Miss Barbara Stanwyck

[ClassyCo]

If you have done any following of me here, you probably know that I've never been a big Barbara Stanwyck fan. It's not that I don't like her, think she was a bad actress, or anything like that. She's just never "clicked" with me, and I've never gravitated towards her like I have Davis, Crawford, Hepburn, and her other contemporaries.

I've seen relatively little of Stanwyck's work as an actress, especially in comparison to her body of work and what I've seen from other women of the same time period. I remember buying CLASH BY NIGHT (1952) many years ago when I first got into old movies. The reason I bought that movie was for Marilyn Monroe's small role, not because of Stanwyck. I've also got two copies of TITANIC (1953) on DVD and Blu-ray. I've always had a fascination with the RMS Titanic and its sinking, so the purchase of that movie was for the boat and not Stanwyck. Over the years, I've managed to catch pieces of THE LADY EVE and BALL OF FIRE, but maybe I went into them with the wrong lens.

Naturally, I've seen Miss Barbara Stanwyck (as she was billed) on THE BIG VALLEY, which my grandfather has watched endlessly in reruns for the past thirty years. Being a soap opera fan, I've also seen her turn as Constance Colby on THE COLBYS in the mid-eighties.

Here's what I want: Give me some movies I need to watch starring Barbara Stanwyck. What are some "go to" movies within her filmography that I need to watch to appreciate her better.
​

​

 

[rayray]

Definitely see younger Barbara Stanwyck in Baby Face and Night Nurse, two pre-Code classics that show how tough, sassy and FUN Barbara Stanwyck movies could be. See Double Indemnity for a classic Stanwyck performance as well, and see what you think.

 

[ClassyCo]

I just added the following Barbara Stanwyck movies to my Amazon birthday wish list:
​

1) DOUBLE INDEMNITY​

2) BALL OF FIRE​

3) TCM: BARBARA STANWYCK​

A) BABY FACE​

B) ANNIE OAKLEY​

C) EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE​

D) MY REPUTATION​

4) THE BARBARA STANWYCK COLLECTION​

A) INTERNES CAN'T TAKE MONEY​

B) THE GREAT MAN'S LADY​

C) THE BRIDE WORE BOOTS​

D) THE LADY GAMBLES​

E) ALL I DESIRE​

F) THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW​

​

Does this seem like a good place to start? (That's if I actually get any of these movies for my birthday.)​

 

[Crimson]

I think you may need to be ready for the possibly that you'll never like Stanwyck. Not every performer 'clicks' with every viewer. As I've mentioned, I'm fairly indifferent to Bette Davis. I think THE LADY EVE and BALL OF FIRE were among Stanwyck's best. If they didn't grab you, it probably doesn't bode well.

To try to quantify what I like about Stanwyck, she was unusually versatile for actresses of the era. She could do comedy and drama with equal skill; she could carry an A-picture or elevate trash. She could be sexy in way that Davis or Hepburn couldn't, and be funny in a way Crawford and Davis couldn't. I read somewhere the opinion that Stanwyck was never quite as good as Davis was at her best, but never as bad as Davis was at her worst. I've never seen anything close to a bad performance from Stanwyck, except maybe some clips of THE COLBYS but she was elderly at that point; on the other hand, her work in the THE THORN BIRDS, just a few years earlier, is some of the best screen acting I've seen.

Her peak ran in parallel with Davis from the late '30s to the very early 50s, and I think her oeuvre during this period is just as good (if perhaps lacking in some of Davis' "prestige"):

STELLA DALLAS
THE MAD MISS MANTON
THE LADY EVE
MEET JOHN DOE
BALL OF FIRE
DOUBLE INDEMNITY
THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER
THE FILE ON THELMA JORDAN

 

[ClassyCo]

I think you may need to be ready for the possibly that you'll never like Stanwyck. Not every performer 'clicks' with every viewer. As I've mentioned, I'm fairly indifferent to Bette Davis. I think THE LADY EVE and BALL OF FIRE were among Stanwyck's best. If they didn't grab you, it probably doesn't bode well.

To try to quantify what I like about Stanwyck, she was unusually versatile for actresses of the era. She could do comedy and drama with equal skill; she could carry an A-picture or elevate trash. She could be sexy in way that Davis or Hepburn couldn't, and be funny in a way Crawford and Davis couldn't. I read somewhere the opinion that Stanwyck was never quite as good as Davis was at her best, but never as bad as Davis was at her worst. I've never seen anything close to a bad performance from Stanwyck, except maybe some clips of THE COLBYS but she was elderly at that point; on the other hand, her work in the THE THORN BIRDS, just a few years earlier, is some of the best screen acting I've seen.

