Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan share a “Christmas in Connecticut”

The classic romantic comedy Christmas in Connecticut (1945), directed by Peter Godfrey, centers on Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck), a highly popular magazine columnist known nationwide as the ideal American wife, mother, and homemaker who lives an idyllic life on her Connecticut farm. She pens mouth-watering recipes and writes charming anecdotes about her domestic bliss. However, this entire persona is a complete fraud. Elizabeth is actually a single, childless, city-dwelling career woman who can’t even boil an egg. Her witty columns and gourmet recipes are the work of her editor and a professional chef friend, all kept secret from the public and, crucially, from her stern, demanding publisher, Alexander Yardley (Sidney Greenstreet).

The crisis begins when Yardley insists that Elizabeth host a Christmas dinner at her “farm” for Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan), a handsome, recently rescued war hero whose recovery was aided by reading her columns and dreaming of her meals. Terrified of being exposed and losing her job, Elizabeth, with the help of her friends, frantically arranges a desperate plan to maintain the deception. This involves agreeing to a hasty, non-romantic marriage to her persistent suitor, John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner), who owns a real Connecticut farmhouse, and borrowing a neighbor’s baby to pose as her own.

As Elizabeth, John, the chef, and the “borrowed” baby arrive at the farm, they are immediately thrown into a farcical whirlwind of complications. The unexpected early arrival of the war hero, Jones, and her publisher, Yardley, threatens to unravel the entire charade at every turn. Elizabeth finds herself struggling to perform the simplest domestic tasks while trying to keep her boss and the eager war hero from realizing the truth. As the impostor housewife attempts to navigate a chaotic Christmas weekend, she soon develops a genuine, unexpected connection with her honored guest, which further complicates her desperate and delicate tangle of lies.

 

Peter Godfrey (1899 – 1970) was an English actor and film director who was born in London. He began his career on the stage as a conjurer, clown, and actor, and was the founder of the experimental Gate Theatre Salon in 1925, where he staged London’s first expressionistic production the following year. After directing two British films in the early 1930s, he eventually moved to the United States, arriving in Hollywood around 1939 to establish a career as a film actor and director. Godfrey became a prominent director, working primarily on B-films for Warner Bros. and directing a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, and thriller, with notable credits including the Christmas classic Christmas in Connecticut (1945), Cry Wolf (1947), and The Woman in White (1948). He later switched to directing episodes for television shows in the 1950s and died in Hollywood, California, at the age of 70.

Barbara Stanwyck (1907 – 1990) was an American film star who got her acting start with a supporting role on Broadway in a play called The Noose (1926). The next year she had the lead in another Broadway production, Burlesque, which was a huge hit. She eventually made it to Hollywood, where her success was not immediate. Director Frank Capra saw something in Stanwyck, and he educated her in filmmaking and film acting, and the rest is history. Stanwyck was nominated four times for the Best Actress Oscar—Stella Dallas (1937), Ball of Fire (1941), Double Indemnity (1945), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)—and remains one of the most beloved movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner, 1908–1994) was an American actor and singer, best known as a star for Warner Bros. in the late 1930s through the early 1950s. Morgan began his career using the name Stanley Morner in films like Suzy (1936), and later as Richard Stanley, before adopting the name Dennis Morgan when he signed with Warner Bros. He frequently played the amiable leading man with a pleasant tenor voice in musicals and comedies, often being paired with his friend, actor Jack Carson, in films such as Two Guys from Milwaukee (1946). Among his most notable film roles are his appearances in the classic holiday film Christmas in Connecticut (1945), Kitty Foyle (1940), The Desert Song (1943), and My Wild Irish Rose (1947). After his film career slowed, he transitioned to television, starring in the police series 21 Beacon Street in the late 1950s.

Sydney Greenstreet (1879–1954) was a British and American actor who began his distinguished film career at the late age of 61 after decades as a prominent stage performer in both Britain and America. Best known for his imposing physical presence and portrayal of cunning, often villainous characters, he made his sensational screen debut in The Maltese Falcon (1941) as Kasper Gutman, a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was a memorable fixture in many Warner Bros. films throughout the 1940s, frequently paired with Peter Lorre, and is highly celebrated for his work in classics like Casablanca (1942), where he played club owner Signor Ferrari, and the holiday film Christmas in Connecticut (1945), where he appeared as the blustering publisher Alexander Yardley. Greenstreet's film career spanned only eight years before he retired due to health issues, including diabetes and a kidney disorder.

