50 Fabulous Film Females

1. MARION DAVIES is unrivaled in terms of concentration. She lives inside the world of each of her characters. A lot of actors break ‘the fourth wall’ of acting. They do it consciously when they look at the director (because they think the camera is not on them); or unconsciously, because they are aware of the mechanics of storytelling, and are not fully experiencing the story from the character’s point of view. But with Marion, there’s a total suspension of outside reality, in an effort to concentrate on make-believe and turn it into something real. Other actors attempt to do this, but not to the level of success that she does. She’s the best there ever was on film.

2. LUISE RAINER has the uncanny ability to layer multiple styles within the same role. She usually does drama, comedy, music and action in the course of the same film. She has a technique where she combines the work of other writers and directors and superimposes it on to her current performance. She’s a very deliberate actress and nothing is left to chance.

3. VIVIEN LEIGH. We have a serious stage-trained actress masquerading as a beauty queen. We also have a very haunted and tragic performer. Watch ‘Gone with the Wind,’ then watch her other films, and you will see that this woman is playing herself and using the characters to confront her own real-life emotional instability. She’s riveting.

4. KATHARINE HEPBURN hides in all her roles. She takes a line, puts some sass and style into it, and glibly thinks she has you fooled. And she has herself fooled half the time, then her real nature kicks in, takes over, and we get this dynamic imprint of a troubled personality bursting with goodness. This happens in Kate films all the way through her career. She never really outgrew her childlike persona.

5. ALINE MACMAHON is the most naturalistic actress ever on film. When you see Aline, either as a flapper in the early 30s, or as a robust character actress in the mid 50s, you still get the same effervescent personality. After spending 90-120 minutes with Aline on film, you feel as if you just had a conversation with a real person, that’s how intimate and natural her performances are.

6. JEAN HARLOW does what nobody else has ever done, and it’s an easy trick when you think about it. She takes a passage of dialogue, and pumps it into one long run-on sentence, spitting it out in one breathless take. Then she pivots, looks at her costar and gets ready for the next rapid-fire delivery. At the same time, she uses her mind to absorb the plight of the character and exaggerates it for comic effect. She must’ve had attention deficit disorder, way before it was ever diagnosed in people. She’s extremely energetic, sexy, funny and strong. I get exhausted watching her, and I want more/more/more.

7. MARIE DRESSLER is basically a character actress who fooled everyone into thinking she was lead star material, and she was given some great roles. You have to be darn good to become the country’s biggest box office attraction when you look like you’ve just been hit by a truck. Marie’s ability to mix pathos and comedy, sometimes within the same line of dialogue, is what makes it work. We’ll never see another star like her again. And that’s a shame.

8. BARBARA STANWYCK never gave a bad performance. Ever. What I like about her is that she worked across many genres and she understood the trends of the business better than anyone else. Also, when we watch her work on screen we see the real-life Ruby, before she became movie star Barbara: a tough girl who survived the abuses of foster homes and is making the world see how tough she is. She breaks my heart every time.

9. JEAN ARTHUR is the sweetest movie star of all time. Painfully shy in real life, and someone who didn’t like to look at herself in the mirror, Jean radiates a fragile warmth on screen. She also had a knack for picking good material, good directors and good costars. She made more classic films than most. In fact, there is not one clunker in her filmography. With the exception of one or two mediocre films, everything she did is regarded as a classic.

10. GINGER ROGERS  was one of the screen’s most versatile performers. She was doing racy pre-code films in the early 30s, then in the mid-30s she hooked up with Fred Astaire for a series of landmark musicals, then she dropped Fred and ventured into comedies and melodramas, earning an Oscar for best actress. She was a life-long Republican (in liberal Hollywood), and she was not afraid to be herself, stand up for what she believed in and deliver the goods.

11. JUDY GARLAND could sing, Judy could dance, and Judy could have a breakdown on camera and you would never know it, because she was too busy giving of herself to entertain you. She’s one of MGM’s most abused stars (within the studio system) but one of the public’s most adored. Her career on film was too short in my opinion. She died in her late 40s. If she had lived as long as some of the others, think of the other cinematic gifts we would’ve had. We were robbed.

12. DORIS DAY  had some of the worst scripts: silly puffball comedies and sugary musicals thin on story. But in the midst of it all is a really solid entertainer. When she gets the chance to really act, as she does for Hitchcock in one of his films, she’s great to watch.

13. MARIA OUSPENSKAYA. The great European-born stage actress was brought to Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s as a character actress. She’s one of the most reliable women on screen. You can see her teaching her younger costars while she delivers a line and feeds them their next moment. This is evident between her and a young James Stewart in ‘The Mortal Storm’ and with her and Bob Cummings in ‘Kings Row.’ She could play aristocrats and peasants with ease. A truly versatile, dynamic actress.

14. OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND  sued the studios and won. In fact, she helped end the bondage of actors under studio tyranny in the mid-40s. It changed the whole business, and it changed her prospects. No longer was she playing second fiddle to Errol Flynn. Now she was a freelance artist getting great roles, and she soon won two Oscars as best actress. She had not only tenacity, but talent. And she believed in herself enough to prove it.

15. INGRID BERGMAN had ambition. She was already a star in her native Sweden, when she mastered the English language and came to Hollywood. Then, she mastered Italian and went to Rome and made films there. She was a maverick spirit who had more control over her performances than many of her contemporaries. Probably, to her, acting was a science, and she perfected and patented her own special formula.

16. MYRNA LOY began at the end of the silent era. She had a large number of hit films in the 1930s and into the 1940s. When her career seemed to wind down in the early 50s, she went through a revival, because her style was most in tune with the techniques of the method actors’ movement. I think her likable nature, her huge box office stature and her ability to adapt in Hollywood added to her longevity and timeless quality.

17. BETTE DAVIS is good when she feels safe and has a good director and good piece of material to work with. She sort of presents caricatures of women, but within her performances are very strong decisions about the character and the motivation.  She also brings an ironic sympathy to parts where she is supposed to be hardened and make us dislike the role she is playing.

18. SYLVIA SIDNEY. This stage-trained talent had several starring roles in the 1930s and 1940s. I think she preferred the theatre to Hollywood, but she returned to films sporadically, and she had some memorable character turns and cameos in later years. I love some of her work at the beginning stages of her career. Her eyes are so expressive, and you get to see the world reflected in such unique ways.

19. CORNELIA SKINNER. If there’s one role that can make a career, it’s Ms. Skinner’s role in ‘The Uninvited.’ I have never seen such an evil woman on screen. She’s superb. She’s purely wicked and brutal. How does an actress do that without it becoming a cardboard Cruella DeVille?

20. DAME MAY WHITTY was a renowned British stage actress who made movies in the later period of her career. She could play the lovable elderly woman who was the victim of a psychopath. Then, in her next movie, she could play the psychotic role herself. You never know if you’re watching good or evil, until you’re about half-way into one of her pictures. She takes you on a journey with her roles.

21. DAME JUDITH ANDERSON  has a level of precision in her performances. If she’s doing a bit part or a more expanded supporting role, she is always pitch perfect and there are no false moments with her. And she makes it look effortless. What’s interesting about Dame Judith is that she could’ve been made up as a more glamorous leading woman, but she was put in these character parts, and it sort of gives her an advantage over less-attractive character actresses.

22. MARY ASTOR. Like Judith Anderson, Mary Astor was another leading actress type who carved out a niche in supporting roles. That was not by studio design but by Ms. Astor’s own choosing. She did not want the pressure of having to sell a movie and preferred to leave that to other actresses. But still, MGM would occasionally convince her to take a lead or loan her out to other studios that gave her a lead role. She did carry a few really good pictures, especially the ones she did with Humphrey Bogart.

