The Great Lie (1941) - Astor and Davis shine in Goulding's over-the-top melodrama

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Star Bette Davis looks mysterious and far away up against co-star George Brent on this poster for Edmund Goulding's The Great Lie

A chivalrous pilot in a drunken bout marries a troublesome pianist, - but does that then for sure means that they are married? And what about the virtuous Maggie, which it seems he really loves...?

 

The Great Lie is written by Lenore J. Coffee (Honor of the Family (1931)), adapting January Heights (1936) by Polan Banks, and directed by Edmund Goulding (Sun-Up (1925)).

The plot, which includes a fake child, a plane accident and the most incredible developments imaginable, is positively ludicrous, - residing in the category that may be called 'melodrama bonkers', - and the film must be seen partly for this quality, but also for the outstanding, skilled performances from Mary Astor (Across the Pacific (1942)) - as the pianist, - and Bette Davis (The Scapegoat (1959)) as the good girl Maggie. The Great Lie also has Hattie MacDaniel (Sky Racket (1937)) as a laughably sentimental black house mama. 

Related post:

Edmund Goulding: Grand Hotel (1932) - Loose star vehicle with some charm and two magnificent dames

 

Watch a 4-minute excerpt from the film here

 

Cost: 689k $

Box office: Unknown, reportedly a "solid hit"

= Uncertain

[The Great Lie premiered 5 April (Littleton, New Hampshire) and runs 108 minutes. Davis was unexcited about the part but took it to play a sympathetic character, which her fans had beckoned her to do. She fought hard to get Astor cast, and the two reportedly found the screenplay to "stink", eliminating several "soap opera elements" while adding new things for their characters instead. Davis was reportedly paid 4,500 $ a week during shooting, which took place from October - December 1940 in California. Astor was a capable pianist but mimicked playing anyway. The box office information about the film is regrettably unavailable online. A Goulding biographer calls the film a "solid hit" without backing it up with any numbers. It was only released in several countries 2-3 years after WWII, that is in 1947 and 1948. Astor won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance, and the film also won a National Board of Review award. Goulding returned with Forever and a Day (1943). Davis returned with an uncredited cameo in Shining Victory (1941) and front-and-center in The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941). 3,472 IMDb users have given The Great Lie a 7.2/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Great Lie?

The Fighting 69th (1940) - Cagney and O'Brien back in familiar dynamic in alright morale war picture

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A color-spiked, star-pushing poster for William Keighley's The Fighting 69th

Towards the end of WWI, the Irish-American 69th infantry company from New York are stationed in Europe's trenches, with cheeky Plunkett and silver-tongued father Duff, fighting for world peace.

The Fighting 69th is written by Dean Riesner (Coogan's Bluff (1968)), Fred Niblo Jr. (Father's Son (1941)) and Norman Reilly Raine (Eagle Squadron (1942)), based on the real heroics of the 69th infantry company during WWI, and directed by William Keighley (Each Dawn I Die (1939)). The company was named 'the fighting 69th' long before WWI; in fact by General Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War.
Both his soldier colleagues and James Cagney's (The Mayor of Hell (1933)) Plunkett, who turns out to have it all in his mouth, are vexing in The Fighting 69th. Pat O'Brien (Stage 7 (1955, TV-series)) seems to have been created for playing clerical parts such as this, - which he had also already done across from Cagney in gangster masterpiece Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), - and so the casting here is hardly innovative.
But that goes for the entire film, which relies on the suspense of whether or not Plunkett will convert to the good father's faith and redeem himself in the end (or not), and this works just fine as digestive afternoon fare - especially for men.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain - but seemingly a hit
[The Fighting 69th premiered 26 January (New York) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles and San Diego, in and around October 1939. The Plunkett character is entirely fictional. The only female character in the script was cast but then cut out prior to production. The film's budget and gross is unknown; though it reportedly peaked at #2 in North America; and TCM reports that it was "an enormous hit". Keighley returned with Torrid Zone (1940), also the next feature for Cagney. O'Brien returned in Castle on the Hudson (1940); George Brent (Stage 7 (1955, TV-series)) in Adventure in Diamonds (1940). 1,618 IMDb users have given The Fighting 69th a 6.7/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Fighting 69th?