{"id":18252,"date":"2018-08-25T01:15:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-25T05:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18252"},"modified":"2018-08-25T02:47:20","modified_gmt":"2018-08-25T06:47:20","slug":"br-revolt-of-mamie-stover-the-1956","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18252","title":{"rendered":"BR: Revolt of Mamie Stover, The (1956)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film<\/strong>: Very Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Twilight Time<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0All<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 July 17, 2018<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Drama<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Steamy tale of an prostitute breaking house rules for a novelist and a side business in war profiteering.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Isolated Stereo Music Track \/ Theatrical Trailer \/ 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by film historian Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000 copies \/ Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a> and www.twilighttimemovies.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jane Russell\u2019s final film for Twentieth Century-Fox is this supposedly steamy tale of a prostitute booted out of San Francisco and settling into an upscale but nevertheless exploitive \u2018hotel\u2019 run by a Madame and her woman-smacking henchman. Her plan is simple: make lots of money, head back to her hometown in style, and be the envy of every arse that berated her as poor, worthless, white trash.<\/p>\n

Things become slightly complicated when she becomes involved with a wealthy writer, breaking apart his current romance, inspiring loathing from his servant, and later trying to remain faithful to the decent guy when Japan\u2019s attach on Pearl Harbor sends her lover to war and leaves Mamie with lots of solo time.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The novel!<\/p><\/div>\n

William Bradford Huie’s novel could\u2019ve been a 2 hour, hot & bothered melodrama \u2013 Fox\u2019s team of effects wizards did a fine job of dramatizing the attack on the harbor and fleeing locals from areas of impact, making a mini-movie \u2013 but perhaps Sydney Boehm was pressured into condensing the novel into a simple straightforward narrative that builds towards one vital moment: After all that\u2019s happened between the couple, will there be forgiveness, unity, and a life together?<\/p>\n

Boehm\u2019s background in retaining as much prickly sexual tension from literary works for the big screen (The Big Heat<\/a>, Woman Obsessed<\/a><\/strong>) is well served in this slick drama, as is his gift for sharp snappy dialogue. He makes the otherwise preposterous love affair that occurs between Mamie (Russell) and Jim Blair (Richard Egan) during the sea voyage from San Francisco to Hawaii almost<\/em> believable because his emphasis isn\u2019t on glances or the mystery of will they or won\u2019t they cabin canoodling per se, but the attitude that unites two unlikely lovers. Boehm’s approach enables their attraction to progress after Mamie\u2019s settled into the chicken house run by mean yet savvy Bertha Parchman (Agnes Moorehead, really fun as both a blonde and a tough ball-buster).<\/p>\n

\"\"

The movie edition paperback!<\/p><\/div>\n

The script\u2019s lean plot lines ensure the romance remains ongoing \u2013 if not in Mamie\u2019s thoughts, then in the short sneak-outs and ocean drives she conspires & coordinates with Jim, evading the sharp eye of enforcer Harry Adkins (snarling, baritone voiced Michael Pate) \u2013 but the Pearl Harbor attack and Jim\u2019s enlistment to some far off battleground introduces Mamie\u2019s unique and controversial emergence as a powerful force on the island: being Bertha\u2019s star gal, her increased take becomes extremely favorable, and earning more money has her seeing an opportunity in snapping up land by frightened & fleeing locals at fire sale prices, and renting & selling them to the U.S. Government for needed military use.<\/p>\n

Director Raoul Walsh (who directed Russell in The Tall Men<\/strong> a year earlier) was no slouch to tension, and while it\u2019s expected the attack sequence would be nicely choreographed, he recognized the charisma of Russell and Egan, two very fit, athletic actors whose chemistry clicked in the treasure diving adventure Underwater!<\/a><\/strong> (1953). Egan and Russell\u2019s beach scene flatters the two maturing stars, and signals Mamie\u2019s decision to stop hiding their affair and risk Adkins\u2019 cruelty and stand her ground for what could be a combination of employee civil, social, and sexual rights.<\/p>\n

Walsh also does a great job in depicting Bertha\u2019s huge house where thick lines of G.I.\u2019s await to buy tickets to dance, chat, or a bit more with Bertha\u2019s ladies. It\u2019s a dance hall & bar, and the back end is packed with a labyrinth of suites, each featuring a timer, record player, and seating area for the limited sessions between G.I. and Girl.<\/p>\n

