Noirvember is approaching its end for 2020, and yet I have a lot of seasonal spirit to share. Here is my closet cosplay of Marie Windsor in The Narrow Margin (1952). When I first brought up the film on this blog, it was its production and style that stuck in my mind–I didn’t even mention Windsor. So, even though I plan on bringing up that style again here, let’s let the cosplay make amends for my previous oversight. Windsor is too good to omit.
The film follows detective Walter Brown (Charles McGraw), who has been tasked with escorting Mrs. Neall (Windsor), the widow of a gangster set to testify before a grand jury, by train from Chicago to Los Angeles. As gangsters try to cut Mrs. Neall’s journey short, Brown realizes the situation he’s in is more complicated than it seems.
The Narrow Margin is swiftly-paced and tense with impeccable sound design. Every performance is on point and each role is well-cast. Obviously, Marie Windsor as the brash and defiant moving target stands out. I really can’t recommend The Narrow Margin strongly enough, even putting aside my penchant for train movies.
That said… setting a feature film on a train (or any other vehicle) presents a unique challenge in keeping the film’s visuals and space dynamic. Failing at it can result in overly static visuals, unintentional claustrophobia, or the space of the film becoming too artificial; all of which can lead to viewers disengaging from the story. But, The Narrow Margin sets a gold standard by focusing on interplay between planes of action.
READ ON below the jump!
The crew of the film is stacked with noir experience:
And the oh-so-versatile director Richard Fleischer, who wasn’t all that well established before The Narrow Margin, though he was already in a noir groove around this time.
In my opinion, it’s worth considering that Fleischer’s father, animator Max Fleischer, might have had some influence on the kinetics of this film. Even if you don’t immediately recognize Max Fleischer’s name, you’ve likely seen one of his Betty Boop, Superman, or Popeye cartoons. Max Fleischer was hugely innovative in the technology of animation. He invented the process of rotoscoping and often experimented with photography.
Side-by-side comparison of Cab Calloway dancing and rotoscoped animation from multiple cartoons
I can’t help but think that the strong compositions and careful balancing of planes of action in The Narrow Margin were influenced by Fleischer’s awareness of his father’s work.
If you’ve been around on my blog for a minute, you’ve probably seen my cosplay/horror history series, A Century of Glamour Ghouls. That October, I threw together ten cosplays accompanied by tutorials and short histories of horror filmmaking over the 20th century.
Forthe 1950s entry, I covered Vampira in Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) and the intersection of sci-fi and horror. Alas, my hair was short back then and I own(ed) no wigs, so I paired my Vampira look with a generic 1950s hairstyle. Now that my hair is Too Long, and the season of the witch is upon us, it seemed like the right time to revive the horrifying horror hostess.
With only a few days left in this year’s Summer Under the Stars, we’ve finally hit Claudette Colbert day! So, here’s my photo-based recreation of the poster for She Married Her Boss (1935). TCM isn’t playing that today, but they are playing The Palm Beach Story (1942), which will be a much-needed escape!
If you’d like to read a little more about Claudette, I scanned and transcribed an interview with her from the August 1939 issue of Modern Screen.
This is going to be my last regular post for Cosplay Under the Stars this year, but I’m planning a bonus cosplay to go along with a little wrap-up. Keep an eye out for that! (Probably on Sunday, the 30th.)
What is Cosplay Under the Stars?
If you’re new here, every August, Turner Classic Movies celebrates Summer Under the Stars. Each day of the month, a different film star gets a full 24 hours of programming. In 2017, on a whim, I decided to put together closet cosplays of every woman featured that month. And so, Cosplay Under the Stars was born.
In honor of the glorious Dolores del Río’s Summer Under the Stars debut, I recreated this 1936 Earl Christy portrait of her for Modern Screen magazine. Dolores has become one of my favorite film actors over the past few years and I’m excited that there are a bunch of films that TCM is playing today that I haven’t seen yet! I’m most looking forward to The Trail of ’98 (1928) and The Devil’s Playground(1937).
Dolores was a major star not only from her work in Hollywood, but also as one of the foremost stars of the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. Sadly, TCM isn’t playing any of Dolores’ Mexican films today. (As someone who has done work in media rights management, I’m sure TCM has reasons that Mexican cinema is underrepresented in their programming.)