23. KAY FRANCIS  glides through her roles as if acting is the easiest thing in the world, when we all know it isn’t. Sometimes I turn the sound down and just watch her move on screen as if it’s a silent film. She’s charming and a real diva. Her melodramas are often considered classic tearjerkers, and she had some of the most dashing leading men in Hollywood to star alongside her. She’s an interesting combination of style and substance.

24. ETHEL BARRYMORE. I haven’t seen an Ethel Barrymore performance on film I disliked. In fact, she makes me curious about the techniques of acting. The way she does a woman in peril or a death scene is very compelling. In one movie, she has only six minutes of screentime, and that’s near the end of the film. But somehow she steals it from the other actors who have labored for 84 minutes before she got there. I like how she won the battle against ageism in Hollywood. She was appearing in starring roles into advanced age, and the year before she died, she was the lead actor in her final film. I guess the public didn’t want to let her go. Neither do I.

25. HATTIE MCDANIEL. We all know she was the first African American to win an Oscar for playing the maid in Gone with the Wind. But her career was so much richer than that one performance. True, she played the domestic servant role in most of her movies, but it’s how she did it. She is truly great in ‘They Died with Their Boots,’ a western with Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland. The way she turns a line and brings out the humor in a plain piece of dialogue is truly spectacular. She redefines what it means to be a character actor.

26. NINA FOCH had a cool demeanor in several film noir masterpieces in the 1940s, and she continued to do character parts in the 1950s and beyond. She later became an acting teacher, and her influence increased. I like how she plays a role as both a victim and a victor. Her characters struggle against the cruelties of the world, but they overcome these obstacles because of her level-headed approach, even when she is ironically in the wrong.

27. JULIE HARRIS  reminds me of Ingrid Bergman. I think she’s another scientific actress. She looks at all the elements, then boils it down to see what works and what doesn’t work. Even when she has a role or piece of action or dialogue that doesn’t exactly work, she uses it in such a way that brings a greater truth to the situation. I love how she puts her unique stamp on roles, regardless of genre. She never serves the plot. She uses the plot to gain insights about character and make us relate to her and what her character is going through. I never know if that’s Julie Harris bringing something from her own life into the role, or Julie Harris taking something from the role and applying it to her real life. She’s one of the best stage-trained actresses of her generation, if not THE best.

28. HELEN HAYES could do scorching pre-code roles in the early 1930s, then she could do neurotic women in social message dramas of the 1950s, then ultimately she ventured into warm character parts in Disney comedies of the 1970s. It doesn’t matter what phase of Helen Hayes’ career we look at, because she’s consistently good through the years. I like how she uses the hysterics of the plot to convey a real, subtle moment of understanding for the character. She brings it up full-throttle, then she slowly lowers the boom, and it’s devastating to watch her and the others around her.

29. LAUREN BACALL was the quintessential glamor girl/starlet who wanted to be taken serious, so she really applied herself and became a great actress. She never lost her good looks, even as she aged, so she really developed herself in two areas: as a movie star; and as a solid actor. She’s worked in a variety of genres, with a variety of directors and costars. She plays the survivor and she shows us how stylish and fun that can be.

30. ELIZABETH TAYLOR  grew up on camera. She went through all the phases of her life with the movie-going public. There’s a familiarity and an intimacy with her. Like Lauren Bacall, she develops into a serious actress, a worthy rival to any stage-trained contemporary. She goes through unique phases of her career, especially those films she made with Montgomery Clift and Richard Burton. She also has that quality of fragile beauty that Vivien Leigh had.

31. NORMA SHEARER  married Irving Thalberg, the wonder boy of the MGM studios in the 1930s. As a result, she was given first choice of the studio’s prestige pictures. She would often bump Joan Crawford out of a role. Because of her many hit films, Norma became a bankable commodity. She was very chic and gave MGM its greatest dose of glamour. When Thalberg died, she retired at a young age and focused on raising her children. She owned a large chunk of MGM by that point, and before they bought her out (and even after she sold), she continued to find new starlets for the studio. She plucked Janet Leigh from obscurity.

32. MARY PICKFORD was one of the first major international film stars, joining the ranks of Charlie Chaplin and her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Although the film business has changed a lot since the first days of Mary Pickford pictures, the fact that people still know her name means that her reputation has lasted at least 100 years (and many of her earliest films are intact). What’s interesting about a Pickford performance is that she plays girls and young women with a wide-eyed innocence in the midst of an ever-changing world (before and after the Great War). She maintained this youthful image for most of her career and hardly seemed to age. She finally ventured into talkies and made the transition into more adult roles.

33. LILLIAN GISH was one of the silent era’s most famous female stars. She made many hit films and worked with top directors of the day, including D.W. Griffith, her close friend and mentor. She was still young in 1929/1930 when she made the transition to sound and did some successful talkies. Eventually, her career led into character roles in the 1940s and 1950s, and she was always involved with a prestige film of one sort or another. She stayed true to form, till the very end, appearing in a lead role in ‘The Whales of August’ in 1987, when she was 93!

34. CLAUDETTE COLBERT.  Not counting the Oscar win for ‘It Happened One Night,’ Claudette Colbert made a significant impact on the Hollywood film industry. She played one of the versions of Cleopatra. Then, she became known for a series of screwball comedies she made, first with director Ernst Lubitsch, and next with director Mitchell Leisen. Most of those films were huge hits, and Claudette was one of the highest paid actresses of her day. In the 1940s and 1950s, she transitioned into war films and other social message dramas. Her career ended when she was unable to adapt to the trend of method acting in the 1950s. But she had already completed 20 years worth of memorable film work and a lasting reputation had been guaranteed.

35. IRENE DUNNE had an incredible combination of musical talent and skills in both comedy and drama. In short, she was another one of those multi-talented ladies who ‘did it all.’ Some of Irene’s best work comes when she partners up with Cary Grant in a few classic screwball comedies of the 1930s and early 1940s. She turned in memorable performances in the mid-40s playing mothers in nostalgic family dramas, losing some of the sexiness of her earlier songbird persona. There’s something very particular about an Irene Dunne performance. She doesn’t commit to any action on camera, unless she knows exactly how it will end. As a result, it’s easy to trust her performances and know that there is always some sort of emotionally satisfying pay-off.

36. ROSALIND RUSSELL  moves effortlessly between screwball comedy and serious drama in the late 30s and 40s. She seems to adapt easily to changes in film acting styles through the years without losing her personality or particular flair. In fact, when you look at the filmographies of most actresses from her era, you can see how smart her acting choices were and why she outlasted so many others. She continued to draw big box office for thirty years, and if it had not been for a decline in her health and her death at a relatively young age, it’s logical to assume that she would’ve gone right on making good films.

37. ALICE FAYE.  A lot of people don’t know who Alice Faye is today. And that’s a shame, because she was the biggest musical star at 20th Century Fox from the mid-30s to the mid-40s. But her discography is arguably more important than her filmography. Through her films, she launched dozens of hit recordings, more than any other star at that time. A lot of those songs became classics thanks to Alice Faye’s warm, personable delivery.

38. BETTY HUTTON  is best known for her role in the big-budget MGM musical of Irving Berlin’s ‘Annie Get Your Gun.’ But she had a very successful film career for ten years leading up to Annie. What is great about Betty Hutton is her sheer passion for performing and show business. I think she may’ve worked harder than any other singer/dancer/actress of her generation. She never gives anything less than the absolute limit. She also has a great combination of sex appeal, vocal ability and comic talent.

39. GREER GARSON. When Norma Shearer stepped down at MGM, the studio looked to British import Greer Garson as a replacement for its more prestige films. Greer was up to the task, and thanks to her roles with frequent costar Walter Pidgeon, she became a very popular star and had earned an Oscar for ‘Mrs. Miniver.’ However, by the mid-1950s, her film career waned. She could still be seen in big budget productions until the late 1960s.

