MovieChat Forums > The Reckless Moment (1949) Discussion > Too much Joan

Too much Joan

posted 11 years ago by Jamal-Nazreddin
18 replies | jump to latest

Not enough James.

He doesn't appear until well after half an hour and his character's motivation is rather sketchy.

[–] manderstoke 10 years ago

I agree. Mason is by far the most interesting thing happening in this movie. I kept hoping the obnoxious David would go visit relatives in another state, and take his sister with him. Geraldine Brooks was in the Karl Malden school of overacting. However, I disagree with the opinion of most viewers that Donnelly was in love with Lucia, or she with him. I saw no evidence whatever that she had fallen for him. Did you notice that she hardly even looks at him? As for him, I think that he was enthralled, not by her, but by this example of a normal life within a loving family. At one point, she remarks that everyone has a mother like her and he probably had one too. His look speaks volumes, he never knew such love and caring. His tragedy is that he yearns for a decent life, but has no expectation of ever having one. Not to mention that Joan Bennett,a nice looking woman, was so frumpy and dowdy in this film, it's a stretch to imagine anyone falling for her.

I almost forgot, Donnelly did seem to become sympathetic to her rather too quickly. Some scenes of them together were cut, for example a scene in a cafe, which may account for the not altogether convincing development of their relationship.

[–] marhefka 10 years ago

@manderstoke.

Yeah, Mason was great and you're correct in noting that his look spoke volumes. But, I think Edward Robinson would have been as good, if not even better. EGR and Joan Bennett were great together in Scarlet Street and Woman in the Window. Their conversation in the coffee shop near the beginning of Scarlet Street was inspiring. EGR's pauses showed just how great an actor he was.

[–] manderstoke 10 years ago

I agree with you that Robinson was a terrific actor and I love his movies. But, he was deficient in the looks department. Mason was gorgeous in his 30's and 40's, which is undeniably part of his charisma as Donnelly. That Bennett was oblivious to his charm created some of the tension in the movie - just as Donnelly was a petty criminal with "loser" written all over him, Bennett was a prisoner in her safe middle class narrow world. She was incapable of grabbing on to her "reckless moment". The novel makes this more explicit than the film, and indeed, is a major theme of the book. The other theme is a scathing critic of middle class mores.

[–] manderstoke 9 years ago

This was supposed to be Bennett's come-back film, as her star had faded. Also, Walter Wanger, her husband was the producer, so lots of Joan screentime. Ironically, when Mason does finally appear, he walks away with the movie (he tended to do that). This was the very same Walter Wanger who shot Joan's lover in the groin and was convicted and sentenced to four months in jail for attempted murder. So maybe, one didn't argue with this guy.

[–] waldenpond88 8 years ago

Hi manderstoke, I read repeatedly that Bennett did not even have an affair with that guy and that Wanger over-reacted, only because he was jealous and assuming that she had an affair.

[–] manderstoke 8 years ago

That's interesting, hadn't read that. I wonder why she passed up the opportunity to have an affair with Mason. Why would any woman?

[–] waldenpond88 8 years ago

I assume James Mason was happily married and also involved in a legal battle at the time of the filming:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000051/bio

Walter Wanger being the producer probably had an eye on his wife in her scenes with Mason I could imagine.

[–] waldenpond88 8 years ago

But the imdb must be wrong about Mason being 5"11'. He was a rather short man, average height at best. I would guess he was no taller than 5"6 or 5"7'. I'm 5"9', so I can tell :).

[–] manderstoke 8 years ago

No, Mason was either 5'11" or 5'11.5". All descriptions of him describe him as "tall." He was very slim and long-legged, which would have added to his looking tall. 5'11" doesn't seem especially tall today, but for a man born in 1909, he would have been considered tall.

No, Mason was not happily married. By the time he made TRM, he would have known about his wife's chronic infidelity. By all accounts, Mason was smitten from the first time he met Pamela Kellino and pursued her relentlessly (she was married at the time). But ensuing events would have convinced him that she was incapable of being faithful. Pamela's reputation was well known in Hollywood and her own son described her as a "notorious adultress." Of course, Mason had several affairs and opportunities to leave her (many of his lovers wanted to marry him), but he stuck it out for 23 years. Which is the real mystery of that marriage made in hell.

