Movie Review: Bombers B-52, starring Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (1957)

Poster for Bombers B-52. The poster says it's Natalie Wood's "most exciting role!" It's lying.

Natalie Wood and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. make a cute couple in Bombers B-52, even if he is twice her age.

Natalie Wood and Karl Malden as father and daughter in Bombers B-52, 1957.

Natalie Wood’s only movie release of 1957 was Bombers B-52, a movie in which she received top billing, but played a supporting role to the Air Force’s latest long-range bomber. Wood stars along with the always excellent Karl Malden as her father, an Air Force engineer, and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., as a flashy pilot. It takes a while for Bombers B-52 to figure out exactly what kind of movie it’s going to be. At first it seems like an elongated sitcom episode, as the plot involves Malden’s character going on a television quiz show and winning $4,000 by answering questions about baseball. (He buys his daughter a beautiful yellow Ford convertible with the winnings.) There’s conflict between Wood and Malden, as she tries to convince him to take a job in the private sector. Then Zimbalist shows up and gets put in charge of the base where Malden works. Malden is not happy about this. Malden and Zimbalist encountered each other in Korea, and Malden thinks Zimbalist is just a glory-seeking hot shot. But Zimbalist keeps Malden from resigning by showing him the new B-52 Stratofortress planes that the base will get. That’s enough to keep Malden happy. But he’s less happy once Zimbalist starts dating Wood. There’s some drama about test flights of the B-52, but it all ends well. Unfortunately, Bombers B-52 just isn’t a very exciting movie, although it does feature some great aerial photography of the B-52. The unintentional comedic highlights of the film are the mid-air refueling scenes, which just made me think of the opening credits for Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, in which the sexual symbolism is played up as a B-52 is refueled to the romantic strains of “Try a Little Tenderness.” The most unintentionally funny line of dialogue in the movie is at the end of the refueling scene, when someone says, “Tanker to receiver-you’ve got it all.” Wink wink, nudge nudge. 

I would guess that Bombers B-52 was not a fun movie for Natalie Wood to make, as her character really doesn’t have much to do. Wood was trying to become a serious actress, and Bombers B-52 did not put any strain on her acting talents. It must have been a letdown for her after making great dramas like Rebel Without a Cause and The Searchers. Wood certainly looks beautiful in Bombers B-52, but she’s just window dressing.

We don’t see enough of the romance between Wood and Zimbalist to really care about it, or be invested in their relationship. And while Efrem Zimbalist certainly looks more than capable of piloting a B-52, he’s a little old to be romancing an 18 or 19 year old Natalie Wood. Zimbalist was 19 years older than Wood! A more age appropriate love interest would have been Tab Hunter, who had already made two movies with Wood, but Hunter turned the role down. 

Zimbalist does a fine job in one of his early movie roles. Zimbalist is most well-known for his television work in the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s, on the long running series 77 Sunset Strip and The FBI. He was a handsome man, with good hair, a strong jaw, and an air of authority. You’d trust him to pilot a B-52. Zimbalist’s father, Efrem Zimbalist Sr., was a classical violinist, and his mother, Alma Gluck, was a soprano who made several popular records in the 1910’s. Both Efrem Zimbalist Sr. and Jr. lived to be 95 years old. Karl Malden made it to 97 years old, which means that Bombers B-52 starred two of the longest-lived leading actors ever. 

Karl Malden was one of the great film actors, as even in a potboiler like this, he gives every line his complete dedication as an actor. Malden’s rather ordinary looks, and his formidable talent, allowed him the versatility of moving between leading roles and character roles. Malden later starred with Wood in two more movies, 1962’s Gypsy and the 1979 disaster flick Meteor. Malden got along well with Natalie Wood, and Wood biographer Suzanne Finstad writes about an interesting anecdote during the filming of Bombers B-52: “Malden glimpsed the loneliness underneath Natalie’s surface gaiety when he discovered she had never been on a family picnic, and arranged to take her on one. She told him, afterward, that it was one of the happiest days of her life, which Malden found desperately sad.” (Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood, by Suzanne Finstad, p.237) Like many child stars, Natalie really didn’t have much of a childhood, and thus she missed out on a lot of life experiences. 