40. ETHEL WATERS is sort of in the same mold as Hattie McDaniel, having been stuck playing domestic roles. But I think Ethel has a quality that Hattie does not. She’s a very soulful singer, and her work seems less comic, and much more poignant. She seems to have hit her stride in the late 40s and early 50s in social message dramas like ‘Pinky’ and ‘Member of the Wedding,’ which she performed successfully on Broadway before doing it on film. I wish there were more actresses like Ethel Waters today, and in recent times, perhaps Esther Rolle comes closest to that type of quality.

41. LANA TURNER  was the consummate studio starlet. But critics were surprised to find she had a natural flair for acting. She bowled them all over with her sordid performance as a femme fatale in ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice.’ Her personal life was just as sordid and involved many real-life scandals. But she was one of MGM’s biggest stars and she made some worthwhile films, as well as the typical studio fluff. In the mid 50s, she really hit her stride in melodramas, and her film career continued successfully into the mid 60s. She had survived a tumultuous personal life and the ups and downs of life in Hollywood. You go, girl.

42. GRETA GARBO was known by her last name. Doesn’t that tell you something? Garbo was hired by MGM and helped Hollywood usher in a new era of exotic movie stars, after people like Theda Bara and Clara Bow had retired. Other studios soon had their own alluring stars (Anna Sten for Sam Goldwyn and Marlene Dietrich at Paramount). And while these imitations could act, there was only one Garbo. Fans flocked to see her in ‘Camille’ and ‘Ninotchka.’ Strangely she grew restless with Hollywood and fearing her time before the cameras was about to come to an end, she walked away from it all in 1942 and never returned. This added to the Garbo mystique.

43. JOAN CRAWFORD is a legend. A lot has been written about her private life, but if we just focus on her film career, we find a lot of interesting phases. She starts as the mad jazz flapper in the 1920s, then she becomes a more sophisticated leading lady in the 1930s, and by the 1940s, she has gone into a series of successful film noir productions. She does a big western in the mid 50s and some melodramas. Then, she wraps her career up in the 60s with some horror classics. She was truly one of the screen’s most versatile, durable stars. Maybe that can be attributed to her real-life ambition, but I think it’s an indicator of her talent. She specialized in playing risky parts that other actresses were afraid to take. She didn’t seem to mind alienating the audience by playing against type and shattering everyone’s expectations of her. She was bold.

44. JANE WYMAN was a very versatile performer. We don’t think of Jane Wyman as a comedienne or a singer. Instead, we think of her as a serious dramatic actress, perhaps due to her Oscar win in ‘Johnny Belinda’ or the great Sirk melodramas she did in the 50s. But she did very well in lighter fare with Bing Crosby and David Niven. And she also worked for Disney in the 1960s, turning in some memorable performances in family films. What I like about Jane Wyman is her adaptability and the integrity and professionalism she conveys.

45. DONNA REED was more than the TV sitcom mom she became in the late 50s and 60s. As early as 1940, she was being given a chance to show her serious acting talent in gangster pictures and war films. Then, came some film noir and westerns. The career highlight for her was in ‘From Here to Eternity.’ I like how Donna Reed was able to work in so many genres and able to retain the wholesome Iowa girl qualities she first brought to Hollywood.

46. JEAN HAGEN burst on to the film scene in the late 1940s. She seemed to waste no time, building a resume of strong supporting roles. She could be a dependable girl friday or a ditzy moll. She worked on many high-profile projects with many top-name directors. She also was not afraid to take risks. She quit TV’s ‘Make Room for Daddy’ to rededicate herself to stage and film roles. It was not career suicide as some may’ve expected, but rather, it led to a resurgence for her in the late 50s and early 60s.

47. JEANNE CRAIN became one of producer Darryl Zanuck’s most successful starlets in the late 1940s at Fox. But Jeanne Crain was not just another pretty girl, and she could really act. This is evidenced in her Oscar-nominated role as a mulatto in ‘Pinky.’ She later worked with Cary Grant in ‘People Will Talk’ and with Glenn Ford in ‘The Fastest Gun Alive.’ She brought a strong sense of values to her film portrayals.

48. MAUREEN O’HARA had several interesting, and successful, film partnerships. She worked with director John Ford and costar John Wayne in several films, becoming a life-long friend of both men. She also had a life-long friendship with Charles Laughton and made several important films with him. Plus, she did a series of pirate films with screen idols Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Tyrone Power. I find her work and her choices interesting because she usually appeared in male-dominated action films, adventures films, or westerns. She was not known for frilly comedies or women’s melodramas. She was a strong performer who was very feminine but fit right in with the guys.

49. LUCILLE BALL. Everyone loves Lucy, or at least many people do. Yet the Lucy they know is usually the one from 50s television. But Ms. Ball had a lengthy film career, dating back to the mid-30s. She appears in a variety of genres, and she works her way up from bit parts to supporting roles and finally, lead roles in some very good film noir from the late 40s. Plus there is her comic output with Bob Hope in the four films they did together. It’s interesting to see early glimpses of Lucille on film, especially her work for RKO. She eventually wound up owning RKO in the late 50s, as the first female executive in charge of a major Hollywood studio. She arrived.

50. AGNES MOORHEAD starts her great film career with Orson Welles in ‘Citizen Kane,’ but she wastes no time going to work for the studio system and becoming a regularly featured character actress in many prestigious productions. She has a vast filmography, and seemingly, no part was too big or too small. She plays everything; a nasty aristocrat; a rural caregiver; an unhinged mother; and a subdued suburbanite with a great deal of flair and ease. I am never bored watching this woman on film.

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GREER GARSON: PART 1

American film mogul Louis B. Mayer ‘accidentally’ discovered Greer Garson in London when he went to the wrong stage play in 1938. He was immediately charmed by her and ventured backstage to meet her and her mother after the performance. Soon Greer found herself under contract to Mr. Mayer’s studio in Hollywood. In fact, it was such a quick deal that Greer barely had time to notify producers of the stage play that she had to bow out, because Mr. Mayer now legally was in charge of her services. She and her mum were quickly on a flight to Los Angeles.

After arriving in sunny California, Greer reported to the studio lot in Culver City where she underwent a series of screen tests. Unfortunately, the tests did not help her get cast in any MGM pictures right away. In fact, her career floundered, because Mr. Mayer was busy with his more important female stars: Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Myrna Loy. Most of the studio directors that had seen her screen tests found Greer too old for ingenue roles and quite frankly, a bit too tall. There was also a problem with photographing her face, though Mr. Mayer insisted that the best make-up and lighting could take care of that.

Tomorrow: Greer’s career in Hollywood is nearly over before it starts…

GREER GARSON: PART 2

While Greer was trying to get cast in her first film at Metro, she began to experience chronic back pain. In her younger days, she had suffered a terrible injury, and every so often, she experienced excruciating backaches. Her mother continued to look after her during this time, but Greer was beginning to feel depressed. She needed to work in order to get her mind off the pain, and being under contract for Mr. Mayer was not what had been promised.  However, things would soon change.

GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1939) with Robert Donat & John Mills

Back at the studio, most of the actresses that were suitable for the small but significant part of a schoolteacher’s wife in an upcoming adaptation of James Hilton’s book, Goodbye, Mr. Chips!, graciously turned it down.

In fact, Mr. Mayer’s first choice for the role of Mrs. Chips was Myrna Loy, but Myrna definitely did not want to do it. Sam Wood, the director assigned to the project, had the unenviable task of finding an actress already under contract who would be willing to take a stab at the part. He spent hours going over screen tests, and he came upon Greer’s, which had been filmed eleven and a half months earlier, after she first moved to California.