 

Barbara Stanwyck and S.Z Sakall

Christmas in Connecticut trivia

• The Casting of "Elizabeth Lane": Barbara Stanwyck, who plays the famously terrible cook and fraudulent columnist Elizabeth Lane, was personally selected for the role by director Peter Godfrey because he was one of the few directors who knew that Stanwyck was a highly skilled comedienne, a talent often overlooked in favor of her dramatic roles.
• The Title's Double Meaning: The film's title refers both to the geographical setting of the holiday chaos and to the magazine column written by the fictional Elizabeth Lane. Interestingly, the film was shot entirely on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, and none of the scenes were actually filmed in Connecticut.
• Sydney Greenstreet's Only Comedy Role: The film features Sydney Greenstreet, known for his roles as menacing villains in noirs like The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. His role as the demanding publisher Alexander Yardley in Christmas in Connecticut is one of the few, if not the only, purely comedic roles he played during his short but highly impactful film career.
• A Familiar Farmhouse Setting: The exterior set used for John Sloan's farmhouse—the place where the entire holiday deception takes place—was a standing set on the Warner Bros. ranch. It was reused multiple times for various films and television shows over the years.

 

Click HERE to watch the movie on the Internet Archive.

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Dennis Morgan and Barbara Stanwyck

Discussion questions

1. Identity and Deception: Elizabeth Lane’s entire public persona is a fabrication. Discuss the moral and professional implications of this deception. 
2. The Nature of Love and Marriage: Elizabeth is pressured to marry John Sloan, a man she doesn’t love, simply to maintain her professional lie. How does the film contrast this “marriage of convenience” with the genuine, albeit complicated, connection she develops with Jeff Jones? What does the story ultimately suggest about finding true love?
3. The Role of Setting: The film satirizes the idea of the “ideal” Connecticut Christmas. How essential is the farm setting to the comedy and the plot's conflicts? What does the film say about the difference between the romanticized image of domesticity (as described in Elizabeth’s columns) and the reality of an ordinary household?
4. The Comedic Use of Authority: Publisher Alexander Yardley serves as the primary obstacle and source of conflict for Elizabeth. Analyze the effectiveness of Sydney Greenstreet’s performance in this role. How does the film use Yardley's strict, overbearing authority—and Elizabeth’s fear of it—to drive the farcical action?

William Powell and Myrna Loy search for “The Thin Man” one martini at a time!

Based on the classic Dashiell Hammett novel, The Thin Man (1934), directed by W.S. Van Dyke, introduces audiences to Nick and Nora Charles, cinema’s most sophisticated and spirited detective duo. Nick Charles (William Powell) is a former ace detective who has happily traded his badge for a life of leisure, managing his wife’s fortune and consuming a steady stream of martinis. His retirement is interrupted during a Christmas visit to New York City when the daughter of an eccentric, missing inventor—Clyde Wynant, the titular "Thin Man"—pleads with Nick to locate her father before his impending daughter’s wedding.

Despite Nick’s insistence that he is strictly retired, his curiosity is piqued when Wynant’s secretary is found murdered, and the police, led by Lieutenant Guild, name the missing inventor as the prime suspect. Encouraged by his wealthy and adventurous wife Nora (Myrna Loy)—who views the investigation as a thrilling diversion from their social calendar—and accompanied by their wire-haired fox terrier, Asta, Nick reluctantly steps back into the underworld. The couple navigates a labyrinth of suspects that includes shady nightclub owners, deceitful family members, and local gangsters, all while maintaining a relentless flow of witty banter.

The film distinguishes itself not just through its intricate whodunit plot but through the electrifying chemistry between Powell and Loy, who blend screwball comedy with the murder mystery genre.

 

Woodbridge Strong “W.S.” Van Dyke II (1889–1943), affectionately known in Hollywood as “One-Take Woody” for his legendary efficiency and speed, was a versatile and prolific American director who became one of MGM’s most reliable hit-makers during the 1930s. Born in San Diego and raised in the vaudeville tradition, Van Dyke honed his craft as an assistant to D.W. Griffith before successfully transitioning to sound films, where his loose, improvisational style coaxed natural performances from actors and helped propel stars like William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Johnny Weissmuller to fame. His directorial portfolio was incredibly diverse, ranging from the jungle adventure Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) and the disaster epic San Francisco (1936) to the sophisticated screwball mystery The Thin Man (1934), the latter two earning him Academy Award nominations for Best Director. Despite his shortened life—he committed suicide at age 53 while battling cancer and heart disease—Van Dyke left an indelible mark on the Golden Age of Hollywood as a craftsman who prioritized entertainment, pace, and spontaneity over meticulous perfectionism.