[–] manderstoke 8 years ago

I just remembered reading in the book on the making of "20,00 Leagues Under the Sea", the director's (who was he?) comments. He said that he thought Mason would be a thin, short man and Douglas a tall, brawny man, but the opposite turned out to be true. He described Mason as well-built and about 6', whereas Douglas was indeed brawny but only about 5'7". I must look up the name of that director.

[–] waldenpond88 8 years ago

Thank you for both of your messages. I'll check amazon.co.uk for James Mason's memoir. I'm sure it would be interesting to read!
Mason also played in my favorite historical movie called "The Wicked Lady" (ca. 1945) with Margaret Lockwood. This film was remade in the 1980's with Faye Dunaway, in case the title sounds familiar to you?

[–] manderstoke 8 years ago

Mason's autobiography ("Before I Forget") is over 300 pages and available on both Amazon and Ebay. Unfortunately, he keeps that famous Mason reserve and reveals very little about himself and his personal relationships. However, you will learn a great deal about his career. If you want to know more about him as a person, you would be interested in the biography ("James Mason, A Personal Biography") written by Diana de Rosso, his sister-in-law from his marriage to Pamela Kellino. However, I have two caveats about de Rosso's book - she was a poor writer, generally failing to give dates of events, and significant parts of the book describing Kellino's shocking treatment of James were deleted by the publisher. Kellino was highly litigious and the publisher feared being sued.

Yes, I am familiar with the three Gainsborough melodramas that Mason starred in, and my favorite is THE MAN IN GREY. Have you seen it? It catapulted him to superstardom in UK. I have not seen the remake with Fay Dunaway.

Mason and Lockwood co-starred in 4 movies and had real chemistry together. Mason despised these films and referred to them as "rubbish." One of my favorite Mason fims is THE NIGHT HAS EYES (1942). In this early film, he begins to hone the "sexy sadism" image that would serve him so well in his career in England. Fortunately Network has released a restored copy of this and the DVD is very good.

But my all time favorite Mason character is Johnny McQueen in ODD MAN OUT. This was also Mason's favorite role and, in his own opinion, the only truly great film that he was ever in. Sorry to run on, but I so admire Mason, for his talent and his personal decency.

[–] waldenpond88 8 years ago

Quite a co-incidence that you've mentioned it, because we've just watched "The Night has Eyes" last night! We enjoyed it.
I bet Enid Blyton, the famous British children's book author (unfortunately not known in the US), must have watched it in 1942 and got inspired by it (she used lots of hidden rooms/priest holes/underground passages/panels behind which were hidden entrances etc in her Famous Five, Adventure and Mystery series).

Just put his autobiography into my amazon market basket, because I'm interested in many of his movies, especially hoping to find out more about the filming of "Reckless Moment" and "The Wicked Lady".
As much as the Internet (I'm using it since 1998) has to offer, unfortunately there are almost no old articles on movie stars whenever I search for them. So I doubt I could find out more about TRM and what happened while it was filmed near Balboa Island, CA.
I might order the Joan Bennett biography.

This morning I discovered a book written by James Mason and his wife Pamela Kellino about their cats which supposedly is much more revealing about Mason's life than his autobiography. I will get it via amazon.

Did you read the biography on Mason by Diana DeRosso? Very often biographies are much more revealing than autobiographies (I noticed that with Katharine Hepburn)?

To be honest I've watched "Odd Man Out" several decades ago, because it's considered one of his most famous films, but I didn't care for it. However, I'll try to catch it on TCM and watch it once more.

No, I've not yet watched "The Man in Grey".
And no reason to apologize for running on, it's nice to share opinions about an actor that I always admired.
BTW I live in the US.

Cheers,

Chrissie

[–] waldenpond88 8 years ago

That's amazing that Mason was 5'11. He always seemed rather short to me (most actresses are shorter, so I blamed it on that). Probably he played with a few actors who were taller and that's how I got this impression? Trevor Howard always seemed much taller, but according to the imdb, he's also 5'11.

[–] manderstoke 8 years ago

Hi Chrissie,

Actually, the Masons published two books on cats (they needed the money as James couldn't make any films in Hollywood until a lawsuit was settled). I have "The Cats in Our Lives," but haven't read the other one.