Meanwhile, Greer had only two weeks left on her contract. She and her mother had initially signed a one year agreement. Thinking they had reached a dead end, they had already begun to pack and were about to go back to England to resume stage work, when Sam Wood hired her for GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS. The ironic thing was that the movie would be shot in England anyway, so what did Greer have to lose?  She said yes.

With encouragement from her mother and insights about the character, Greer made the most of her screen time. She portrays a young woman who warms up a cold-hearted teacher played by Robert Donat. This was their only film together. Donat would receive the Oscar for his performance, and Greer would receive her first nomination.

Tomorrow: A new contract for Greer…

GREER GARSON: PART 3

Mr. Mayer, who had allowed his protege to languish for almost a year, credited himself with discovering Greer Garson. The original contract had ended, and he was not about to let her get away. Again, he played up to Greer and her mother, and convinced this great new actress to sign a second contract and stay at MGM.

REMEMBER? (1939) with Robert Taylor & Lew Ayres

In order to capitalize upon her success (and Oscar nomination) in GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS, the studio rushed Greer into a movie that was not best suited to her talents. She performed admirably in the farce REMEMBER?, despite a far-fetched script.

This was the first of two pictures that Greer made with the studio’s hot male star, Robert Taylor. Norman Z. McLeod was the director of this story about a couple that gets amnesia and conveniently forgets they had fallen out of love. REMEMBER? did not do well at the box office. Greer voiced her apprehensions about the project before filming took place but was coaxed into doing it.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1940) with Laurence Olivier & Mary Boland

MGM intended to star Norma Shearer in this picture with Clark Gable. When those plans fell through, Laurence Olivier was cast, and word reached Louis B. Mayer that Vivien Leigh was desperate to costar with Olivier in Mayer’s high-polish adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. However, the studio boss decided that this vehicle was perfect for Greer, who was already becoming typecast in genteel parts.

Greer plays one of five husband-hunting sisters in the story, and the film performed very well at the box office. The project marked the only time that Greer worked with Laurence Olivier on screen. However, they had previously done stage work together back in England. In fact, Olivier was the one who helped her get her first lead role on the London stage.

Tomorrow: Greer’s first film in Technicolor…

GREER GARSON: PART 4

BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST (1941) with Walter Pidgeon & Marsha Hunt

Although she had made a color test a year earlier, this is the first time audiences would glimpse Greer and her gorgeous red hair in Technicolor. Journalists often described her hair color as burnt orange, but it was actually red. Growing up, Greer hated having red hair and dreamed of changing it. She wanted to dye it raven black, but she realized her original natural hair was custom made for Technicolor. It became a source of pride for her, especially when she met fans in public.

The actress earned her second Oscar nomination for her work in BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST. It was the first time she had played a mother on screen. This film began her illustrious association with frequent costar Walter Pidgeon. They would make nine pictures together at MGM.

WHEN LADIES MEET (1941) with Joan Crawford & Robert Taylor

Next, Greer starred with Joan Crawford in MGM’s WHEN LADIES MEET. Robert Taylor once again played the romantic lead. It was a remake of an earlier MGM hit, and Greer was assigned Ann Harding’s old role.

At this point, audiences were becoming more familiar with Greer as a movie presence.  Mr. Mayer was carefully casting her in productions with other big-name stars to increase the likelihood of her appearing in hits and to ensure that she is developing a following.  But at this point in the game, the fact remains that the studio is making pictures that feature Greer Garson.  Of course, soon all of that would change, and MGM would be making Greer Garson pictures.

Tomorrow: the role of a lifetime; and a monumental award…

GREER GARSON: PART 5

MRS. MINIVER (1942) with Walter Pidgeon & Teresa Wright

Because of her performance in MRS. MINIVER, Greer Garson is forever associated with the role of a heroic, self-sacrificing mother.  She became the number one actress almost overnight, and she held this position during the war years, appearing in a succession of MGM hits tailored to her specific talents.

There seemed to be no end to the accolades.  President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill both voiced approval of MRS. MINIVER and believed the film was in the best interests of the movie-going public.  Meanwhile, Greer was selected to appear on the cover of Time magazine, and she was featured in countless other publications on a regular basis.

She had reached the top of her profession, and her hard work had paid off.  She consistently ranked atop movie polls in the U.S. and in many countries abroad.  But the icing on the cake was even more delicious: Greer received her third Oscar nomination for playing MRS. MINIVER, and this time she was named the best actress.

A very proud Mr. Mayer said that he wanted to put Greer’s trophy on display in his office.  Of course, Greer kindly refused.  Mayer showed his respect for Greer’s achievement by having her sit next to him that year in the studio cast photo.  If you look carefully at the image, you will notice that on one side is Katharine Hepburn, and on the other side is Greer.

Originally MRS. MINIVER was intended for Norma Shearer, but she disliked the idea of playing the mother of a grown son on screen.  Shearer’s own son, Irving Thalberg Jr. was just 12 years old at the time.  Later that year Norma Shearer left MGM and motion pictures altogether.  Greta Garbo had also retired, and Joan Crawford would soon move over to Warner Brothers.  This paved the way for Greer to assume the throne as The First Lady of MGM.

Tomorrow:  Greer falls in love with her much-younger costar, Richard Ney…tongues wag, and Mr. Mayer attempts his hand at damage control…

GREER GARSON: PART 6

Just as Norma Shearer had done before her, Greer Garson also objected to the idea of playing the mother of a grown son in MRS. MINIVER.  The actress could easily appear older on screen, as she had done in BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST– that was not the problem.  Instead, Greer voiced different concerns.  Liberties had been taken with the story, and Greer felt it did not make sense that the Minivers would have very young children and then one much older who was coming home from college.  MGM’s screenwriters had made this change and aged one of the boys in order to facilitate a romantic storyline featuring Teresa Wright.  Despite Greer’s objections to this, she was convinced by Mr. Mayer to take the part.

The actor hired to play the Miniver son was Richard Ney, and he had recently visited the lot to see a friend and wound up being put under contract at MGM.  This was his first important role.

Since Ney was new to the studio, he did not understand the pecking order and while everyone else put Greer up on a pedestal, he was much more casual and conversational with her.  She welcomed his candidness, seeing it as a refreshing change and the chance to develop a more personal bond with a costar.  However, Ney had been instantly smitten with Greer, and he wasted no time revealing his romantic intentions towards her.  In front of others, he began to openly pursue her.  Flattered by the attention, she was overtaken by his charms, and they began an unusual courtship during filming.

Greer was 37 years old when MRS. MINIVER was filmed, and Ney was 26.  Mr. Mayer quickly learned about the off-camera relationship between Greer and Ney.  He insisted that no publicity about it reach audiences until after MRS. MINIVER had completed its theatrical run.  He felt it would be distasteful for movie patrons to learn Mrs. Miniver and her son were in love.  And that they were planning to get married.

Tomorrow: The Garson-Ney marriage is in trouble.

GREER GARSON: PART 7

At first, Greer Garson and Richard Ney kept their relationship private.  Greer was not in the habit of being a secretive person, but she did value her privacy.  She was also honoring Mr. Mayer’s wishes that the romantic feelings she had developed for a somewhat younger costar be kept from the public as much as possible.

Not long after filming was completed on MRS. MINIVER, Ney’s movie career would be put on hold when he went off to the war.  The distance did not diminish his feelings for Greer, and while he was on a two-day leave from the military in 1943, the couple married.  This was Greer’s second marriage.  She been married in England, but the union was short-lived.  When Mr. Mayer hired Greer, she was still married, but now she had finally obtained a divorce and wed Ney.

Hollywood gossip spun out of control.  It was speculated that the marriage would not survive due to the age difference between Greer and Ney.  While away at war, Ney had grown a moustache.  He did not shave it off when he came back from overseas duty, possibly to make himself look older and more compatible with Greer.