William Powell (1892 – 1984) was an American actor who was most famous for the Thin Man series, in which he costarred with Myrna Loy. Loy and Powell made 14 films together. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life With Father (1947). Powell was under contract to Paramount, Warner Bros., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he had his greatest success. Some of Powell’s popular films include Manhattan Melodrama (1934), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Libeled Lady (1936), The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1937), Love Crazy (1941), Life with Father (1947), The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947), Dancing in the Dark (1949), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and Mister Roberts (1955).

Myrna Loy (1905 - 1993) was an American film, television, and stage actress. Loy was a trained dancer but decided to concentrate on acting, appearing in silent films before becoming a major star with the advent of sound. Perhaps Loy is most famous for playing Nora Charles opposite William Powell in The Thin Man (1934) and its subsequent sequels. Loy and Powell were one of the screen’s most popular acting teams; they appeared in 14 films together. Loy starred opposite the top leading men of the day, including Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Tyrone Power, and Cary Grant. Some of her films include Wife vs. Secretary (1936), Libeled Lady (1936), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Test Pilot (1938), Too Hot to Handle (1938), The Rains Came (1939), Love Crazy  (1941), The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

 

The Thin Man trivia

1. The Title is a Misnomer

The most famous piece of trivia concerning the film is that Nick Charles (William Powell) is not the “Thin Man.”

• The title actually refers to the murder victim, Clyde Wynant (played by Edward Ellis), who is described as a “thin man” with white hair.
• However, because the film was such a massive hit, the studio (MGM) branded the sequels with the same name (After the Thin Man, Another Thin Man, etc.). Audiences eventually just assumed the nickname referred to the slender William Powell.

2. The Studio Didn't Want the Stars

It is hard to imagine anyone else in the roles now, but MGM executives originally fought against casting both leads:

• William Powell was considered too old and "stiff" to play a lighthearted comedic lead. He had mostly played villains and straight-laced detectives in silent films.
• Myrna Loy was typecast as an "exotic femme fatale" (often playing Asian or vamp characters) and was not seen as "wife material."
• Director W.S. Van Dyke fought for them after seeing their chemistry in a previous film, Manhattan Melodrama. He allegedly proved Loy could play the role by pushing her into a swimming pool at a party to test her reaction—she handled it with grace and humor, convincing him she was Nora.

3. Filmed in Record Time

True to his nickname, W.S. "One-Take Woody" Van Dyke shot the entire movie in roughly 12 to 16 days.

• MGM viewed the project as a "B-picture" (a low-budget filler movie) and gave it a budget of roughly $230,000.
• Van Dyke encouraged improvisation and spontaneity to keep things moving. This loose shooting style is largely credited for the natural, overlapping dialogue that makes the film feel modern even today.

 

4. Asta Earned More Than the Actors (Sort of)

The dog, a Wire Fox Terrier named Skippy, was a major star in his own right.

• Because he was highly trained (he also starred in Bringing Up Baby and The Awful Truth), Skippy earned $250 per week.
• While this wasn't more than the lead stars, it was significantly more than many human background actors and set hands were making during the Depression.
• Trivia Twist: In Dashiell Hammett's original novel, Asta was a female Schnauzer. The movie changed the breed to a Wire Fox Terrier, sparking a massive craze for the breed in America.

 

Click HERE to watch the film on the Internet Archive.

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Discussion questions

1. Genre Blending and Tone: The Thin Man is famous for successfully blending the gritty, hardboiled detective genre (inherited from Dashiell Hammett's novel) with the lighthearted, screwball comedy popular in the 1930s. How does director W.S. Van Dyke maintain a balance between the serious elements of murder and the nearly constant stream of witty banter, drinking, and slapstick? Do you feel one genre dominates the other, or does the fusion create a unique tone?
2. The Nick and Nora Dynamic: Analyze the marriage of Nick and Nora Charles. In what ways does Nora subvert the traditional role of a female lead in 1930s cinema (especially her wealth, agency, and casual comfort with crime and danger)? How does their dynamic—equal parts mutual respect, teasing, and affection—act as the emotional core of the film, and how does it influence Nick’s decision to solve the case?
3. Historical and Cultural Context: Released shortly after the end of Prohibition (1933), the film showcases a pervasive and casual culture of drinking. What role does alcohol—specifically the martini—play in the film? Does it function merely as a character trait, a symbol of post-Prohibition celebration, a plot device, or does it serve a deeper function in establishing the film’s sophisticated, devil-may-care tone?
4. Style and Influence: W.S. Van Dyke earned the nickname “One-Take Woody” for his rapid, improvisational shooting style, which encouraged actors like William Powell and Myrna Loy to overlap dialogue and rely on natural chemistry. How did this production style contribute to the film’s signature rhythm and enduring charm, and how did it influence the development of the detective or screwball comedy genres that followed?