Leo Tover\u2019s cinematography is gorgeous<\/em> \u2013 the colours in the film are low-key but warm, and the vistas and views from Jim\u2019s hillside home are meticulously composed for Fox\u2019s sprawling CinemaScope ratio. Hugo Friedhofer\u2019s score features a nice main theme and sharp orchestrations, adding to the classy production, and creating an emotional through-line that helps us adjust to a finale that may divide viewers: it\u2019s either logical, or a cruel cheat.<\/p>\n

In spite of the excellent cast , some of characters are nevertheless reduced to mere bit players. Jim\u2019s man servant is stoic and suffers silently when attention and household power is slowly being usurped by Mamie, and all he does is stand and shed quiet tears; and Jim\u2019s girlfriend Annalee Johnson (Joan Leslie) is far too agreeable, vanishing from the narrative once it\u2019s clear Mamie is his girl of choice. Leslie is fine as the genial Annalee, but there\u2019s never any ire towards Jim for being pushed away, nor quiet scenes where her and Jim have a conversation of substance; maybe early script drafts featured more material, and the film was ultimately edited down to a tightly paced drama with a handful of unfortunate sacrifices.<\/p>\n

Folded into the strong cast is Hugh Beaumont (Queen of Outer Space<\/a><\/strong>, TV\u2019s Father Knows Best<\/strong>) as the civil cop who escorts Mamie our of San Francisco, and Alan Reed (Woman\u2019s World<\/a><\/strong>, and the voice of Fred Flintstone!) as the ship\u2019s captain.<\/p>\n

Russell is strong playing a no-nonsense, determined woman, but the film clearly switches genres for a few minutes when Mamie joins a set of dancers for the ridiculous song \u201cKeep Your Eyes on the Hands\u201d \u2013 a blatant attempt by Fox to sell a single… and yet it\u2019s also a somewhat logical extension of her success at as a headliner, given she plays a record of \u201cIf You Wanna See Mamie Tonight\u201d for her gentlemen guests to augment her ego and remind clients she\u2019s to be admired, respected, and whatever transpires, cherished.<\/p>\n

Twilight Time\u2019s Blu-ray sports a crisp transfer and sharp audio, and Friedhofer\u2019s score is isolated in stereo on a separate track. Julie Kirgo\u2019s liner notes are a real treat, celebrating Walsh as a director of tough guy movies with action and strong women (and perhaps a sympathetic eye towards tales of \u2018escorts\u2019 wanting a fresh start in a lousy world). This may be one of Russell\u2019s best films and most intriguing role \u2013 it\u2019s hard to imagine anyone else in the part \u2013 and Kirgo gives respectful nods to co-star Egan and Leslie (High Sierra<\/strong>, Yankee Doodle Dandy<\/a><\/strong>), the latter retiring from film and re-emerging in assorted TV movies and episodic work in the 1970s and 1980s.\u00a0Kirgo also confirms Mamie was indeed a hooker in the novel \u2013 her \u2018escort\u2019 veil in the movie is wafer-thin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

American key art for The Revolt of Mamie Stover.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Rebel Woman! in Italia.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

A Bungalow for Women! in la belle France.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Und auch a Bungalow for Women! in Deutschland.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other works by William Bradford Huie adapted for the big screen include Wild River<\/a> <\/strong>(1960), The Outsider <\/strong>(1961), The Americanization of Emily<\/strong> (1964), and The Klansman<\/strong> (1974), plus the TV movie The Execution of Private Slovik<\/strong> (1974).<\/p>\n

Lastly, Glenn Erickson at Cinesavant wrote a great piece on some of the stock footage from the\u00a0Stover<\/strong> production that was repurposed quite successfully in the indie sci-fi classic\u00a0Kronos<\/strong> (1957), which is worth a read<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2018 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazon Canada<\/a>\"\"\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon USA<\/a>\"\"\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon UK<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jane Russell\u2019s final film for Twentieth Century-Fox is this supposedly steamy tale of a prostitute booted out of San Francisco and settling into an upscale but nevertheless exploitive \u2018hotel\u2019 run by a Madame and her woman-smacking henchman…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[181,5791,5799,359,5797,530,593,5798],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-4Ko","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18252"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18299,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18252\/revisions\/18299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}