Day 10 of Noirvember: Blogathon & the Beast

Today’s Noirvember post is offered in conjunction with Blogathon & the Beast, a blog event hosted by the Classic Movie Blog Association that focuses on characters who are “caught in a struggle with their primal inclinations.” For my entry in the blogathon, I’m taking a look at the “beasts” in three Joan Crawford noirs. In each case, the beast is initially cloaked in refined and affable clothing – but he eventually emerges from his disguise and makes his true nature known.

(Watch your step ahead – you’ll not only have to dodge the beasts, but some spoilers as well!)

Mildred Pierce (1945)

— In the beginning.

What’s it about?

One of my most often-watched noirs, this feature covers several years in the life of the title character, played by Crawford. During those years, Mildred sees the breakup of her marriage to Bert (Bruce Bennett), the tragic death of her younger child, Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe), and the rise (and fall) of her business enterprise. Others in Mildred’s realm include her pretentious older daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth), her ex-husband’s former business partner Wally Fay (Jack Carson), and her boyfriend-turned ex-boyfriend-turned husband, Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott).

Who’s the beast?

— The beastly Monte Beragon.

Monte Beragon is the beast. We first meet him when he’s approached by Mildred and Wally in an effort to secure some property he has for sale; Mildred sees the location as the perfect spot for her restaurant. Property-rich but cash-poor, Monte is charming and sociable, and Mildred can’t help noticing that he’s also good-looking. When Monte and Mildred meet again, he invites her to his beach house, where she is inextricably drawn into his web of passion. The two begin dating, but as Mildred’s restaurant business grows and expands, Monte becomes more and more of a financial drain – and making matters worse, Mildred views Monte as an increasingly negative influence on her increasingly snotty surviving daughter. Mildred gives Monte the heave-ho, but unfortunately, that’s not the last we see of him.

— Cold busted.

Later, Mildred re-enters Monte’s life, gives him a third of her business, and marries him (“Sold – one Beragon”), using his mansion as a bargaining chip to lure the wayward Veda back home. But that’s when the beast truly rears his odious head. During a meeting with her accountant, Mildred learns that she’s losing her business – and Monte, who sold his shares, is the direct cause. And that’s not the worst of it. Mildred pays a visit to the family beach house to find Monte in a fiery embrace with none other than her daughter, Veda! And in what must qualify as the biggest understatement of all time, Monte offers this nugget: “We weren’t expecting you, Mildred. Obviously.”

The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)

— Before Lorna.

What’s it about?

Here, Crawford stars as Ethel Whitehead, an unhappily married housewife in a factory town who flees to the big city after her young son is killed. After a series of fortuitous encounters, Ethel meets George Castleman (David Brian), an organized crime boss characterized by his tailored suits and the antiques decorating his home. Attracted to Ethel’s “brains and spirit,” George turns her over to a society matron (Selena Royle), who helps to refine her rough edges and transforms her into Mrs. Lorna Hansen Forbes, the wealthy widow of a Wyoming oil magnate and the “darling of café society.” Ethel becomes George’s mistress in an upscale “back street” scenario, but she gets more than she bargained for when he asks her to cozy up to the head of his West coast operations, Nick Prenta (Steve Cochran), who he suspects of planning to take over the organization.

Who’s the beast?

— The salad days.

It’s George Castleman. He seems like an amiable enough gent when we first meet him – he’s confident, no-nonsense, and strong-willed, but he’s obviously attracted to Ethel and sees the potential beneath her gaudy hat and cheap perfume. (Sure, he’s married, but his wife is so odd, who can blame George for stepping out on her?) And when George reunites with the new Mrs. Forbes, he is “hypnotized, stupefied, drugged, and bewildered.” He recovers from his heady admiration, though, when he suspects that Nick Prenta has murdered a member of George’s crew and he gets the bright idea to send Ethel to California to find out just what’s been going on. Ethel balks at the idea: “From what I’ve heard tonight, [Nick] isn’t likely to pour out his life story without very strong inducements. There must be a limit to how far you want me to go to induce him,” she says. “Would you send your wife?”

— Not the salad days.

Ultimately, Ethel agrees to the assignment (“I learned a long time ago, George, that the customer is always right”), but she does her job a little too well for George’s taste. And she finds out the extent of George’s displeasure when he shows up at her doorstep in California to check on his “investment” and administers one of the most shocking beatings I’ve ever seen in a noir (“There’s only one thing to do with dirt,” George snarls. “Sweep it up!”). Castleman’s beastly nature reveals itself further when Nick shows up: “I’m going to give you a lesson in political science,” he tells Nick before he fatally shoots him. “Revolutions are started by smart people, but they’re always finished by smarter ones.” And when Ethel escapes and returns to her home, Castleman trails her and delivers a bullet for her, too.

Sudden Fear (1952)

— Pre-Lester.

What’s it about?

Crawford stars as playwright and heiress Myra Hudson, who has a whirlwind romance with actor Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) following a not-so-cute-meet at his audition for her latest play. Lester and Myra get married and settle into her San Francisco home, where Lester’s loving attention and unflagging passion foster Myra’s constant state of bliss. (“All my life, I’ve been rich,” she tells her lawyer. “But that wasn’t enough. And then I met Lester. He filled my life completely.” Nights at the opera, days at the racetrack, dining and dancing at the town’s swankiest joints; Lester was the perfect husband and Myra was the happiest wife. Until she happened to learn that Lester had a chick on the side and that the two of them were planning to murder Myra at their earliest possible convenience. Womp womp.

Who’s the beast?

— The Beast begins.

Lester, of course. Once he set his sights on Myra (and her millions), he was the world’s most captivating suitor – as long as he was under Myra’s gaze, that is. But once he was out of her view, all bets were most definitely off. He showed his true colors (to us) even before he and Myra were married, by ignoring her phone calls and pretending that he was leaving town because “I don’t belong to your world – you have so much. I have nothing.” (Oh, BROTHER.) Myra fell for that one hook, line, and sinker. Later, when his ex-lover, Irene Nieves (Gloria Grahame) showed up at Myra and Lester’s reception, Lester didn’t miss a beat – he was at Irene’s home before she even got dropped off by her date.

— Be careful, girl.

Once Lester and Irene got together, Lester showed us just what kind of beast he really was, expressing fury at the notion that Myra was changing her will (and assuming that he would be “flat out on my face”), and nastily telling Irene that he longed to tell his wife, “Wise up. Love you? I never loved you!” And then there was, by far, Lester’s beastliest move of all, scheming with Irene to murder Myra before the changes in her will could be formalized. What a prince.

Poor Joanie. She sure could pick ‘em.

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This post is part of the Classic Movie Blog Association’s fall 2023 event, Blogathon & the Beast. To read the other offerings from the blogathon, click here.

You only owe it to yourself.

~ by shadowsandsatin on November 10, 2023.