Her peak ran in parallel with Davis from the late '30s to the very early 50s, and I think her oeuvre during this period is just as good (if perhaps lacking in some of Davis' "prestige"):

STELLA DALLAS
THE MAD MISS MANTON
THE LADY EVE
MEET JOHN DOE
BALL OF FIRE
DOUBLE INDEMNITY
THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER
THE FILE ON THELMA JORDAN

You the face of it, you're right: I may never like Barbara Stanwyck. I may never care for her movies. But I do think I've been indifferent towards her in the wrong way. I don't think I've given her a fair chance (more recently anyway) and I want to give some of her movies another shot.

The most I've seen of her is THE COLBYS, and I know that isn't Stanwyck in her prime. I've also got THE THORN BIRDS on DVD (but it's tucked away somewhere), and I plan to watch it one day soon.

The movies you mentioned are the ones I typically hear about when someone mentions Stanwyck, especially STELLA DALLAS and SORRY, WRONG NUMBER.​

 

[ClassyCo]

I want THE NIGHT WALKER for my birthday this year as well. Have you seen that movie, @Crimson ? What's your thoughts?

​

 

[Crimson]

I think you'll need @Snarky Oracle to weigh in on THE NIGHT WALKER. I've never seen it, although it's in my collection. Despite my previous claim that Stanwyck could elevate trash, I suspect even she couldn't make a William Castle film credible.

 

[Willie Oleson]

She's just never "clicked" with me

Sometimes that click is in very little or unexpected things. Personally speaking, I'm very much about voices and I love Barbara's voice. Then there's the feeling (and it's nothing more than that) that she usually keeps a little bit to herself, and at the same time not afraid to trash it out, as it were.
I think she's a good actress but there's a B-movie quality about her that really works for me. It makes the good performances look better, and the worst performances, well, forgivable.
She was not a beauty in the traditional sense of the word and yet she could play it as if she was the sexiest woman on earth. There's just something naturally ballsy about her that appeals to me.

And of course I think that BABY JANE should have been played by Barbara Stanwyck and Jane Wyman

 

[Crimson]

I think she's a good actress but there's a B-movie quality about her that really works for me.

There's something wonderfully disreputable about Stanwyck (and Crawford). I could imagine Barbara and Joan swapping some roles, but I can't imagine Barbara in the kind of prestige pictures Kate and Bette made. She wasn't suited to swoony romances or elegant costume pictures; she belonged in the gutsier and more sordid genres like melodramas and thrillers. Even when she ventured into the more genteel screwball comedies, she played a con artist or a stripper.

And of course I think that BABY JANE should have been played by Barbara Stanwyck and Jane Wyman

I was with you right until the very end!

 

[ClassyCo]

Sometimes that click is in very little or unexpected things. Personally speaking, I'm very much about voices and I love Barbara's voice. Then there's the feeling (and it's nothing more than that) that she usually keeps a little bit to herself, and at the same time not afraid to trash it out, as it were.
I think she's a good actress but there's a B-movie quality about her that really works for me. It makes the good performances look better, and the worst performances, well, forgivable.
She was not a beauty in the traditional sense of the word and yet she could play it as if she was the sexiest woman on earth. There's just something naturally ballsy about her that appeals to me.

I can jive with almost all of what you've said here. Even I can admit that Stanwyck's voice is intriguing and instantly recognizable. She was not the traditional, but neither was Davis or Hepburn, but they were two attractive women as well.​

And of course I think that BABY JANE should have been played by Barbara Stanwyck and Jane Wyman

And just like Crimson, you had me buying what you were typing right up until the very end.

It is inconceivable for me to see anyone in WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? besides Davis and Crawford. They melted the screen together in that film. Those two ladies were the perfect choice for those roles. I wouldn't trade them in for anyone.

At the same time, I'd admit that it would've been nice to see Stanwyck dive into the Grande Dame Guignol a little more, and it would've been interesting to see what Jane Wyman could've done with the trend.​

 

[Crimson]

I read the novel version of BABY JANE a few years back; I went into it with a clear slate, to see if my mind would "cast" any actresses other than Davis & Crawford. Even trying to force myself to see other ladies in the roles, I couldn't. I re-cast movies in my head all the time, even those others consider iconic and sacrosanct. I tried slotting Stanwyck in as both Blanche and Jane; nope, didn't work for me. I concluded the author had Davis & Crawford in mind when he wrote the book. (I have no idea if he actually did.)

