Stars: Sandra Dee, John Gavin, Juanita Moore, Lana Turner
Released: 1959
Rated: NR
What I “know”: I kind of cheated and had read the sleeve, or a close facsimile thereof, when Netflix’s original shipment to me was lost and I wanted to know if I wanted to wait for a new one or just move it down my queue. So I know it’s about a white mother who ends up living with a black woman and her daughter. I’m interested to see how it was handled in 1959.
What I know after reading the Netflix sleeve: Lora, a white widow with a daughter, and Annie, a black single mother, move in together and face a huge challenge as they try to raise their children. Annie’s daughter favors her light-skinned father and comes to resent her mother’s black identity.
Well, now I’m even more intrigued. Not only is it about race relations, but it’s about identifying within the spectrum of being a black American. Also, I took the stars off the IMDB page, and it only listed three white people. WTF? So I found out who played Annie and added her. She’s one of the main stars, IMDB! P.S. I chose the 1959 version. Was unaware there was a 1934 version until afterward.
Trailer!
(Edit: I added the trailer after watching the movie, and man, they really focused on the wrong part of this movie.)
Even the intro screen, where you choose “play,” only shows the three white actors. Damn, 1959. Also, quick note, the white woman is widowed but the black woman is just a single mother? Yeesh. At least in the opening credits, Juanita Moore gets to be “And Presenting,” which is nice.
1:13: Oooh, Mahalia Jackson sings in this? Sweetness.
4:45: Well, that’s a meet-cute! White mother misplaces her child at a very crowded beach, black woman finds her, reports it to the cops, AND buys her a hot dog? How adorable. And now the two little girls have run off to destroy other people’s makeout sessions under the guise of playing tag.
5:50: So I obviously don’t know Annie Johnson’s whole backstory, and I appreciate her willingness to just roll with the “yes, she’s really my daughter” conversation, but how she ended up in Coney Island when she sounds like she’s from South Georgia … did they make all black actors back then either be southern or uneducated city folks? Either simple, or dangerous? I know it’s hard to watch and try to put myself in that time, as I never lived through it, but it’s off-putting to me.
6:39: Lana Turner is REALLY laid back as the child she thought she’d lost like 2 minutes ago is suddenly giving out their address to a strange man with a camera. Again, more innocent time, I guess, but … yikes.
9:18: So I’m partial to Annie’s daughter, Sarah Jane, since that’s my dog’s name, but they couldn’t even bother finding an actual light-skinned black actress? There’s no part of this girl who looks like she would come from Annie. I get Lora’s confusion now.
11:55: Annie is such a nice person, always smiling, and of course the Southern black woman says to trust in God. What else did I expect from a ’50s movie? I hope they give her some depth.
15:55: So the crazy stalker with the camera from the beach now shows up at the house and somehow knows the girls’ names, and he just scoops up Susie like they’re old pals? Slow your roll there, buddy.
17:31: She says, “I’m a widow” and he immediately gets up and moves next to her and she doesn’t flinch a bit. Then he shows another photo, he took of just her, and it ends with him saying, “Don’t you believe in chasing rainbows?” What a weirdo!
17:53: “My camera could easily have a love affair with you.” No. 1, he’s not talking about his camera. No. 2, she visibly melts. Don’t give into the creepy guy!
24:20: Now she’s being creepily hit on by the gross, slimy agent guy. Why is every man in this movie so horrible?
EDITOR’S NOTE: I started this on Dec. 6 and am now finishing it on Jan. 7. What can I say? I suck. However, when I planned to finish this tonight I thought I was halfway through the movie. Nope. I’m not even 1/4 of the way through the movie. Yikes.)
26:00: So we’re rejoining where she’s basically whoring herself out to this agent to try to get work. All she has to do is apparently be his date to a party, wear some creepy fur coat he keeps in his closet to lure blondes, and put up with his lascivious ways. He honestly said, “I haven’t been seen with a girl without a mink since the heat wave of ’39.” GAG.
