'Love blooms between a sympathetic attorney and the comely shoplifter he has taken home for the Christmas holiday.'
Fred MacMurray...whaaat? I never thought I'd be doing a 12 Day post on actor Fred MacMurray. First off, I never really knew anything about him, or saw anything he was in until recently. I knew he was on the sit-com My Three Sons, but that was way before my time, and I've yet to see an episode. But... thanks to TCM, and to actress Barbara Stanwyck, here we are.
About ten years ago, I saw Stanwyck on TCM in 1945's Christmas in Connecticut. I really love that film, and have checked out many of other films when they air on the classic movie channel. Stanwyck is a great actress, but her movies are a bit hit or miss for me. Although she's always brilliant, occasionally she goes a little over the top, even for me.
A few years ago, I caught Stanwyck in the 1944 crime thriller Double Indemnity. Her co-star was Fred MacMurray. I loved the film-noir and MacMurray was great. Although I liked his performance as Walter Neff, I still wasn't exactly attracted to him. I was however attracted to John Sargent, MacMurry's character in Remember The Night, the Christmas film he made with Stanwyck four years earlier.
I first saw the holiday film a few years ago, but only caught the last half. I watched the entire film earlier this week. I enjoyed even more this time, and Stanwyck and MacMurray have great chemistry. Given the film was made in 1940, there are a few 'problematic' scenes and stereotypes, but they're minimal, and made up for by some great performances, especially the three actors playing MacMurray's family. I was surprised when putting together this piece, that MacMurray actually did a few promotional beefcake photos, and my crush on John Sargent was cemented.
1 comment:
I could never feel that way about Fred McMurray. Hello always be the dad from My Three Sons. Just seems wrong to lust after him. ;-)
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