 

[ClassyCo]

I read the novel version of BABY JANE a few years back; I went into it with a clear slate, to see if my mind would "cast" any actresses other than Davis & Crawford. Even trying to force myself to see other ladies in the roles, I couldn't. I re-cast movies in my head all the time, even those others consider iconic and sacrosanct. I tried slotting Stanwyck in as both Blanche and Jane; nope, didn't work for me. I concluded the author had Davis & Crawford in mind when he wrote the book. (I have no idea if he actually did.)

I'm with you there -- no re-cast could work for that film. I'm not big on doing re-casts in my head, but I've been known to do it. I was under the mistaken belief from another thread that Ida Lupino was once considered for Blanche, and I found that unthinkable. Davis and Crawford were meant for those roles.

I'm unsure if Henry Farrell thought about Davis and Crawford for Jane and Blanche when he was writing it or not, but it would appear that way. It certainly wouldn't shock me if I ever found that to be true. I tried to skim through Wikipedia to see if I found anything justifying that theory. But I didn't.

Interestingly, I did find that he co-wrote HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE and WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN? (1971), which starred Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters.​

 

[Angela Channing]

Watch The Thorn Birds, Barbara Stanwyck was so good in that. She tried to seduce a young Richard Chamberlain who played a priest. She had a great scene when she told him to "kiss me on the lips like we were lovers" and another one when he was drying off after being caught in a rain storm and she runs her hands over his naked body. She was kind of creepy, kind of sad, kind of desperate at the same time and her performance was first class and deservingly won an Emmy for her performance.

 

[ClassyCo]

Watch The Thorn Birds, Barbara Stanwyck was so good in that. She tried to seduce a young Richard Chamberlain who played a priest. She had a great scene when she told him to "kiss me on the lips like we were lovers" and another one when he was drying off after being caught in a rain storm and she runs her hands over his naked body. She was so good in that series and deservingly won an Emmy for her performance.

I have a DVD copy of THE THORN BIRDS that I bought from Barnes & Noble a while ago. I've yet to watch it -- it's packed up somewhere.​

 

[Crimson]

Stanwyck is great in THE THORN BIRDS but each time I've watched, I lost interest immediately after her role is done.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I was with you right until the very end!

Modern narrative demands a shocking twist.

I love everything about the Thorn Birds, I think it's a great Australian saga. There's Jean Simmons as the suffering mother and Piper Laurie is always entertaining imo.

 

[ClassyCo]

I've been watching this biography of Stanwyck on YouTube. It's been giving me some insight to her personal and professional lives and it's intriguing me all the way.​

I'm actually watching it right now at work. It's talking about THE GREAT MAN'S LADY, apparently one of her favorites.

 

[ClassyCo]

One thing that I really like about Stanwyck (that I just found out really) was how nice she was to Marilyn Monroe. They worked together on CLASH BY NIGHT in 1952, a noirish melodrama where Stanwyck played a woman who falls for the wrong man, and Monroe the young woman dating her brother (Keith Andes).

As the story goes, Barbara had the utmost patience with Marilyn. All the times that Marilyn showed up, flubbed her lines, and appeared nervous before the cameras, Barbara encouraged her and helped her turn in a fine performance. CLASH BY NIGHT was ultimately groundbreaking for Marilyn; it proved she had more potential than merely being a pin-up girl and bit player, and that's largely owed to Barbara Stanwyck.

Being a big Marilyn Monroe for most of my Old Hollywood infatuation, this was very interesting to learn. I like that Barbara was nice to Marilyn, especially when Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were apparently quite rude to her.
​

​

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I think you'll need @Snarky Oracle to weigh in on THE NIGHT WALKER. I've never seen it, although it's in my collection. Despite my previous claim that Stanwyck could elevate trash, I suspect even she couldn't make a William Castle film credible.

The prologue and musical score are great. But it is a Castle film.

Stanwyck is great in THE THORN BIRDS but each time I've watched, I lost interest immediately after her role is done.

Exactly.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I want THE NIGHT WALKER for my birthday this year as well. Have you seen that movie, @Crimson ? What's your thoughts?

View attachment 27461​

It's recently posted in its entirety on the Hag Horrors thread.