That said, spend some of today falling in love with Dolores and then seek out her Mexican films! There are still a lot of films of the Golden Age I haven’t seen, but I strongly recommend checking out La Otra (1946) (probably my favorite Dolores film), María Candelaria (1944), and Flor Silvestre(1943).
What is Cosplay Under the Stars?
If you’re new here, every August, Turner Classic Movies celebrates Summer Under the Stars. Each day of the month, a different film star gets a full 24 hours of programming. In 2017, on a whim, I decided to put together closet cosplays of every woman featured that month. And so, Cosplay Under the Stars was born.
Lana Turner’s Summer Under the Stars takeover is upon us! Here’s my recreation of the September 1941 cover of Movie Stars Parade magazine. Lana’s on the cover in promotion for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), which was released that month. Yes, that is really the photo they chose to run with a promo for a period horror film.
This promotional photo was obviously not taken for the movie, but the choice of the photo given the subject of the article illustrates a disappointing aspect of her stardom. Even today, when people talk about Lana Turner, they zero in on her glamorous-yet-approachable image or her dramatic personal life over her actual work. Frankly I disagree with the assertion that she wasn’t that good at acting. Of course, early on Lana was learning on the job. Though roles that challenged her range were sporadic, looking at her work from the mid-1940s on, she was always on point, she always matched the energy of each film. That’s why I’m glad TCM is mostly playing post-1945 Lana films. Hopefully, some people will take the day to reconsider their flippancy toward Lana and realize she was more than someone who looked good in a sweater!
What is Cosplay Under the Stars?
If you’re new here, every August, Turner Classic Movies celebrates Summer Under the Stars. Each day of the month, a different film star gets a full 24 hours of programming. In 2017, on a whim, I decided to put together closet cosplays of every woman featured that month. And so, Cosplay Under the Stars was born.
“Jordan Herrick, syndicated columnist, whose work appears in more than a hundred newspapers. By nature a cynic, a disbeliever, caught for the moment by a lovely vision. He knows the vision he’s seen is no dream; she is Pamela Morris, renowned movie star, whose name is a household word and whose face is known to millions.”
Born into show business, Dolores Costello’s parents, Maurice and Mae, were both performers on stage and in early films for Vitagraph. Dolores had multiple credits in Vitagraph films before she even celebrated her tenth birthday. In fact, I’ve already covered one of Dolores’ early films on this blog, as part of my Christmas movie throwback list.
As Dolores and her sister Helene aged out of child roles, they hopped over to New York and worked as models and on stage for Florenz Ziegfeld. Famed Broadway producer Ziegfeld ran a series of very successful revues on Broadway featuring showgirls who exemplified a specific brand of free-wheeling, vigorous femininity. Such was their popularity that the nickname “Ziegfeld girl” had nationwide recognition. Many Ziegfeld girls found success on film – Dolores and Helene were brought back to the movie business by Warner Brothers. After some minor roles, Dolores was picked by John Barrymore to star alongside him in The Sea Beast (1926), which was loosely inspired by the novel Moby-Dick. Dolores’ star rose dramatically over the next few years and she would marry Barrymore in 1928.
The Cosplay
When I originally saw these portraits of Costello, I immediately wanted to recreate them in closet cosplay. But, even now, I haven’t been able to definitively pinpoint when they were taken or if they were taken to promote a specific film. Based on her styling, I reckon they were likely shot around 1928-29. Then I came across an uncited suggestion that they were taken during the production of Noah’s Ark (1928). So, I watched it and the assumption seems probable. I did not intend to make this a post about a movie, but Noah’s Ark is so interesting, I couldn’t help myself!
The Film
Noah’s Ark is fascinating. It stands firmly between the silent and sound eras. Darryl F. Zanuck conceived the film as a dual story: a World War I romance tale and a creative retelling of the story of Noah from the book of Genesis. Originally planned as a fully-silent epic, the production of Noah’s Ark was extended due to the emergence of talkies. Sound segments were filmed making Noah’s Ark one of many hybrid films made in this transitional period. Though it was released at the end of Hollywood’s sound/silent hybrid cycle, it was a big box office success.