 

 

Burt Lancaster and Yvonne De Carlo can’t seem to catch a break in “Criss Cross”

Criss Cross (1948) is an American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak that plunges the audience into a dark, fatalistic world of obsessive love and impending disaster. The story centers on Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster), a man who returns to Los Angeles trying to leave his past behind. He takes back his old job as a driver for an armored car company, a symbol of the honest, steady life he hopes to maintain. However, Steve can’t shake his deep, lingering obsession with his beautiful and volatile ex-wife, Anna (Yvonne De Carlo).

Despite his family’s and friends’ warnings about Anna’s manipulative nature, Steve inevitably crosses paths with her again, immediately reigniting a passionate but doomed romance. The situation is complicated by the fact that Anna is now married to Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), a local gangster and nightclub owner. Steve’s renewed relationship with Anna forces him into a dangerous love triangle, quickly pushing him away from his attempts at a clean start and back toward the corrupting influences of the criminal underworld. This relentless attraction to a woman who is demonstrably bad for him sets the stage for the escalating tragedy.

As the plot unfolds, Steve becomes trapped in a tangled web of deceit and double-crosses, where no one—not Anna, not Slim, and certainly not Steve himself—can be completely trusted. The film masterfully builds a sense of inescapable doom as the intricate plan for the heist is set in motion. Criss Cross is a powerful, stylish examination of human weakness, desire, and betrayal, showcasing how a single, consuming obsession can irrevocably lead a man down a path to his own destruction.

Yvonne De Carlo and Burt Lancaster

Robert Siodmak (1900 – 1973) had a very successful career in Hollywood and is best known for his thrillers and films noir. He signed a seven-year contract with Universal and directed The Killers (1946), the film that made Ava Gardner a star. He worked with some of the top movie stars during Hollywood’s Golden Age, including Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Yvonne de Carlo, Olivia de Havilland, and Barbara Stanwyck. Often compared to Hitchcock in his prime, he never got the recognition that the Master of Suspense did, but most of his films hold up remarkably well and are worth watching.

Burt Lancaster (1913- 1994) was an American actor and producer. He won a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in Elmer Gantry (1960). Lancaster made his film debut in The Killers (1946). After the release of that film, he was on his way as a leading man, starring in quick succession Desert Fury (1947), Brute Force (1947), Variety Girl (1947), I Walk Alone (1947), All My Sons (1948), and Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). Other popular films starring Lancaster include The Flame and the Arrow (1950), Jim Thorpe All-American (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953), The Rose Tattoo (1955), and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962).

Yvonne De Carlo (1922 – 2007) was a Canadian-American actress, dancer, and singer whose career spanned six decades across film, television, and stage. She first rose to prominence in the 1940s and 1950s as a Hollywood film star, gaining recognition in lavish Technicolor productions like Salome, Where She Danced (1945) and often being cast in exotic or adventurous roles, including her notable turn in the film noir Criss Cross (1949). Her film career peaked when she played Sephora, the wife of Moses, in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic The Ten Commandments (1956). She gained renewed fame with a new generation of fans in the 1960s for her enduring role as Lily Munster, the glamorous matriarch, in the popular CBS sitcom The Munsters (1964–1966).

Dan Duryea (1907 – 1968) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for his character roles as villains, but he had a long career that included a variety of lead and second lead roles. Duryea graduated from Cornell University in 1928. In his senior year, he was the president of the college drama society. Duryea went to Hollywood in 1940 to play Leo Hubbard in The Little Foxes, a role he created on Broadway. He established himself in films noir, costarring in classics like Scarlet Street (1945), Criss Cross (1948), and Too Late for Tears (1949).