Despite on-going reports of an imminent break-up, the two managed to remain married for several years.  They seemed to be happy and still in love around the time of their third anniversary in 1946.  However, tales persisted that the couple was about to separate.  To quell the rumor mill, MGM’s publicity department arranged for magazine articles to be written and photographers to be sent to the Garson-Ney beach home.  The goal was to reassure everyone that the marriage was not in danger of collapse and that it was, indeed, successful.  Of course, this would not be the truth.

There were serious troubles, and one of the greatest obstacles was the fact that Greer was more successful than Ney in the industry.  In order to advance his own film career, when Ney returned from the war, he left MGM.  He immediately found employment at 20^th Century Fox and other studios. Perhaps he wanted to get out from under his wife’s shadow?

Tomorrow: Greer is cast with Ronald Colman…Mr. Mayer wants the actress to show off her legs, but not too much.

GREER GARSON: PART 8

RANDOM HARVEST (1942) with Ronald Colman & Susan Peters

RANDOM HARVEST was Greer Garson’s next film at the studio.  It paired Greer with dashing Ronald Colman, and the picture was just as great a success as MRS. MINIVER had been.  In fact, it played for three months at Radio City Hall and kept Greer at the top of the movie polls.  She would stay in the top ten of these box office surveys for the next five years.

 

During the production of RANDOM HARVEST, MGM—or more accurately, Mr. Mayer— tinkered with Greer’s image.  The goal was to try making her appear a bit more alluring.  To accomplish this, he would feature Greer showing off her legs in one scene early in the picture where Colman’s character first meets her in a dance hall.  Of course, the studio did not want to damage her carefully cultivated and wholesome image, so three different screen tests were done in which she wore kilts of three different lengths, each one exposing a different amount of flesh above the knee.

 

Ultimately, Mr. Mayer decided on the middle-length garment, and that is the one she was filmed wearing in the short but somewhat provocative scene.

Tomorrow: Greer receives a gold ring while filming MADAME CURIE; and there is one thing that does not happen on the set of a Garson picture…

GREER GARSON: PART 9

MADAME CURIE (1944) with Walter Pidgeon & Henry Travers

Greer Garson had just found out what her next role would be at Mr. Mayer’s studio.  She was very excited about it, in fact.  Mr. Mayer was giving her the opportunity to star in a biographical picture and portray a real-life person, Madame Marie Curie. She immersed herself in the project entirely.  With the help of MGM’s research department, she spent months reading and learning everything she could about the life of the renowned scientist.  Greer’s efforts would, of course, pay off.  For her work in this film, Greer received her fourth Oscar nomination.  The production also paired her again with Walter Pidgeon who played Pierre Curie.

Greer had a very special experience during the making of this motion picture.  One day the director, Mervyn LeRoy, and stage technicians surprised the actress by presenting her with a gold ring that had ruby chips set in it.  She wore it with pride for the rest of the production.  They also gave her a special wooden rack to hold all of her favorite teas.

One technician acknowledged that the crew had given Greer these gifts because she was deeply respected.  He remarked that she was a lady, and they knew how to treat a lady.  Also, he said the men working behind the cameras never swore in her presence, because foul language was not considered appropriate in front of a lady.  On other pictures, profanity was a frequent occurrence and even some of the lead actresses cursed a blue streak, but this did not happen on the set of a Greer Garson picture.

Tomorrow: Mr. Mayer gives Greer a raise; a new costar will change her life forever…

GREER GARSON: PART 10

MRS. PARKINGTON (1944) with Walter Pidgeon & Edward Arnold

MRS. PARKINGTON went before the cameras at MGM beginning in March 1944 and wrapped production in June.  It was based on the novel of the same name by Louis Bromfield.  MRS. PARKINGTON is an ambitious drama that traces the journey of a Colorado hotel maid, played by Greer, who eventually becomes a society matron.  Walter Pidgeon plays the wealthy, charismatic man she marries.  The film, which had its New York premiere in October, then went into wide release a month later, was a hit.  It continued Greer’s winning streak at the studio, netting her another Oscar nomination.  Every year since 1941, Greer had been nominated.

This particular part requires her to grow older over the course of several decades.  While critics felt she did not age appreciably in BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST a few years earlier, the make-up department seems to get it right this time, and the nuances that Greer adds to the role make it a most convincing performance.  Audiences seemed to enjoy it.  In fact, the picture performed so well at the box office, that Louis B. Mayer rewarded Greer for her succession of hit movies by offering her a new seven-year contract with a hefty pay raise.

Greer developed close associations with two costars during the making of this picture.  One important friendship was with Agnes Moorehead, who was also nominated for an Oscar in MRS. PARKINGTON as best supporting actress.  Miss Moorehead would be cast in several more Greer Garson pictures.  The second noteworthy friendship was with Peter Lawford, who had been cast in a small role.  Lawford would play another more substantial part in a later Garson picture.  But more importantly, he would play a significant role in Greer’s personal life after the dissolution of her marriage to Richard Ney.

Tomorrow: Mr. Mayer casts Greer with Hollywood’s hot new star, Gregory Peck…

GREER GARSON: PART 11

THE VALLEY OF DECISION (1945) with Gregory Peck & Donald Crisp

In THE VALLEY OF DECISION Greer Garson once again plays an upwardly mobile housemaid, as she had done so well in MRS. PARKINGTON.  This time the character is Irish, reflecting the actress’ own real-life heritage.  It is a typically melodramatic part, with her character falling in love with an employer’s son.

Gregory Peck, by arrangement with David Selznick, is cast as the love interest.   This is the only time he appears with Greer in a movie.  THE VALLEY OF DECISION includes a rich assortment of character actors.  The distinguished supporting cast includes Donald Crisp, Lionel Barrymore, Preston Foster, Marsha Hunt, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, Dan Duryea, Jessica Tandy, Marshall Thompson, Dean Stockwell, and Connie Gilchrist.  Undoubtedly, the film was one of Mr. Mayer’s more prestigious productions of 1945.

It was a huge hit with audiences, and Greer earned her sixth Oscar nomination.  It was her fifth consecutive nod for best actress since BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST, a record tied with Bette Davis.  It would be another fifteen years before she would receive her seventh and final nomination.

Tomorrow: Clark Gable is back from the war, and Mr. Mayer has him in a new picture with Greer…

GREER GARSON: PART 12

ADVENTURE (1945) with Clark Gable & Joan Blondell

After finishing production on the picture with Gregory Peck, Greer learned that her next film would be called ADVENTURE, and it would team her with one of the studio’s biggest male stars.  Mr. Mayer was very fond of Greer and he was eager to pair her with Clark Gable, who had just come back from the war.  The somewhat improbable story would have Greer playing a librarian, with Gable as the rough-living sailor her character would marry.  The script was written by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, based on the novel The Anointed by Clyde Brion Davis.  Rounding out the cast in this project would be Joan Blondell and Thomas Mitchell in supporting roles.  One of Gable’s favorite directors, Victor Fleming, was chosen to helm the production.  The film had a longer shooting schedule than most of Greer’s other MGM pictures, stretching from May until late September 1945.  It would be released shortly afterward at the very end of December 1945.

The publicity department seemed to work overtime promoting it.  Slogans famously proclaimed, ‘Gable’s back and Greer’s got him.’  Supposedly, the leading actor wanted the catch phrase to be ‘Gable put the arson in Garson!’  Without missing a beat, the sharp-witted actress replied, ‘No.  I am the one who put the able in Gable.’

Unfortunately, ADVENTURE was not as clever as its leading lady.  Brennan’s script was rather uneven and the film did not seem to resonate strongly with moviegoers.  While it performed respectably at the box office, the critics generally dismissed it, though Joan Blondell received consistent praise for her performance.