The film begins with a preface likening biblical stories to contemporary life, easing the viewer into the mirrored story of the flood/WWI. The story commences with our cast of characters on a train traveling through Europe, carrying a very international crowd. We meet two all-American types, Travis (George O’Brien) and Al (Guinn “Big Boy” Williams), a German showgirl, Marie (Costello), a minister (Paul McAllister), and a Russian intelligence agent, Nickoloff (Noah Beery). The train is violently derailed over a bridge, but Travis and Al manage to save Marie and end up at a local inn with other survivors, including Nikoloff. Travis saves Marie once more that night, as Nickoloff sneaks into her room with ill intent. At the same time, soldiers arrive at the inn announcing that war has broken out.
Later, in Paris, Marie and Travis have fallen in love and marry, while Al enlists in the army. Travis finds it hard to say goodbye to his good friend and gets swept up when he sees Al marching away. Travis quickly joins up too, leaving Marie to fend for herself–a German citizen stuck in France in the middle of the war(!!!). All three lose touch. In a heart-wrenching turn of events, when Al and Travis by chance end up in the same trench together, the chaos of the battlefield leads Travis to accidentally kill Al with a grenade. Back in the city, Marie has resumed working as a showgirl where she is recognized by Nickoloff, who has her arrested as a German spy. Nickoloff plants evidence on her and uses his influence to ensure that she gets the firing squad. In another chance encounter, one of the military men assigned to carry out the execution is Travis, who immediately attempts to stop the execution. At that moment, however, a German attack buries the whole lot of them under a ton of rubble. As they sit without much hope of survival, the minister (the same one from the train), recounts the story of the flood.
Noah (McAllister) lives in a kingdom ruled by King Nephilim (Beery) who worships a god called Jaghuth. God warns Noah of the oncoming flood and Noah has his sons begin constructing a massive ark. One of Noah’s sons, Japheth (O’Brien), is in love with their servant girl, Miriam (Costello). King Nephilim plans to sacrifice Miriam and kidnaps her. When Japheth tries to save Miriam, he is captured, blinded, and forced into hard labor. The flood comes suddenly just as Miriam is about to be killed. Japheth manages to escape his chains and his sight is restored divinely. He finds Miriam and the two make their way to the ark. Meanwhile, a whole menagerie of animals also make their way to the ark while masses of people are battered by waves and washed away.
Returning to the 1910s, the people buried under the rubble are rescued and learn that the armistice is signed and the war is over.
READ MORE below the jump!
The production of this film was a massive undertaking. All of the special effects are dazzling. The compositing, miniature work, and matte paintings all really stood out to me. Now, the flood sequences were a lot to take in. It’s been reported that some stunt performers were killed filming these scenes and many were badly injured. I managed to track down five different books that report this, all with slightly different accounts. However, none of them cite a source for this information, so I’m not sure how much of it is apocryphal. Regardless, it’s easy to believe. Many of the shots of the flood waters bombarding these extras are wide shots with lots of people and lots of water. Trying to film those shots while adequately monitoring the safety of all performers seems likely impossible. (One reason we should be very grateful for CG nowadays IMO.)
I’d honestly recommend this movie broadly because its excess alone is remarkable and the dual-story format is entertainingly strange. However, watching this on the other side of the Second World War makes the hopeful ending totally gut wrenching.
Also, the relationship between Al and Travis is so so so queer. O’Brien and Williams have a lot more chemistry together than O’Brien and Costello. But, honestly, that chemistry imbalance actually makes the 1910s section more interesting.
Despite the film’s extended production, it made a very tidy profit. While Costello’s films during the silent/sound transition were popular, she had a minor speech impediment that made the process bumpy for her. And so, a few years later, Costello chose to retire to focus on raising her children. After divorcing Barrymore, Costello made a strong, but unfortunately short comeback to films. Thankfully, before her re-retirement in the 1940s, we all got her wonderful turn in The Magnificent Ambersons(1942).
Dolores Costello, for me, represents a kind of sehnsucht. The fits and starts of her career gave us captivating glimpses at what could have been a full and ranging filmography, but never came to fruition. Noah’s Ark is one of those glimpses. The gravity of Marie’s situation settling on to her is so effectively communicated through Costello’s face and body language–all of the uncertainty, anxiety, abandonment–that little needs to be made explicit in the 1910s section. What a gift she had!