 

Criss Cross trivia

• Reunion of Noir Veterans: The film reunited director Robert Siodmak and star Burt Lancaster, along with composer Miklós Rózsa, all of whom had previously collaborated on the highly successful 1946 film noir classic, The Killers. The two movies share the thematic elements of a doomed protagonist drawn back into crime by a manipulative woman.
• Uncredited Star Debut: A very young and uncredited Tony Curtis makes a brief appearance in the film. He can be spotted as an extra dancing with Yvonne De Carlo’s character, Anna, in the lively nightclub scene at “The Round-Up.”
• Los Angeles Location as a Character: Criss Cross was shot extensively on location in the Bunker Hill neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles. This area, known for its steep hills, Victorian architecture, and rundown boarding houses, was a popular setting for classic film noirs, and its gritty, precarious atmosphere adds to the movie’s sense of fatalism. Much of the architecture seen in the film was later demolished in the 1950s and 60s due to redevelopment.
• Novel Adaptation: The film is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Don Tracy. While the novel provided the core plot, the film adaptation, scripted by Daniel Fuchs, amplified the key elements of film noir, including the complex flashback structure, the fatalistic voice-over narration, and the overwhelming sense of doom.

 

Click HERE to watch the movie on the Internet Archive.

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Discussion questions

1. The Nature of Obsession and Fate: The film utilizes a flashback structure that essentially reveals the ending in the very first scene. How does knowing Steve Thompson's ultimate fate from the beginning affect the audience's viewing experience? Does this structure amplify the fatalism and obsessive nature of his choices, or does it simply reduce the suspense?
2. The Archetype of the Femme Fatale: How does Anna (Yvonne De Carlo) embody the classic film noir archetype of the femme fatale? Is she truly evil and manipulative, or is she also a victim of her circumstances and the limited opportunities available to women in her environment? How does her character compare to other famous film noir women?
3. Moral Compromise and the American Dream: Steve Thompson returns to Los Angeles determined to live an honest, working-class life, but his desires quickly derail him. How does the film comment on the idea of the American Dream or the possibility of redemption? At what point does Steve cross the moral line, and is his downfall inevitable regardless of his choices?
4. Style and Setting in Noir: The film makes extensive use of location shooting in the atmospheric, now-demolished Bunker Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles. How do the movie's visual style—specifically the use of low-key lighting (chiaroscuro), shadows, and gritty urban settings—reflect and enhance the themes of desperation, moral corruption, and entrapment in the story?

Barbara Stanwyck ensnares men with her beautiful “Baby Face”

Baby Face (1933) is an American pre-Code drama directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent. The supporting cast includes Theresa Harris, Henry Kolker, Margaret Lindsay, Nat Pendleton, and John Wayne in an early screen performance.

The Ascent of Lily Powers

Set during the Prohibition era and the Great Depression, Baby Face introduces the audience to Lily Powers (Stanwyck), a young woman living a difficult life in a dreary industrial town in Pennsylvania. Forced into dire circumstances by her unscrupulous father, Lily is trapped in a life of exploitation and hardship. Her only source of intellectual and emotional guidance comes from an unlikely friend, an older, philosophical cobbler, who encourages her to reject her current predicament and seize control of her own destiny by embracing a ruthlessly self-serving worldview.

An Ambitious Relocation

Motivated by a fierce desire to escape her past, Lily leaves her small town with her loyal friend, Chico (Harris), heading for the promise of a big city—New York. She quickly sets her sights on the Gotham Trust Company, a towering symbol of wealth and power. Armed with her intelligence, ambition, and striking beauty, Lily makes a calculated decision to use her charm and sexuality as her primary tools for advancement.

Climbing the Corporate Ladder

Lily begins her calculated ascent within the bank, moving systematically from department to department. As she progresses, she encounters a succession of influential men, each of whom she manipulates and seduces to secure promotions and financial gain. Her ruthless ambition leaves a trail of ruined careers and personal scandals in her wake, as the men she uses are unable to resist her influence.

The Height of Power and a New Test

Lily’s relentless climb eventually brings her face-to-face with the bank’s President, a man who is both powerful and intrigued by her unique drive. For the first time, her single-minded focus on material success and power is challenged by a more complex emotional dynamic. As financial disaster threatens the bank and her new life, Lily must face a crucial test of her values, forcing her to decide what truly matters to her and if her carefully constructed world is worth the price she has paid.