Yes, I have DeRosso's book but as I said earlier, it is rather a frustrating read. One example is that she talks about returning to the Mason home and finding James very ill, with tubes attached to him, lying in a hospital bed. She gives no date, but I suspect this was during his first heart attack. And she does some truly annoying things, like making provocative statements, but instead of explaining them, concluding by saying things like, "But enough said about that!" A poor writer who doesn't do justice to her subject. Having thoroughly dissed DeRosso, I have to say that her book does give one some sense of what Mason was like - shy, reserved, lacking self confidence, loyal to a fault, indecisive, an animal lover (not just cats), a pacifist, a lover of the arts (he sketched and painted in oils and played 4 instruments), and despite his upper class demeanor, his political sympathies were with the underdog. Of course, DeRosso also describes the hellish marriage that he was trapped in.

You'll wait a long time to see ODD MAN OUT on TCM. The only "Mason film" they ever seem to run is that wretched NORTH BY NORTHWEST, which is NOT a Mason film. The film is over 2 and a half hours long and Mason is onscreen for 21 minutes total.

You must see THE MAN IN GREY. Mason is beyond sexy and gorgeous in this film. When Lord Rohan first appears on the screen, female hearts were breaking all over the UK. Another feather in Mason's cap is that he was the first of filmdom's antiheroes. His characters were wicked, sadistic, handsome, and sensual. Women loved them.

Two other Mason movies that are my favorites are THE SEVENTH VEIL, perhaps his most popular movie, and THE MAN BETWEEN, Mason at his world weary, disillushioned best, with one of the best endings I've ever seen. For older Mason, I recommend LOLITA, TIARA TAHITI, A TOUCH OF LARCENY, and SPRING AND PORT WINE.

[–] waldenpond88 8 years ago

James Mason on TCM

Hi Manderstoke,

you said that "You'll wait a long time to see ODD MAN OUT on TCM. The only "Mason film" they ever seem to run is that wretched NORTH BY NORTHWEST, which is NOT a Mason film. The film is over 2 and a half hours long and Mason is onscreen for 21 minutes total."

I checked Mason's filmography in the imdb and remember that these Mason films were aired on TCM since 2007 (since my husband found TCM when he was trying to find a DVD copy for me from "My Name is Julia Ross"...we are big TCM fans ever since as we both love movies from the 1940's and 1950's):

1. Cry Terror! (I watched it this weekend)
2. Odd Man Out
3. North by North West
4. Thunder Rock (Michael Redgrave and Lilli Palmer are also in it)
5. Fire over England
6. Hotel Reserve
7. A Place of One's Own
8. The 7th Veil (during the VHS era I had to track it down for my father some 20+ years ago when I was still working at the movie archives in Hamburg, Germany)
9. Caught
10. Mme Bovary
11. East Side, West Side
12. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
13. The Desert Fox
14. 5 Fingers (very scary)
15. The Story of 3 Loves
16. Prince Valiant (cute)
17. A Star is born (they show it again and again)
18. 20.000 Miles under the Sea
19. Island in the Sun
20. The Decks ran red
21. Journey to the Center of the Earth
22. Lolita (every year)
23. Pumpkin Eater (I didn't care for it)
24. Blue Max
25. Georgy Girl (didn't like it, it's with Lynn Redgrave)
26. Mayerling (boring)
27. Age of Consent (one of the early Helen Mirren movies)

We had to order "Botany Bay" at www.ioffer.com as that one never was on TCM.
TCM also airs "The Last of Sheila" pretty much every year and I want to watch it, because it was filmed on Ile St. Honorat (Iles des Lérins near Cannes, France, I've been there in 1975). But so far I had no time to watch it.

Cheers,

Chrissie

[–] manderstoke 8 years ago

Hi Chrissie,

2007 to 2016 is a 9 year span. I have never seen most of the films you listed on TCM during the past 5/6 years. It seems that his early British films, which most Americans don't even know about, are largely absent from the line-up. I confess that I consider his Hollywood period to be a largely fallow time in his career, and his best roles were not in American films. He despised Hollywood and its culture, and for all the right reasons.

[–] waldenpond88 8 years ago

Hi Manderstoke,

Here is a link where you could check for James Mason movies on TCM.
They usually list the films they'll air within the next 3 to 4 months:

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/124243|77955/James-Mason/

So if you would check this link again before xmas, there will be "new" Mason movies on TCM.

I thoroughly enjoy many of James Mason's British films, but my favorite movie will always be "The Reckless Moment" (for many reasons like the location, the plot, the acting). It's my favorite film noir (and there are so many film noirs that I love :)!).