26:08: And he just said, “I’m a man of very few principles, and they’re all open to revision.” SO GROSS.
27:27: GROSSSSSS. He just told her he had to sleep with anyone he wanted her to and pose nude for some gross dude who might hypothetically want to paint her naked. I hope this is the last we see of this guy. More Annie, please!
28:06: And in a not-so-subtle turn of events, we return to the apartment where Annie and weird beach photographer/stalker guy are sitting at the table, doing Lora’s work for her. Good vs. Evil. Standard stuff.
30:33: Why is she so trusting of the weird beach photographer? I know the movie expects me to have moved past this by now, or maybe not have been bothered by it at all, but it’s weird. HE’S weird. And the amount of Brylcreem or whatever in his hair is making me nauseous.
31:00: SERIOUSLY. “You’re so good for what ails me.” “It’s all part of the Archer service … day or night.” She’s obviously in emotional turmoil, you freak. HAHAHA never mind, Annie came over, gave a subtle head jerk, and he left. God bless Annie. She’s the only logical one in this whole movie, and I’m saying that about someone who moved in with a stranger who lost her kid on a beach.
33:50: OK, so Sarah Jane is somewhat spoiled for being a previously homeless child. But imagining what it must have been like back then, and to have “passed” with no one figuring it out … and then your obviously black mother walks into your classroom with your boots and umbrella. How betrayed she must have felt. I don’t even really blame her for the outburst at her mom, because kids suck.
36:08: “How do you explain to your child she was born to be hurt?” Oh, Annie Johnson, how your words and gentle voice cut me.
36:44: She just called stalker man “darling.” This is what I’m talking about with old movies. Like four scenes together ago, he was a stranger taking pictures of her kid. Now he’s her man? With no actual plot development to that point? They haven’t even kissed!
37:25: AND NOW HE’S PROPOSING? Cripes.
38:17: So the dude proposes and then, less than a minute later is all, “No need working. You sucked at acting. I figured you’d have given up on that by now.” UGH.
40:43: Conveniently, she gets offered a job while making out with him in the hallway. And this jerkwad is all “Nope.” Thank goodness she kind of stood up to him. I hate this guy so much.
49:35: So she sucks at this bit part, tells the writer the scene is terrible, gets bumped up to a bigger part, rocks it, and now the writer’s hitting on her too? God, didn’t any man in the ’40s keep it in his pants?
51:00: She wouldn’t sleep with the agent for work, but will sleep with the writer since he’ll do more plays with her? #situationalslut
55:49: So that Caucasian/Mexican actress is supposed to play a light-skinned young black woman? Her name is Susan Kohner and she apparently got an Oscar nom for this role, so I’m supposing she does it well.
58:06: Lora starred in every one of her boyfriend/husband/whatever’s plays for like 10 years, made him a ton of money. Now she wants to do a dramatic turn and he acts like a petulant child. These men are all the worst. I hope Lora and Annie go lesbian and live happily ever after.
59:18: At least he went to go see her show? But so did stalker guy, who’s been stalking her at all her shows. And now he’s like ‘look, I don’t need you, I got a lady’ … classic stalker move.
1:02:32: That whole “Stalker guy seeing Sarah Jane after 10 years” introduction was REALLY creepy. It got a little more normal, but still weird. Don’t be gross about a girl who was 8, weirdo.
1:06:29: “You know I still have you in my blood, don’t you?” STOP IT, STALKER.
1:10:30: So Sarah Jane snuck out of the house to hang out with her white boyfriend and is now talking about like running away with him so he never meets her mother and realizes she’s black? A.) She’s 18. B.) If they get married and have kids, she doesn’t think he should know that his children are biracial? “I don’t want anybody to know her.” I feel actually kind of bad for her, no matter how terrible she is.