The screenplay for Bombers B-52 was written by Irving Wallace, who wrote many popular novels, and was also one of the editors for The Book of Lists, which makes him a hero in my eyes, since that was my favorite book when I was 13 years old. Yay for books of random trivia!

Bombers B-52 was directed by Gordon Douglas, who has a lot of “second movies in a series” among his credits. He did 1967’s In Like Flint, the second Flint spy movie with James Coburn, and the second movie in which Sidney Poitier played detective Virgil Tibbs, 1970’s They Call Me Mister Tibbs! He also directed Frank Sinatra in five movies. 

Perhaps the best summation of Bombers B-52 was written at the time it was released in November, 1957, when Time magazine called it a “$1,400,000 want ad for Air Force technicians.” It’s no surprise when at the end of the movie there’s a credit expressing the filmmaker’s thanks towards the Air Force. Without the cooperation of the Air Force, there wouldn’t have been a movie.  

Movie Review: Magnificent Obsession, starring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman, directed by Douglas Sirk (1954)

Original poster for Magnificent Obsession, 1954. It's interesting that the ad mentions author Lloyd C. Douglas so prominently, but he was the author of The Robe, which was the highest grossing movie of 1953.

"You have a very strong chin, have you thought about going into movies?" Jane Wyman, whose character has just gone blind, and Rock Hudson in Magnificent Obsession.

A very dramatic still of Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman from Magnificent Obsession. They've aged Rock's character by giving him a streak of grey in his hair.

Handsome leading man Rock Hudson, circa 1960.

Magnificent Obsession was the movie that established Rock Hudson as a major box office draw in 1954. Hudson’s first film role was in the 1948 movie Fighter Squadron, and although he only had one line, it took him 38 takes to deliver it perfectly. Hudson had slowly worked his way up into starring in B pictures at Universal, and Magnificent Obsession was a chance for Hudson to break through as a leading man. Hudson was the very definition of tall, dark, and handsome. At 6’5” he towered over his co-stars, and he looked like the perfect heroic leading man.

Magnificent Obsession was based on Lloyd C. Douglas’s 1929 novel of the same name, and it had first been filmed in 1935, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor. The film had helped boost Taylor to stardom in the same way that it helped Hudson’s career two decades later. For the remake, Jane Wyman was picked to play the female lead. Wyman was a well-established star who had won on Oscar for Best Actress for her role in 1948’s Johnny Belinda. Wyman was divorced from her second husband, actor Ronald Reagan, whose movie career was in decline by 1954, so that year he made the move to television and began hosting the long-running TV series General Electric Theater. 

Douglas Sirk directed Magnificent Obsession, and it was his third film with Hudson. Sirk would go on to direct Hudson in four more movies before retiring in 1959. Sirk’s use of a bright and bold color palette is one of his trademarks as a director, and the colors in Magnificent Obsession pop off the screen. 

The plot of Magnificent Obsession centers on spoiled rich playboy Bob Merrick (Hudson) whose only concern in life is setting new records in his speedboat. When he crashes it, the paramedics need to use a resuscitator on him. But while Merrick is being resuscitated, Dr. Phillips, a well-respected doctor in the area, has a heart attack, and dies because the only resuscitator in the area was being used on Merrick. Merrick recovers at the clinic that Dr. Phillips ran, and resentment runs high towards Merrick. Dr. Phillips’ widow Helen (Jane Wyman) discovers that the clinic is in debt, due in part to the generous philanthropy of Dr. Phillips towards his patients. After Merrick has recovered from his crash he resumes his dissipated lifestyle, and drunkenly runs his convertible off the road one evening. Fortunately, he runs his car off the road near the house of artist Edward Randolph (Otto Kruger) who was a close friend of Dr. Phillips. Randolph describes a new philosophy of living to Merrick, one based on kindness towards others, and doing good works for people without taking credit for them. Merrick is eager to try out this new philosophy and when he runs into Helen Phillips the next day, he tries to explain it to her. Helen does not like the smarmy Merrick, and as she tries to get away from him she gets hit by a car and is blinded. Ravaged by guilt, Merrick resumes the medial studies he had abandoned years before and starts going to the shore of the Phillips’ lake home, where he befriends Helen using an alias. (She doesn’t seem to recognize his voice.) He reads to her and keeps her company, and gradually he finds himself falling in love with her. Will the reformed Merrick be able to atone for the way he’s wrecked Helen’s life? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.