Greer was certainly not happy with the way the film turned out, but she had other more important worries.  As hard as she tried, her marriage to Richard Ney was not working out.

Tomorrow: Greer obtains a divorce from Richard Ney…

GREER GARSON: PART 13

Between motion picture assignments, Greer Garson would attempt to work on the problems that were threatening to destroy her marriage to Richard Ney.  She spent time enjoying a quiet life at her beach home and supporting Ney’s efforts at acting and music.  The marriage, however, was under considerable strain and Greer began to realize that it would not last.

It was probably best that Richard Ney was no longer working at the Culver City lot where Greer still reigned as queen.  The relationship was becoming rather difficult, to say the least.

Ney blamed Greer’s mother for the problems in the marriage, saying that his mother-in-law had always lived with them and that they never had a chance as a couple the entire time they were wed.  Of course, Greer’s mother did not appear in the photos that were featured in all those magazines where the two seemed so happy.

Whatever the cause may have been for the end of the relationship, the couple had agreed to file for divorce.  Each would move on with their lives and careers.  Richard Ney would work steadily during the next few decades (mostly on television), but he would never costar with Greer again.  Meanwhile, his soon-to-be ex-wife would begin work on her latest assignment at MGM.  Greer Garson was not one for sulking or dwelling about unpleasantness.

Tomorrow: It’s Mr. Mayer Vs. George Cukor on the set of Greer’s next movie…

GREER GARSON: PART 14

DESIRE ME (1947) with Robert Mitchum & Richard Hart

The next picture Greer Garson made at MGM was called DESIRE ME.  It was unlike most of the actress’ other pictures at the studio, because of its contemporary setting.  In this case, Greer is a woman whose husband has gone off to fight in World War II.  During his absence, another man appears and tries to take over.

MGM borrowed Robert Mitchum from RKO to play the husband in this intriguing story.  It should have been a hit.  It had all the right ingredients for a hit.  Maybe Greer’s audience was not used to seeing her in a potboiler, or maybe it’s because Mr. Mayer tinkered with the story.

Production was plagued by a series of on-set problems. Originally, George Cukor was the director but asked that his name be taken off the credits when Mr. Mayer reshot some scenes. To this day, the film has no official director.

Also, Robert Montgomery, who had been cast in the role of the other man, quit the film. He had a terrible disagreement with Cukor over the interpretation of his role and walked off the job. This effectively ended Montgomery’s long tenure at the studio and association with Mr. Mayer. He would never appear with Greer on screen.

 Tomorrow: A bewitching new costar; and Greer’s near-death experience while filming DESIRE ME…

GREER GARSON: PART 15

Greer Garson had just learned who her new costar would be in DESIRE ME.  The role, vacated by Robert Montgomery due to his falling out with George Cukor and Mr. Mayer, would now be recast with newcomer Richard Hart.  Hart was fresh from his role as a witch boy in the Broadway production of ‘Dark of the Moon.’

In fact, Hart had so impressed the studio’s talent scouts that Mr. Mayer did not even have him screen tested and rushed him right into the production of this Garson picture.  Hart would appear in two more movies at MGM before his untimely death four years later.

As issues with direction and casting were beginning to be resolved, another major catastrophe occurred.  One day Greer was filming a scene along the ocean in Carmel, California.  Suddenly, a large tidal wave engulfed her, and she nearly drowned.  Fortunately, a skipper had been cruising by on his boat and he rescued her.  For his heroism, he was rewarded a bit part in the movie.

Tomorrow: Mr. Mayer tries to thaw ice princess Greer…

GREER GARSON: PART 16

JULIA MISBEHAVES (1948) with Walter Pidgeon & Peter Lawford

Greer Garson’s life and career were undergoing radical changes when this film was produced. First, Mr. Mayer was trying to thaw her icy image by casting her in a screwball comedy. He had attempted to do the same thing several years earlier with Greta Garbo in TWO-FACED LADY and with Norma Shearer in HER CARDBOARD LOVER. Both those films flopped at the box office, and the actresses never made any more movies at MGM or elsewhere. Greer was determined to make sure this did not happen to her.

One advantage Greer had was that back in England she had excelled at comedy. And when she did repertory work, she was known for her ability to pull off different accents, which she had not had the chance to do in Hollywood. So JULIA MISBEHAVES was a great opportunity for her, and she relished the chance to show off her skills.

While JULIA MISBEHAVES did brisk business for the studio, it was not as big a hit as Greer Garson’s earlier dramas. Part of this was due to the public’s reluctance to accept her in light, frothy entertainment. Film critic James Agee felt that if she had not been typecast in the Miniver mold, she probably would have been one of our most successful comediennes. However, enough people did go to see JULIA MISBEHAVES and since it did make a profit for the studio, Greer had escaped the fate suffered by Garbo and Shearer.

Tomorrow: Greer, Peter Lawford & Liz Taylor…

GREER GARSON: PART 17

Walter Pidgeon was once again cast as Greer Garson’s leading man in JULIA MISBEHAVES.  Another familiar face was Peter Lawford who had previously worked with the actress in MRS. PARKINGTON.  Lawford had developed a strong bond with Greer and understood that she had recently gone through a terrible divorce with actor Richard Ney.

At one point during the production of JULIA MISBEHAVES, Peter Lawford had finished his scenes and he was not scheduled to work the next day.  Costar Elizabeth Taylor, who received her first on-screen kiss from Lawford in JULIA MISBEHAVES, was trying to find ways to spend time with Lawford away from the studio.  But Mr. Mayer had warned the men on the lot that if anyone had deflowered the virginal Taylor they would be banished from his kingdom forever.

In order to avoid Liz’s tempting offers, Lawford instead focused on Greer Garson’s love life.  Ever since Greer’s recent divorce, she had been reluctant to find a new romance and was not exactly in the market for a new man.  But Lawford had other ideas about that.

 

Tomorrow: Peter Lawford introduces Greer to the love of her life…

GREER GARSON: PART 18

While filming JULIA MISBEHAVES, Greer Garson learned that Peter Lawford had a close friend visiting from Texas.  The gentleman would be in Los Angeles for a few days, and Lawford planned to give him a tour of the Culver City lot.  Lawford asked Greer if it would be okay the next day for him to bring the pal, Buddy Fogelson, on to the set.

Greer said that it should pose no problem and consented.  Little did she know that Buddy Fogelson would be the love of her life; that she would marry him the following year; and that they would remain together until Buddy’s death almost forty years later.  She and Buddy always considered Peter Lawford their own special Cupid.

Buddy Fogelson started from humble beginnings like Greer had. He was a wildcatter and made his fortune in the oil business. He had turned to ranching and was very successful at that, too. His goal was to find a respectable wife to take back to his ranch, which covered many acres in Texas and New Mexico. Who better than Greer?

Tomorrow: Greer’s new costar is Errol Flynn; also, someone very close to Greer has been cast in the actress’ latest picture…

GREER GARSON: PART 19

THAT FORSYTE WOMAN (1949) with Errol Flynn & Walter Pidgeon

After her hit comic performance in JULIA MISBEHAVES, Mr. Mayer decided to put Greer in another costume drama.  This time she was given a dramatic role in an adaptation of John Galsworthy’s classic story, The Forsyte Saga.  It would be the first Technicolor production for the actress since 1941’s BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST.  Other cast members included the always-dependable Walter Pidgeon; Errol Flynn on loan out from Warner Brothers; former MGM contract player-turned-freelancer Robert Young; and Norma Shearer’s discovery, Janet Leigh.

And in the small role of Louise was one very important person: Greer’s own mum.  Mrs. Garson went by the professional name of Nina Ross, and in fact, she played several roles at MGM, not always in her daughter’s movies, by the way.

It was a pleasant production for Greer.  Flynn would later say Greer was among his most favourite costars and that he never had so much fun on a set.  He particularly appreciated her saucy wit.  Robert Young enjoyed working with Greer, too.  He’d invite her to guest star on Father Knows Best a decade later.

Tomorrow: Greer indirectly causes a lawsuit against Mr. Mayer’s studio…

GREER GARSON: PART 20

THE MINIVER STORY (1950) with Walter Pidgeon & John Hodiak

Eight years after Greer’s Oscar role as MRS. MINIVER, the studio decided to green light a sequel.  It would be filmed entirely in Great Britain.  Noticeably absent from the production: the character played in the original film by Richard Ney, Greer’s ex-husband.  Meanwhile, Peter Finch and James Fox would make their motion picture debuts.

THE MINIVER STORY was based on an idea suggested by Greer herself.  This time the self-sacrificing heroine would battle cancer.  Unfortunately, the somber subject matter was too much of a downer for audiences to accept, and the film performed below MGM’s expectations.  The author of the original story sued the studio, because with the death of Greer’s character at the end of this film, more stories could not be written.

Tomorrow: Greer does another comedy; and for the first time in her film career, she hides her trademark red hair…

GREER GARSON: PART 21

THE LAW AND THE LADY (1951) with Michael Wilding & Fernando Lamas

Greer Garson returned to comedy in this romp based on the play ‘The Last of Mrs. Cheyney,’ which was filmed twice before by MGM.  She’s a sophisticated jewel thief, played by Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford in the earlier versions.  Greer does not sport her own natural hairstyle, but instead wears a sexy black wig.

Michael Wilding plays her partner in crime and occasional romantic interest. The studio has also cast Argentine heartthrob Fernando Lamas in THE LAW AND THE LADY, his first American picture.  The proceedings get a boost from delightful character actresses Marjorie Main and Natalie Schafer.

 

Tomorrow: Trouble on the set of JULIUS CAESAR…

GREER GARSON: PART 22

JULIUS CAESAR (1953) with Marlon Brando & James Mason

Before Greer Garson had come to Hollywood she had built a solid reputation in London with her performances in classic plays by Shaw and Shakespeare.  However, after the enormous success of MRS. MINIVER, MGM tended to put her in glossy melodramas, afraid to let her tackle more serious or controversial subject matter.  In the early 1950s, Greer was anxious to do a Shakespearean role on screen and specifically requested that she be given the part of Calpurnia in MGM’s cinematic version of the bard’s play.  In order to keep her happy, studio brass indulged her.

Joseph Mankiewicz adapted the play for the big screen and directed the production.  John Houseman served as producer and would work with Greer again on another picture at MGM.  JULIUS CAESAR turned out rather well, and it is a testament to the professionalism of Greer and the rest of the cast who persevered despite endless problems on the set.  There was considerable feuding between stars Marlon Brando and James Mason, each feeling upstaged and betrayed by the other.

The squabbles escalated, and Mankiewicz would try to appease the temperamental actors separately, but when each one discovered concessions that had been made for the other, a new round of drama ensued.  Finally, Mason reached his breaking point with Brando and threatened to quit.  Mankiewicz needed to keep Mason on board to finish the picture and he capitulated to Mason’s specific demands.  Brando was so upset and jealous that Mankiewicz had begun to favor Mason, that he accused Mason of having an open marriage and engaging in a sexual relationship with Mankiewicz!

Tomorrow: Greer faces competition due to a newly hired British actress…

GREER GARSON: PART 23

Despite her desire to play Shakespeare’s Calpurnia in MGM’s production of JULIUS CAESAR, Greer Garson was probably glad when the experience was over.  There had been too much behind-the-scenes bickering, and it was taking a toll.  However, Greer could no doubt understand the issues that were being experienced by James Mason and Marlon Brando, because she had some territory issues of her own to contend with on the set.

MGM had recently imported Deborah Kerr from England, and in some cases, roles that might have automatically gone to Greer were now being given to Miss Kerr.  In the studio’s earlier motion picture IF WINTER COMES Walter Pidgeon’s costar was Miss Kerr, not Greer, who would have been right at home in such a production.  Also, Greer was overlooked for the part that Deborah Kerr had played in EDWARD, MY SON.

Both ladies appeared in JULIUS CAESAR and there is no evidence that they feuded.  As always, Greer maintained her sense of fairness and professional ethics.

Next: Greer’s last film with Walter Pidgeon…

GREER GARSON: PART 24

SCANDAL AT SCOURIE (1953) with Walter Pidgeon & Agnes Moorehead

In MGM’s Technicolor production of SCANDAL AT SCOURIE, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon play a Protestant couple living in Canada that adopt a Catholic girl (Donna Corcoran). The story, about religious bigotry, had trouble clearing the production code, because it had been thought that Catholics might be portrayed more sympathetically than other Christians.

Agnes Moorehead is cast as a nun, and this is the second time she has appeared in a Greer Garson picture—the first experience having been MRS. PARKINGTON almost a decade earlier.  In reality, Miss Moorehead was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Greer, too, was a devout Presbyterian.

SCANDAL AT SCOURIE marked the ninth and final film collaboration of Greer and leading man Walter Pidgeon.  In most of their pictures together, they were cast as husband and wife.  There were two exceptions: they had appeared as themselves in THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION, and their characters were not married in THAT FORSYTE WOMAN.

Tomorrow: Greer works with Robert Ryan; Mr. Mayer is forced out…

GREER GARSON: PART 25

HER TWELVE MEN (1954) with Robert Ryan & Barry Sullivan

HER TWELVE MEN is a Technicolor film, and it was made at MGM.  It was the only time Greer Garson costarred with Robert Ryan.  John Houseman was the producer, and he had previously worked with Greer on JULIUS CAESAR.  The picture performed admirably at the box office.

Interestingly, Greer’s first film for MGM was GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS fifteen years earlier, where she played the wife of a dedicated schoolteacher.  Ironically, this time, Greer is the one playing a schoolteacher to a group of children at a private academy.  While looking after the boys, her character meets and falls in love with Mr. Ryan.

While everything seemed rosy on screen, things were less cheerful behind the scenes at the Culver City lot.  Greer’s long-time mentor and friend, Mr. Mayer, was being forced out of his company.  What would MGM be like without its father figure and boss guiding it?  Times were changing, and maybe this was no longer the place for Greer, either.

Tomorrow: Greer quits MGM…

GREER GARSON: PART 26

After the completion of HER TWELVE MEN, Greer Garson decided to leave MGM. Breaking her contract with the studio meant that the next project lined up for her would be given instead to Eleanor Parker.  It was the picture INTERRUPTED MELODY.

There were several reasons Greer wanted to break her contract at MGM.  Her mentor, Louis B. Mayer, had been forced out of power, and her husband Buddy Fogelson did not like for her to be in California so much. Buddy wanted his wife to be at home more: either at their massive 13,000 acre spread in Texas and New Mexico called the Forked Lightning Ranch; or else, at their other residence, which was located in Dallas.  So Greer decided that she would freelance and do only the occasional picture, while focusing on her marriage to Buddy and various philanthropic endeavors.

 

Greer would return to MGM for one more film in the mid-1960s.  After the death of Mr. Mayer, she would be a very active supporter of the Louis B. Mayer Foundation for many years.  She left the studio on a good note and would always cherish her association with MGM and its people.

Next: Greer sets her sights on Broadway…

GREER GARSON: PART 27

After leaving MGM, Greer Garson found that she had other interests she wanted to explore.  One of these interests was charity.  Together, she and Buddy Fogelson would give large cash donations to universities to help fund the college educations of students experiencing financial hardships.  Back in England, Greer had obtained a college degree before she went into the acting profession, so education meant a great deal to her.

They would also form a theatre group that Greer personally oversaw.  In fact, Greer was anxious to try her luck on Broadway, something she would eventually do when she took over the lead role in ‘Auntie Mame’ from Rosalind Russell who was headed to Hollywood to make the film version.

Tomorrow: Greer’s new western role; and her first picture filmed at another studio…

GREER GARSON: PART 28

STRANGE LADY IN TOWN (1955) with Dana Andrews & Cameron Mitchell

Greer Garson’s first film after leaving MGM was called STRANGE LADY IN TOWN for Warner Brothers.  She would play a female doctor in a frontier drama set in old Santa Fe.  If the plot sounds familiar that is because years later CBS borrowed the concept for its long-running television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. 

Greer’s costar was Dana Andrews, and the film was a hit with audiences.  This was Greer’s first western, a genre she would return to in 1970 when she guest-starred on the television series The Men from Shiloh. 

Since marrying Buddy Fogelson in 1949, Greer had become a western gal for real, looking after her husband’s interests at the Forked Lightning Ranch they shared 25 miles southeast of Santa Fe.

Tomorrow: Greer conquers Broadway…

GREER GARSON: PART 29

Greer Garson had been away from motion pictures for a few years.  During this time, a few major events occurred.  She and husband Buddy Fogelson continued to enjoy life on their ranch.  And sadly, her mother Nina Ross had passed away in 1958.  Greer continued to work, making occasional guest appearances on television.  An interesting bit of trivia about Greer is that back in England, before Mr. Mayer discovered her, she had appeared in one of London’s first experimental television programs.  So, in an unusual turn of events, she had gone from TV to the movies, then back to TV.

Greer also turned her eye towards Broadway and landed a plum role, replacing Rosalind Russell in ‘Auntie Mame.’  Miss Russell had gone west to make the film version, and Greer was hired to continue the production until the movie opened.  Her run as Mame Dennis commenced in January 1958 and lasted until June of that year.

After her success as ‘Auntie Mame,’ Greer continued to remain interested in stage roles.  However, just as Buddy disliked the idea of his wife living in California, he also disliked her being in New York for long stretches at a time.

 

In 1960, she took a small but high-profile part in a prestigious big-budget production.  It was a cameo in Columbia’s PEPE, where she appears in an extended sequence at the beginning of the film with Cantinflas and Edward G. Robinson.  However, an even juicier film role would soon come her way, thanks to Dore Schary.

Next: Greer is cast in a very special motion picture…

GREER GARSON: PART 30

SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO (1960) with Ralph Bellamy & Hume Cronyn

The perfect project came along.  Greer Garson had just been cast as the president’s wife in Dore Schary’s biopic about Franklin Roosevelt, based on the hit Broadway play that Schary had also written and produced.  Ralph Bellamy was cast as FDR, reprising his stage role for which he had earned a Tony award.  Mr. Schary’s play had run for a total of 556 performances from June 1958 to May 1959.  Mary Fickett had played the part of Eleanor Roosevelt during the stage production.

As one might expect, Greer was not the only person eager to assume Fickett’s role in the film. Several other Oscar-winning actresses were actively campaigning for the job.  It was said that Loretta Young, in particular, had coveted the part.  But Greer had a distinct advantage.  At the end of her contract at MGM, she had worked with writer-producer Dore Schary, so they were already on very good terms.  Schary happily hired Greer and welcomed the actress and her brand of professionalism to the set.

Next: Greer receives a special visit from Eleanor Roosevelt; and there is another Oscar nomination…

GREER GARSON: PART 31

Greer Garson and Ralph Bellamy went before the cameras for SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO in early April 1960.  The picture was filmed in Los Angeles, New York and Canada.  It took three months to complete.  The public would not see the finished movie until Thanksgiving weekend later that year.

 

During the filming of exterior scenes at the Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, New York, Greer received two special visitors.  The first visitor was her husband, Buddy Fogelson, who made a point of spending time with her and reminding her that he missed her on their ranch back home.  The second visitor was Eleanor Roosevelt herself.

 

Undoubtedly, Mrs. Roosevelt’s presence helped inspire Greer’s performance.  Greer’s goal in this picture was to convey Mrs. Roosevelt’s heroic devotion to the president during his affliction with polio.  Greer did such a convincing job in this production that she received her seventh and final Oscar nomination for her efforts.

 
Greer was favored to win the Oscar in 1960, until a near-death experience garnered former MGM costar Elizabeth Taylor sympathy votes to take home the trophy for BUTTERFIELD 8.  None of the other best actress nominees bothered to attend the awards ceremony that year, knowing Taylor would get the award.  Greer, however, did attend the Oscars, because she had earlier agreed to be a presenter.

Tomorrow: Greer’s last film for MGM…and a chance to work for Walt Disney…

GREER GARSON: PART 32

THE SINGING NUN (1965) with Debbie Reynolds & Ricardo Montalban

After more than ten years away from MGM, Greer returned to her old stomping grounds one last time.  She would guest star in a Technicolor picture about a Belgian nun (Debbie Reynolds) who makes a hit record.  The story was based on the life of Soeur Sourire, who actually did make a popular recording of the song ‘Dominique.’  Greer plays the mother prioress and is reunited on screen with Agnes Moorehead, playing another nun. This was the only time Greer worked with director Henry Koster, who soon retired.

THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE (1967) with Fred MacMurray & Tommy Steele

Greer’s motion picture career was also drawing to a close.  While she would continue to turn up on television into the 1970s and would produce Broadway plays, she would only make one more theatrical film.  It was the last movie that Walt Disney personally supervised, THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, released in 1967.  Greer’s leading man in this family favorite was Fred MacMurray.

Tomorrow: Greer’s continued success on Broadway…

GREER GARSON: PART 33

During her later years, Greer Garson had two great passions: the theatre and charitable work.  She was personally involved in the building of a theatre named after her at Southern Methodist University; and the construction of another theatre named in her honor at Santa Fe University.

Greer also formed a theatrical production company called Garson Productions.  With the full support of her husband, Buddy Fogelson, she brought several noteworthy plays to Broadway in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

One of these productions was ‘On Golden Pond,’ written by Ernest Thompson.  It was a rather huge success and would be made into a movie starring Greer’s former MGM colleague, Katharine Hepburn. Greer also brought another important production to Broadway.  It was the play ‘St. Mark’s Gospel,’ a one-man show featuring Alec McCowen.

Next: Greer’s final years with Buddy Fogelson…

GREER GARSON: PART 34

During their final years together, Greer Garson and Buddy Fogelson enjoyed life at their two homes.  They spent time at the Forked Lightning Ranch in New Mexico and at their other residence in Dallas.  By all accounts, it remained a good marriage.

Earlier Greer had expressed a wish to adopt children when she was making BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST, but a demanding work schedule at MGM, plus her ill-fated marriage to Richard Ney seems to have interfered with those plans.  However, when she met and married Buddy, she became a stepmother.  He had adopted his brother’s three children when his brother died.  In the early 1980s, the family pulled together when Buddy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a disease that would eventually claim his life in 1987.

When Buddy died, his 13,000-acre ranch property was divided in half, with fifty percent going to Greer and the other fifty percent inherited by Buddy’s nephew-son.  Greer continued to live at the Forked Lightning Ranch, until she eventually moved to Dallas on a permanent basis.

Greer would still continue to make appearances.  Though her last acting role on screen was in a 1982 episode of Aaron Spelling’s television series The Love Boat, she was seen again in an episode of the series American Masters later in the decade.  Her inclusion was part of a documentary about director William Wyler, with whom she had worked on MRS. MINIVER.

Next: Declining health…and the last days of Greer Garson…