 

Theresa Harris and Barbara Stanwyck

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Baby Face trivia

• Helped Trigger Strict Censorship: Baby Face is widely considered one of the most notorious films of the Pre-Code Hollywood era and was cited as a major catalyst for the strict enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code (the Hays Code) in 1934. The film’s frank depiction of a woman using sex to advance her career was deemed scandalous by censors and moral reformers.

• The Censored Ending and Rediscovery: The version initially released to theaters had a heavily censored ending imposed by the Studio Relations Committee (the enforcement arm of the Code), which showed the main character, Lily, reformed and losing her ill-gotten gains. The original, uncensored ending—which was much less punitive and suggested she was rewarded—was presumed lost for decades until a complete pre-release print was discovered in the Library of Congress in 2004.

• Early John Wayne Role: Look closely at the cast list! A young John Wayne, years before he became a major star, appears in an early, uncredited role as one of the Gotham Trust Company employees—specifically, one of Lily Powers’ initial romantic conquests within the bank.

• The Power of Philosophy: In the initial, uncensored cut of the film, Lily’s philosophical cobbler friend quotes German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, encouraging her to reject traditional morality and become a “master” of her own life. Censors forced this Nietzschean dialogue to be rewritten and dubbed over to remove the immoral suggestion and replace it with a more conventional lesson about taking the “right way” to success.

 

Discussion questions

1. Morality and Agency: Lily Powers is often cited as a classic example of a "fallen woman" in film, yet she is also one of the few women in Pre-Code Hollywood to successfully gain and hold power. Do you view Lily as a victim of her circumstances who is simply fighting back, or as a cold manipulator who willfully exploits others? How does the film challenge or reinforce traditional ideas about female morality and agency?
2. The Role of Men and Institutions: The film portrays the men in Lily's life—from her father to the bank executives—as easily corrupted by their own desires and entitlement. Does Baby Face suggest that these powerful men and the institution (the Gotham Trust Company) are inherently weak or corrupt, and that Lily is merely taking advantage of a pre-existing moral rot?
3. The Impact of Censorship (Pre-Code vs. Post-Code): Considering that this film was a major reason the Production Code was strictly enforced, how does the Pre-Code version's ending (if you are familiar with it) fundamentally change the film's message compared to the censored version? Does the original ending support a truly anti-moral message, or is it simply a more realistic portrayal of consequences?
4. Economic and Social Commentary: The film is set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and touches on themes of wealth inequality and the struggle for survival. To what extent is Lily Powers a product of the economic despair of the time, and how does her ruthless pursuit of money reflect a cynical view of the American Dream during this period?
5. Lily's Relationship with Chico: Lily's only constant, trusted relationship is with her African-American friend and eventual maid, Chico (Theresa Harris). Given the rigid racial and social hierarchies of the 1930s, how is their relationship portrayed differently from Lily’s relationships with the white men in the film? Does their bond offer a commentary on class, race, or female solidarity in a world of male exploitation?

Book Review: “Criss-Cross: The Making of Hitchcock's Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece - Strangers on a Train”

Title: Criss-Cross: The Making of Hitchcock's Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece - Strangers on a Train

By Stephen Rebello

Publisher: Running Press

ISBN: 978-0-7624-8639-7 (hardcover)

Stephen Rebello’s Criss-Cross is a carefully researched and engagingly written telling of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 thriller, Strangers on a Train, chronicling its production against the backdrop of a politically paranoid Hollywood. Coming off a string of critical and commercial flops in the late 1940s, the film represented a gamble for Hitchcock, who adapted Patricia Highsmith's dark, complex debut novel. Rebello frames Strangers on a Train as the comeback vehicle that inaugurated the director's “Golden Decade,” which would eventually include classics like Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest, and Psycho. The book details how this project, initially deemed “unsavory” by critics, was rife with conflict, feuds, and creative compromises, yet ultimately yielded a masterful and enduring suspense film.

A central strength of Criss-Cross lies in its deep dive into the chaotic and often adversarial screenwriting process. Rebello reveals the surprising tension between the notoriously meticulous Hitchcock and the celebrated hardboiled novelist Raymond Chandler, who was brought in to draft the script. Though Chandler is credited on the final film—largely due to studio executive Jack Warner’s insistence on a promotable name—Rebello details how Hitchcock ultimately utilized very little of his work. The author credits a collaborative team, including multiple female writers like Czenzi Ormonde and Whitfield Cook, with rescuing the film and helping the director navigate the necessary narrative shifts from Highsmith’s novel. This insight highlights the messy, collaborative reality of feature filmmaking and reframes the traditional understanding of the script's genesis.