Sure, Magnificent Obsession is pretty cheesy, but it’s an excellent slice of cheese, with superb performances all around. Jane Wyman was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress, losing out to Grace Kelly for her role in The Country Girl. Wyman is excellent as she portrays a woman suffering from the loss of her husband, and slowly awakening to a new love. The supporting cast of Otto Kruger, Barbara Rush as Helen’s step-daughter, and Agnes Moorehead as Helen’s nurse Nancy are all very good. Rock Hudson is perfect as Bob Merrick, and it’s easy to see why the part made him a star. Hudson already had the looks, and now he had the role to become a heartthrob. Magnificent Obsession really gives Hudson the best of both worlds, as in the beginning he gets to play the dissolute bad boy, and after Merrick reforms his ways, he gets to play the attentive and noble ideal man, thus he gets to appeal to all types of female viewers. 

In Magnificent Obsession Hudson began to find his screen type, which would be the nice, strong, heroic guy. Rock Hudson just seemed like a really nice guy, so often in his movies it doesn’t even seem like he’s acting. The scene where Merrick runs his car off the road and has a drunken conversation with the artist Randolph is actually quite funny, and it shows that Hudson’s gift for comedy was well developed long before Pillow Talk. There’s also another inadvertent nod to Pillow Talk in the scenes where Merrick is pretending to be someone else so Helen won’t know his true identity, just as in Pillow Talk, Hudson’s character pretends to be someone else and tricks Doris Day into falling in love with him. Of course, there might have been a reason that Hudson was so good at roles where he was pretending to be someone he wasn’t, as he hid his homosexuality from the public. 

Magnificent Obsession is an excellent movie if you’re in the mood for a good cheesy 1950’s drama, and it’s a key movie in the career of Rock Hudson, one of the great leading men of the era.

Movie Review: The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, and James Mason (1952)

Movie poster for The Prisoner of Zenda, 1952. This was the fifth movie version of the classic tale.

Deborah Kerr as Princess Flavia and Stewart Granger as Rudolf Rassendyl, The Prisoner of Zenda, 1952.

Stewart Granger, looking handsome on the set. This photo was used when he appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1952.

Jane Greer and James Mason in The Prisoner of Zenda.

Fencing instructor Jean Heremans talks to James Mason and Stewart Granger during filming of the climactic sword fight.

Anthony Hope’s 1894 novel The Prisoner of Zenda has become a classic adventure tale. The story has been filmed many times, and the 1952 remake starring Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, and James Mason was the fifth version. I haven’t seen any of the other versions, so I can’t compare the 1952 version to them, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  James Mason is one of my favorite actors, so I’m always inclined to look favorably upon his films. 

The story of The Prisoner of Zenda is that an Englishman, Rudolf Rassendyl, (Granger) is on vacation in the fictional country of Ruritania when he discovers that he bears a striking resemblance to the soon to be crowned King Rudolf (also played by Granger). It turns out they are extremely distant cousins. When the King is incapacitated, but not killed, by a poisoned drink, the King’s right hand man, Colonel Zapt (Louis Calhern) convinces Rassendyl to impersonate the King during his coronation. Fortunately for Rassendyl, everyone in Ruritania speaks perfect English, so his accent won’t be a problem. Rassendyl is assured that he will only have to play his role for one day, but that changes once he learns that King Rudolf has been kidnapped by his evil brother Michael (Robert Douglas) and his accomplice, the scheming Rupert of Hentzau (Mason). Rassendyl also meets the lovely Princess Flavia (Kerr) who is engaged to the King. He quickly falls for her, and she warms up to him, as Rassendyl treats her better than King Rudolf ever did. Thanks to Michael’s girlfriend, Antoinette de Mauban, (Jane Greer) Rassendyl learns where King Rudolf is being held. Rassendyl is the type of courageous protagonist who has no problem at all planning and carrying out this daring rescue mission. There’s an excellent swordfight at the end between Rassendyl and Rupert, which ends with Rupert leaping out the window into the moat, leaving open the possibility that he survives. (Anthony Hope did write a sequel, Rupert of Hentzau, which has been filmed several times.) With King Rudolf rescued, Rassendyl leaves Ruritania and the beautiful Flavia behind and returns to England.

Stewart Granger gives an excellent performance as Rassendyl and King Rudolf. The scenes where Rassendyl and Rudolf interact look seamless and the scenes weren’t shot using the obvious trick of having a double stand with his back to the camera. There’s even a moment where Rudolf touches Rassendyl’s sleeve, and it looks quite convincing. I’m surprised the technology was that advanced in 1952.

Granger had the requisite good looks and charm to be a successful leading man, and he projects Rassendyl’s inner decency very well. Granger also had the great hair necessary to be a swashbuckling action star. An interesting fact about Granger is that his real name was James Stewart. When he went into acting, he changed it to avoid confusion with the American actor, but Granger was always known to friends as Jimmy. At the time The Prisoner of Zenda was made, Granger was married to the lovely actress Jean Simmons. The Grangers were good friends with Richard Burton and his first wife Sybil. Burton was another highly acclaimed British actor who first came to Hollywood in 1952. Supposedly, Burton kissed Simmons instead of Sybil at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. I don’t know if Burton and Simmons had an affair, but the chemistry between them is easy to see in 1953’s The Robe, the religious epic that introduced the world to CinemaScope. The Robe also starred the wonderful Victor Mature. My two favorite Victor Mature quotes: When a director wasn’t satisfied with Mature’s work in a scene, he said, “I’ve got three looks, looking left, looking right, and looking straight ahead. Which one do you want?” And when Mature was refused membership in a country club because he was an actor, he replied, “I’m not an actor-and I’ve got sixty-four films to prove it!”

Mason is excellent as the villain, and he brings a sly humor to Rupert. Mason could be both charming and menacing, often at the same time, and he does both very well here. He clearly has fun with the role of Rupert, and it’s again a reminder that Mason would have made the best James Bond villain ever. Mason also would have made a superb Iago. Mason was always quite self-deprecating about his own acting talent, and the only comment he made about The Prisoner of Zenda in Clive Hirschhorn’s 1975 book The Films of James Mason was “I thought the costumes were ghastly.” (Hirschhorn, p.104) The costumes were certainly designed to take advantage of the color photography, but I quite enjoyed them, even though Stewart Granger can’t quite keep his shirts and jackets buttoned up in the second half of the movie.

Kerr is luminous, as always, as Princess Flavia, and although the role doesn’t require her to flex her acting muscles very much, she still does an excellent job. Kerr is convincing as we see her have a change of heart towards King Rudolf. 

Granger, Mason and Kerr all had similar career trajectories, as they became big stars in British films, and then moved on to Hollywood in the late 1940’s. Kerr made three movies with Stewart Granger, the others being King Solomon’s Mines, which made Granger a star in the U.S., and was the second highest grossing movie of 1950, and 1953’s Young Bess, about the early years of Queen Elizabeth I. Kerr also made three movies with James Mason, the others being Hatter’s Castle, a British film from 1942, and 1953’s Julius Caesar, which featured one of Mason’s best performances as Brutus. The Prisoner of Zenda was the fourth movie that Stewart Granger and James Mason had made together. They first appeared together in Secret Mission, from 1942, which starred Mason, and in which Granger had only a small role. By the next year Granger had moved up to his first starring role in The Man in Grey, which proved to be Mason’s breakthrough role, and they co-starred again in 1944’s very successful Fanny By Gaslight. In both films, Granger played the good guy, while Mason played an evil cad.

I’ve written before about Mason’s early career in my review of Caught, the 1949 movie that was his first Hollywood film. My description of Mason that follows comes from that post. Mason found his greatest success in England playing sadistic, aristocratic types in period dramas, and women loved him. Or loved to hate him, or hated that they loved him, or something like that. Mason cut a handsome figure on screen, with his thick, dark hair, his sad, expressive dark eyes, his brooding countenance, and of course his beautiful voice. Mason’s voice could suggest either friendly openness or chilling cruelty, and he truly made the most of his fantastic instrument.

The 1952 version of The Prisoner of Zenda is a thrilling adventure story, elevated by the excellent performances from the three leading actors. Watch for Lewis Stone in a small role as the Cardinal-he played Rassendyl and King Rudolf in the 1922 silent version.

