Can film save your marriage?

I heard a story on Marketplace this morning about a researcher at the University of Rochester that did a study where couples would watch a movie depicting relationships (focusing on movies that take place after the couple get together) and then have a discussion about it. The goal is to see examples of the ways couple interact (and fight) and how that applies to your relationships.  You can see the researcher talk about the study here.  And then the list of movies they used (and pre-screened or recommend) is here.  While I think some of the movies listed are interesting choices, there are ones that are just really terrible movies. Love Story? Devil's Advocate? The Back-up Plan? The Bounty Hunter? There are a couple of other movies that I think would be more interesting on the list like Parenthood (I am surprised it wasn't on the list), Field of Dreams, Father of the Bride (the Spencer Tracy version, the Steve Martin one is listed), Witness for the Prosecution, and Dark Victory.  There are no film noir movies on there but there are quite a few that might be interesting like Sorry, Wrong Number, Repeat Performance, In a Lonely Place, or The Crime of Passion. Though, those the film noir films would more show what not to do in a relationship (like shoot your husband or arrange the murder of your wife).  Also what is with giving Jack Benny short-shrift? Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House but no George Washington Slept Here?

A Little Goes a Long Way

Occasionally, I will be on the fence on my interest in a movie and then I see a certain actor is in it, and I will give that movie the benefit of the doubt and watch it (for at least 30 mins).  And here a list of the actors:

• Ethel Barrymore (I have said before about a film "And it stars a Barrymore, the best one: Ethel)
• George Saunders (I am a late arrival in the George Saunders fan club having first seen him in Rebecca)
• Gregory Peck
• Joseph Cotten
• Bette Davis (I saw Phone Call From A Stranger and while I didn't love that movie, Bette Davis's scene was worth the 80 minute wait.  I've said it before, but Bette Davis had a way of making her voice break with emotion that gets me every time. That and she was really good at holding tears in her eyes)
• Meryl Streep (She and Bette Davis have a lot in common, both can have emotions play on their faces in such subtle and natural ways)
• Rosalind Russell (I watch part of Errol Flynn movie for her, though I stopped once it looked like their characters were going to end up together)
• Joel McCrea 
• Robert Montegumery 
• Claude Rains
• Herbert Marshall (and with him, I have listed 3 actors that were in Foriegn Correspondent)
• Mary Wickes 
• Charles Coburn
• Ray Milliand
• Paul Hendried
• Jean Arthur (and now the 3 leads from The More the Merrier)
• Myrna Loy
• William Powell
• Thelma Ritter
• Elsa Lanchester
• Jane Wyman
• Mildred Natwick (she was Griselda in the Court Jester, and like Thelma Ritter played a lot of supporting characters that got all the best lines)
• Connie Gilchrist (she played Nora in Auntie Mame, there was a time a few months ago when she popped up in about 4 movies that I watched in the space of a week). 

And one actress that does the complete opposite for me : Katherine Hepburn.  I think Dorthy Parker said it best with she played all the emotions from A to B.  

Turned it around: Leslie Howard

When I was about 14, I saw Gone With the Wind for the first time.  I remembering my mom telling my that my beloved Grandma Diane just adored Leslie Howard.  And all I could think was "Ashley Wilkes?!".  I did not understand how my grandmother could like Leslie Howard, he was such a milquetoast in that movie. Then I made the mistake of seeing Intermezzo with Leslie Howard and Ingrid Bergman.  And he made me so angry in that movie, with his character being spineless, selfish, and thoughtless (I have seen it billed as Intermezzo: A Love Story, and the only love I have for this movie is that it was Ingrid Bergman's first Hollywood movie).  But then, one movie completely turned me around on Leslie Howard and I understood what my Grandma Diane might have liked about him.  And that movie was the amazing A Free Soul starring Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore, Leslie Howard, and Clark Gable (Rhett and Ashley in a pre-Gone With the Wind pairing).  This movie was so amazing that Norma Shearer was nominated for an Oscar, Lionel Barrymore won an Oscar (almost solely due to a beautifully crafted and delivered monologue in a 14-minute extended scene at the end of the movie, shot in a single take), and made Clark Gable a star.  And finally, I saw a Leslie Howard that had strong resolve, a loving and forgiving nature, and willingness to act in a selfless manner. There is a scene that I adore between Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer where the staging only shows their eyes and so you can see all the emotions each is feeling but only expressed in their eyes.  Norma Shearer is brilliant in this movie.  I heard gossip (possibly from Robert Osbourne) that Joan Crawford was unkind to Norma Shearer on the set of The Women because Joan thought that Norma's career was due to Norma's marriage to Irving Thalburg which makes me kind of mad because Norma Shearer was a fantastic actress with a great range and ability (which I can't really say about Joan Crawford, I like some of her movies but I never feel like she was completely taken over by the character she was playing).  It also had a modern view of women and their sexuality.  This was a pre-Code film so while it is not shown that Norma Shearer's character has a sexual relationship with Clark Gable, it is generally accepted by all the characters in the film.  There is a interesting side-plot about the father's (played by Lionel Barrymore) alcoholism and the nature of addiction. He loves his daughter (and is proud of her independence) but that cannot overcome his addiction.   I can go on and on about how much a I love A Free Soul, but one of the best things it did for me was make me reconsider Leslie Howard.