Farley Granger and Robert Walker

Beyond the technical and creative battles, Rebello skillfully explores the social and cultural subversiveness embedded within the film. He illuminates the repressive atmosphere of the McCarthy era, characterized by anti-communist suspicion and intense censorship from the Breen office, which forced Hitchcock to cleverly disguise or downplay racy themes and sexual innuendo..

Finally, the book provides ringside accounts of casting and on-set drama, notably focusing on the brilliant yet troubled performance of Robert Walker as the psychotic Bruno Anthony. Rebello’s research, drawn from interviews and extensive archival material including Hitchcock’s storyboards, offers fascinating tidbits, such as how the heavy “bottle glasses” worn by Guy Haines’s wife rendered the actress practically blind. More than just a collection of anecdotes, Criss-Cross provides a definitive, authoritative look at the filmmaking process, from adapting a difficult novel to designing a character’s psychology through costume (like Bruno's garish lobster necktie). For any cinema aficionado and Hitchcock fan, Criss-Cross is a compelling read that confirms Strangers on a Train’s status as a timeless classic thriller.

 

Barbara Stanwyck has “No Man of Her Own”

The film tells the suspenseful story of Helen Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck), a desperate, unwed, and pregnant woman who has been abandoned by her callous lover.

While traveling on a train, a tragic accident results in a dramatic twist of fate: Helen is mistaken for a wealthy, deceased woman, Patrice Harkness (Phyllis Thaxter), whose new in-laws, the kindly and affluent Harkness family, have never met her.

With nowhere else to turn and motivated by a desire to provide a secure life for her newborn son, Helen reluctantly steps into the new identity. She finds herself welcomed into a loving, comfortable home, all while trying to maintain the deception.

However, her fragile new world is threatened when her sleazy ex-boyfriend, Stephen Morley (Lyle Bettger), reappears, eager to exploit her newfound wealth and position. Helen must fight to keep her secret and protect the life she’s desperately built, especially as she develops a growing mutual attraction with William “Bill” Harkness (John Lund), the deceased husband’s brother.

This film noir-tinged melodrama explores themes of desperation, mistaken identity, and the possibility of reinvention and redemption when one is pushed to the limit.

Barbara Stanwyck and John Lund

Mitchell Leisen (1898 – 1972) was an American director who was one of Paramount Pictures' most successful directors during the 1930s and 1940s. He directed Olivia de Havilland to her first Best Actress Oscar in To Each His Own (1946). He also directed Ginger Rogers in Lady in the Dark (1944), as well as the Christmas classic Remember the Night  (1940) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. Leisen’s last big movie success was the comedy The Mating Season (1951) starring Gene Tierney, John Lund, and Thelma Ritter in an Oscar-nominated performance.

Barbara Stanwyck (1907 – 1990) was an American film star who got her acting start with a supporting role on Broadway in a play called The Noose (1926). The next year, she had the lead in another Broadway production, Burlesque which was a huge hit. She eventually made it to Hollywood, where her success was not immediate. Director Frank Capra saw something in Stanwyck, and he educated her in filmmaking and film acting; the rest is history. Stanwyck was nominated four times for the Best Actress Oscar—Stella Dallas (1937), Ball of Fire (1941), Double Indemnity (1945), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)—and remains one of the most beloved movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

John Lund (1911 – 1992) was an American film, stage, and radio actor known for his work across drama and comedy genres from the 1940s to the 1960s. After an early career that included work in advertising and appearances on Broadway, such as the play The Hasty Heart, he was signed to a film contract with Paramount Pictures. Lund’s breakthrough film role was in To Each His Own (1946), and he went on to star in films like the Billy Wilder-directed A Foreign Affair (1948), No Man of Her Own (1950), alongside Barbara Stanwyck, The Mating Season (1951), and the musical High Society (1956). He also starred in the radio series Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar from 1952 to 1954 and served as a vice president of the Screen Actors Guild throughout the 1950s before retiring from acting in the early 1960s.

No Man of Her Own trivia

• Stanwyck played Helen Ferguson, which happened to be the name of her publicist. Ferguson was one of the best-known publicists of the era.
• Remade as Mrs. Winterbourne starring Shirley MacLane and Riki Lake.
• The film was Lyle Bettger’s film debut. They would work together again in All I Desire (1953).
• Filmed in 1949, but not released until 1950.
• One of Jane Cowl’s last films. She died in 1950, the year the film was released.

