THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST (1938)

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Producer: Robert Z. Leonard & William Anthony McGuire

Director: Robert Z. Leonard

Awards: NONE

Interesting Fact: This story was written by David Belasco as a play in 1905. It was adapted into an opera by Giacomo Puccini in 1910. Now that it had a musical conversion it was a perfect candidate as a musical-western for MGM in 1938.

My Mother's Favorite Scene: She loves it when the song is sung that reminds the bandit of his orphan years and the little girl that sang it.

Ramerez: I hope I'll see you again sometime. Yeah?
Mary Robbins: I hope I'll see you again sometime too. Dangling on the end of a rope!

Two young orphans would later run into each other again in the most unlikely of places, the golden West. The girl had turned into a beautiful singer and saloon owner, the boy became a handsome bandit. On her way to Monterrey, she is stopped by this bandit and he falls for her. He creates a disguise as an officer in order to get to know her better, and then leaves to rob his next location. He soon discovers that his next location is the saloon owned by the girl he fell in love with on the road.

This is one of the many classics made by MGM to showcase the talented Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy. Each film of theirs includes wonderful music, historical era plot and a conflicting love story. This was MacDonald's calamity Jane moment. Usually she was dressed in an expensive gown, but here we find her in boots and straps. My mom felt that this film got to showcase Jeanette's true talent as an actress. As with all their films together; the music is amazing, the acting is superb and the love story is wonderful.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MOVIE?

BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST (1941)

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Producer: Irving Asher & Mervyn LeRoy

Director: Mervyn Leroy

Awards: Received Oscar for Best Art Direction and was nominated for three more: Best Actress (Greer Garson), Best Cinematography & Best Picture.

Interesting Fact: This film was to be the first of eight pictures to have Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon cast together. They were the perfect couple on screen and this one has a greater emphasis on the characters courting than their other pictures.

My Mother's Favorite Scene: Her favorite scene is when she gives her speech to congress and says the famous line below.

Edna: "There are no illegitimate children. There are only illegitimate parents!"

In a day where children were marked for being born out of wedlock, there was a woman named Edna Gladney. As a child, she had an adopted sister, who was later rejected by her soon to be in-laws for this permanent mark. As a result, she committed suicide. Later in life, she had a child of her own that died on Christmas, and was forever saddened by this experience. Through the encouragement and persistence of her husband, Sam, she regained a love for children and began her own orphanage. It was when another young woman brought her a donation for the orphanage in tears, that she was reminded of her sister at youth. From that moment she waged a war against the branding of children for the choices of their parents.

This is one of those astounding true stories you don't hear about much. Through the persistence of one woman and then another and another, a label used for generations was removed from those who were too young to fight for themselves. Garson is amazing in this film and was nominated for an Oscar. The speech near the end makes your hair stand up. The fight for removing the word "bastard" from a birth certificate was still being fought when this picture was made. When it was released into the theaters it brought a swift finish to the struggle. What a spectacular picture.

Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon for the first time.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MOVIE?

GREER GARSON & WALTER PIDGEON

Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon played in a total of eight films together, seven of them as husband and wife. Her proper British manners teamed with his dominate stature and voice was a perfect combination that MGM used over and over again. