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Whether playing a flapper in the 1920s, a proletarian working girl in the 1930s, or a
broad-shouldered businesswoman in the 1940s, Joan Crawford was the quintessential modern
woman. In only one of her talking films did she venture into period pantaloons, and that film,
The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), was not a financial or critical success. "I was so totally miscast,"
Crawford later admitted.
Recently married to New York actor and upper-class intellectual Franchot Tone, Crawford had
acquired intellectual pretensions of her own. Essaying an historical character may have been part
of that. The Gorgeous Hussy was based on a popular historical novel about Peggy
O'Neal Eaton, a sassy innkeeper's daughter who gained political power in the 1830s because of
her friendship with President Andrew Jackson, but was ostracized by Washington society. MGM
executive David Selznick tried to talk Crawford out of tackling the role of Peggy Eaton by telling
her "you can't do a costume picture, you're too modern." When she would not be dissuaded,
Selznick decided to surround her with not one, but five strong leading men, and assigned
producing duties to Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had recently been working with Crawford and
understood her strengths and weaknesses.
The Gorgeous Hussy certainly looked great, with Adrian's lavish period costumes,
George Folsey's stunning cinematography, and Cedric Gibbons' elegant art direction. And the
men surrounding Crawford ranged from adequate to magnificent. As Peggy's first husband,
Robert Taylor looked handsome, which was all that was required for his brief role. Newcomer
James Stewart, conspicuously out of place in the period wardrobe and silly sideburns, had the
grace not to look embarrassed. Melvyn Douglas was more at ease in the costumes, and gave
some complexity to his character. Franchot Tone, Crawford's husband at the time and playing her
second husband in the film, was miserable with his nothing role, plus being reduced to his wife's
coat-holder hit a little too close to home. Working together in The Gorgeous Hussy
definitely put a strain on the marriage, especially when Tone began drinking and arriving late on
the set, sins that the always professional Crawford would not tolerate.
The film's greatest asset, however, was Lionel Barrymore's splendid performance as Andrew
Jackson. Despite the elaborate makeup which gave him a startling resemblance to the real
Jackson, Barrymore's talent and humanity shone through. The actor was already suffering from
the illness that would cripple him ¿ a form of arthritis. He could barely walk anymore, but he
could stand, and when the camera was rolling, he would push through the pain and do what was
required. The part offered Barrymore the opportunity to display a broad emotional range, from
thundering oratory to overwhelming grief at the loss of his beloved wife. The latter hit too close to home --
Barrymore's own wife was terminally ill with tuberculosis. She died on Christmas Eve of
1936.
In the end, though, not even terrific acting by a stellar cast could save The Gorgeous Hussy.
Although the critics praised some of the performances (particularly Barrymore's, and even
Crawford's), most of them found the film dull and stodgy. Frank Nugent in the New York
Times sneered, "Miss Crawford's Peggy is a maligned Anne of Green Gables, a persecuted
Pollyanna, a dismayed Dolly Dimple." The consensus seemed to be, "gorgeous, yes, but not
enough hussy." The problem was that although the real Peggy, as portrayed in the book, was
fascinating and complex, censorship of the era would not allow the filmmakers to deal with her
alleged affairs and improprieties in a frank manner, so audiences couldn't
understand what all the fuss was about. And MGM executives' fears were also confirmed: moviegoers wanted Crawford to be contemporary, and would not accept her in period costume, no
matter how glamorous. Ever attuned to her public, Crawford never made that mistake
again.
Director: Clarence Brown
Producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Screenplay: Ainsworth Morgan & Stephen Morehouse Avery, based on the book by Samuel
Hopkins Adams
Cinematography: George Folsey
Editor: Blanche Sewell
Costume Design: Adrian
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons
Music: Herbert Stothart
Principal Cast: Joan Crawford (Peggy O'Neal Eaton), Robert Taylor (Bow Timberlake), Lionel
Barrymore (Andrew Jackson), Melvyn Douglas (John Randolph), James Stewart ("Rowdy"
Dow), Franchot Tone (John Eaton), Beulah Bondi (Rachel Jackson), Gene Lockhart (Major
O'Neal).
BW-104m. Closed captioning.
by Margarita Landazuri
 
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Guest Programmer: Anthony Hopkins - 11/30
Hannibal Lecter, Pablo Picasso, President Richard M. Nixon, Titus Andronicus. He's created an amazing array of characters but this time he's playing his favorite movies with co-host Robert Osborne which include Rear Window (1954) & The Grapes of Wrath (1940).
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