1:12:02: Steve leaves because Lora just put his trip around the world behind her meeting with a film director’s representative. Good! You do you, Lora!
1:14:57: OK, the bullshit Sarah Jane just pulled with her talk of mammies and massas in front of Lora’s agent and the director’s rep made me feel less bad for her. I mean, yes, Annie has been a glorified house servant through this whole movie. But Lora also put a roof over their heads and she really, truly cares about Annie and Sarah Jane. That was just disrespectful.
1:18:24: I WAS NOT PREPARED for the dropping of the n-word. Man, you don’t really realize how you don’t hear that word on TV or in movies in that usage until it’s dropped on you out of nowhere.
1:18:47: Was also not prepared for the full-on beating Sarah Jane’s boyfriend just gave her. Jesus.
Warning: This is graphic.
1:23:42: Man, Lora is tone deaf. Sure, Susie’s disappointed she’s leaving. But Stalker Steve was so excited and surprised to see her, she gets a telegram saying she can still do the movie and she’s all “Hey, Steve, since that whole trip around the world thing might not happen for you, can you watch my daughter while I run off to do a movie?” I mean, I’m still #teamlora in terms of her career and doing it while she can, but man, you’ve got Annie. Don’t ask the guy whose heart you broke twice to take care of your kid while you’re an absentee mother!
1:29:45: OMG. So Susie’s in love with Stalker Steve, and Sarah Jane’s off dancing in a club for money? Good lord, these girls need parenting!
1:33:13: OK, the last comment was out of line. Annie’s done what she can with Sarah Jane, but she’s legally an adult. And I’m pretty sure in this last scene, after they leave the club and Sarah Jane runs off … she just literally broke her mother’s heart. And by literally, I mean figuratively.
1:42:46: I hope Sarah Jane goes home. That whole scene with Annie showing up in her hotel room and SJ finally breaking down and calling her “mama” was heartbreaking.
1:47:53: So now Lora is marrying Steve, and Susie’s upset. Maybe her and Steve should be together, what with them both being delusional weirdos and all.
1:51:19: “You’ve given me everything but yourself.” Oh, Susie, STFU.
1:53:36: No, Annie, you can’t die. Don’t die, Annie. (I passed on the easy “Dirty Diana” reference here because it felt cheap.)
1:54:44: Annie, the only actual human in this whole movie, just said, “Tell her I know I was selfish.” NO, ANNIE. NO, YOU WERE NOT.
1:58:14: I guess if I’d thought about it, and known Mahalia Jackson hadn’t shown up yet, I probably could have put this together. Dammit, Annie, you were the only truly good person in this whole flick.
(So the only clip I found of her from the movie was only 32 seconds long, so here’s the whole song, because everyone should listen to Mahalia.)
2:01:21: Sorry for your loss, Sarah Jane, but you kind of killed her, you know?
2:01:54: “Miss Lora, I killed my mother.” OK, at least she knows. Now I feel bad for the snark.
2:02:46: So totally out of left field, but it’s a sea of people saying goodbye to Annie, and there’s this one kid with his back turned to it, staring at a cake in a window. WTF? I laughed a little, I’m sorry.
The movie ended on the funeral? That’s weird, but totally awesome. I’m glad. Annie was, by far, the star of this whole movie. Stalker Steve got it right when he referred to her as “everyone’s Rock of Gibraltar.” I will say, this movie was much more a roller coaster of emotion than I expected. I was torn, at times, as to how I felt about almost everyone, except Annie (and Stalker Steve, but that’s probably just me). I can’t imagine what life was like in that time for a young woman like Sarah Jane, who only saw a way out of the life her mother had led. Or what it would have been like growing up with an absentee mom, like Susie did. While some of the scenes were straight-up old Hollywood overacted, and even the vagaries were somewhat clichés, I was glad they showed different sides of so many different characters. That’s not always a given. Two thumbs up!
Next up: “Psycho”
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