Are you of a generation that little remembers Phyllis
Thaxter? Does Martha Kent in the 1978 Christopher Reeve Superman movie ring any
bells? Check out two of her noirs on TCM this week, and learn a little more
about her:
ACT OF VIOLENCE Thurs 6:30pm
Phyllis was one of four children born in Maine to Supreme
Court Justice Sidney Thaxter, and a mother who had been a Shakespearean
actress. Phyllis worked her way through stage roles and Broadway to become one
of Hollywood’s most pleasant, lovable, sweet and sensitive yet strong heroines,
albeit one of the most underused. In Act of Violence (the last movie Phyllis
made under her MGM contract), she plays Robert Ryan’s faithful girlfriend Ann,
who arrives from New York, and knows from a newspaper clipping left behind,
that Robert intends to hunt down and kill Van Heflin. When Phyllis fails to
stop him, she visits Heflin’s wife Janet Leigh.
Phyllis’ signature sad eyes are perfect for her role as a loyal,
sympathetic, desperate and broken-hearted girlfriend, but she’s hardly a
helpless softie or shrinking violet. No, Phyllis is steely and strong-willed,
even more single-minded and tenacious in stalking her boyfriend across the
country as Robert is in stalking his prey. Just watch how quickly, decisively,
Phyllis takes Janet Leigh’s gun, and consider how logical and reasoned are her
appeals to Robert Ryan, as she tries every which way to dissuade him from
murder.
THE BREAKING POINT, Sat 7:30 am
John Garfield is the captain of a charter boat who takes
on a shipment of Chinese illegals to earn a little extra cash. Things go bad of
course, and his boat is confiscated during an investigation. Garfield is faced
on the one hand with his wife Phyllis Thaxter’s urging to leave the seagoing
life behind for the unbridled excitement of the lettuce farm run by her family,
and on the other he’s faced with a more dangerous chance at another form of
lettuce, if he helps transport some crooks for lawyer Wallace Ford. Also with
Patricia Neal.
Hollywood seems intent lately on raiding the Hitchcock
classics; after rumors of a possible remake
of Hitchcock’s
Rebecca, and a possible remake
of Hitchcock’s Suspicion, comes news of Scar-Jo
playing Janet Leigh
in Psycho.
This is cross posted from Speakeasy, where you can find further
classic entertainment delights.