Click HERE to watch the movie on the Internet Archive.

Click HERE to join the online discussion on November 10, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions

1. Moral Dilemma and Sympathy: Helen Ferguson’s decision to assume Patrice’s identity is based on desperation and a desire to protect her child. At what point in the film does the audience's sympathy for Helen’s predicament shift, and does her initial motive justify the subsequent lies and actions she takes?
2. Genre and Tone: The film is often described as a blend of the “woman's picture” and Film Noir. How do the visual style, plot elements (like the train crash and the blackmail subplot), and Helen’s narration contribute to the feeling of doom and inescapable fate typical of Film Noir, even within the melodramatic framework of a family drama?
3. Identity and Class: Helen, a poor, unwed mother, steps into the life of the wealthy Patrice Harkness. What does the film suggest about the societal importance of identity and class in post-war America? Could Helen have achieved a similar level of security and acceptance if she had revealed her true self to the Harkness family immediately?
4. The Role of the Harkness Family: How do the kindness and immediate acceptance of Mr. and Mrs. Harkness—people who were essentially strangers—influence Helen’s choices? Does their profound goodness make Helen’s deceit more heartbreaking or more understandable, and how does John Lund’s character, Bill, complicate her new life?

An all-star cast discovers the difference between “Flesh and Fantasy”

Flesh and Fantasy is a 1943 American anthology film that weaves together three distinct, supernatural-tinged stories, all framed by a philosophical conversation between two club members about the nature of destiny and the reality of fortune-telling. The movie explores the central theme of whether human lives are dictated by fate or free will, and the profound impact that predictions and dreams can have on an individual's psychology and subsequent actions. This approach blends romance, suspense, and the eerie, making it an early, atmospheric example of the episodic storytelling format in cinema.

The three segments each showcase a unique encounter with the uncanny. The first story, set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, follows a lonely, self-conscious young woman who yearns for a better life. She receives a mysterious, beautiful mask from a strange shopkeeper and is allowed to experience the evening as someone transformed, but with a strict condition that must be met by midnight. The second segment features a skeptical, wealthy man who attends a party where a prominent palmist is making uncannily accurate predictions for the guests. When the man insists on a private reading, he receives a shocking prophecy that forces him to confront his own sense of morality and control over his future.

The final tale centers on a high-wire circus aerialist known for his dangerous, death-defying act. He becomes deeply unsettled after a terrifying dream where he falls during his performance, the scene of his doom forever imprinted with the image of a screaming, beautiful woman he's never met. This premonition begins to erode his nerve until he unexpectedly encounters the woman from his dream in real life, prompting him to try and understand the connection between his inner fears and the external world, and whether he can truly defy the fate he believes has been foretold.

 

The all-star cast directed by Julien Duvivier (1896 – 1967) includes Charles Boyer, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Cummings, and Betty Field.

There was a fourth segment that was to star John Garfield, but he dropped out and was replaced by Alan Curtis. The segment was well received by preview audiences, but was cut from the film and expanded to a full-length feature, Destiny 1944.

 

Betty Field and Robert Cummings

Click HERE to watch the movie on the Internet Archive.

Click HERE to join the online discussion on Monday, November 3, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time.

 

Discussion questions

1. Free Will vs. Destiny: The film repeatedly raises the question of whether a person is master of their own fate or merely a puppet of destiny. In the second story, where Marshall Tyler is told he will commit murder, does the prophecy cause him to act, or does his reaction to the prophecy reveal an inherent flaw in his character?
2. The Nature of Reality and Perception: Both the first story (Henrietta and the mask) and the third story (Paul Gaspar and the dream woman) explore how an individual’s perception of self influences the way the world treats them. How do the masks and dreams in these segments serve as a psychological tool for transformation, and to what extent is the supernatural aspect merely a catalyst for a change that was always possible?
3. The Role of the Anthology Format: Flesh and Fantasy is an anthology film tied together by a brief framing device. Do you feel the three distinct stories collectively strengthen the film's central philosophical theme, or do they feel too disparate? Which story best explores the balance between "flesh" (human experience/desire) and "fantasy" (the supernatural/occult)?
4. Influence of the Occult on Psychology: The film suggests that preoccupation with predictions—whether from a palm reader or a dream—can have a paralyzing or maddening effect on the characters. Compare Marshall Tyler's reaction to the murder prophecy with Paul Gaspar's reaction to his premonition of death. How do their psychological responses to the occult drive the plot in their respective stories?