific television career--like Glenda, he loved all the variety available to him, whereas he was just getting offers for the same old horror shtick in feature films--on TV, he even got to sing with Rosemary Clooney and play in drag on THE GIRL FROM UNCLE!
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