Movie Review: Not as a Stranger, starring Robert Mitchum, Olivia de Havilland, and Frank Sinatra, directed by Stanley Kramer (1955)

French poster for Not as a Stranger, 1955. This poster is amazing, and much cooler than the English language posters.

Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum, and Olivia de Havilland in Not as a Stranger. From what I've read Sinatra and Mitchum had a good time partying together off the set. But they look like such serious medical students!

Olivia de Havilland and Robert Mitchum in Not as a Stranger.

Stanley Kramer first made his name in Hollywood as the producer behind hits like Champion, which made Kirk Douglas a star, Marlon Brando’s first movie The Men, and Fred Zinnemann’s iconic western High Noon, which won Gary Cooper his second Oscar. Kramer turned to directing in 1955, and his first film as a director was Not as a Stranger, starring Robert Mitchum, Olivia de Havilland, and Frank Sinatra. The cumbersomely titled film was based on a novel by Morton Thompson, which was a huge best seller in 1954. There’s also a cumbersomely worded title song, which isn’t heard in the movie, but was released by Sinatra as a single. The lyric starts, “I think of you, my love/not as a stranger.” But Sinatra still sings it well, of course. 

Not as a Stranger follows Lucas Marsh (Mitchum) as he navigates his way through medical school and becomes a doctor in a small town. Lucas is idealistic and stubborn, unlike his friend, fellow medical student Alfred (Sinatra) who just wants to make money and drive a flashy car. When Lucas learns that Swedish nurse Kristina Hedvigson (de Havilland) has a crush on him, he is initially disinterested until he learns that she has saved up enough money to help bankroll him through medical school. Lucas then starts dating Christina and marries her. The film follows Lucas to the small town he and Christina settle in. Because he never really loved Christina, Lucas starts a relationship with Harriet Lang, a rich widow in town (Gloria Grahame). Lucas eventually sees how selfish he’s become, breaks things off with Harriet, and returns to Kristina, who still loves him. 

Not as a Stranger is a good film, but it has some faults. With a running time of 135 minutes, the movie is too long. It’s almost two separate movies, as the first part tells the story of Lucas getting through medical school, and the second tells the story of Lucas being a young doctor in a small town. Some judicious editing might have improved the pacing of the film. The second major problem with the movie is that all three leads are way too old for their parts. Mitchum and Sinatra look like the oldest medical students ever. These roles were probably meant for actors under 30, and Mitchum, Sinatra, and de Havilland were all in their late 30’s when the film was made. 

Mitchum gives a good performance as the selfish Lucas. A more intense actor like Montgomery Clift might have done it better and given Lucas more of an edge, but Mitchum is just fine. There were plenty of reasons that female fans of Mitchum’s would enjoy the movie, as he’s on screen just about the whole time, and he has a couple of opportunities to remove his shirt and show off his muscular physique. As I’ve written about Mitchum before, he had some odd features, with his deeply hooded eyes, broken nose, and very broad shoulders. But Mitchum had an undeniable magnetism and charisma on the screen. Sinatra turns in an excellent supporting performance as Alfred, and his scenes are evidence of what a superb actor he was. De Havilland does the best she can with her role, but her Swedish/Minnesotan accent, and dyed blonde hair, are cringe-worthy. The role of Kristina is a rather thankless part, as it just requires someone to be sweet and overly devoted to Lucas. 

The supporting cast of Not as a Stranger is excellent, and there are many familiar faces, from Lee Marvin as a fellow medical student, Broderick Crawford as a doctor at the medical school, Lon Chaney Jr. as Lucas’ alcoholic father, Harry Morgan doing his best Swedish accent as Oley, the husband of the family that Kristina lives with while she attends nursing school, and Gloria Grahame as the femme fatale Harriet Lang. Grahame is very believable as the rich and spoiled Harriet, and I sort of half expected Mitchum to run off with her and start a life of crime. Fun fact: Grahame’s sister married the actor John Mitchum, Robert Mitchum’s brother. Not so fun fact: Gloria Grahame married the film director Nicholas Ray in 1948. She later married his son Anthony Ray in 1960. 

Stanley Kramer is best remembered today for his serious dramas that tackled important social issues like The Defiant Ones, On the Beach, (which I reviewed last year here) Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremburg, Ship of Fools, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Not as a Stranger isn’t quite as good as those films, but it’s still an enjoyable piece of mid-50’s melodrama.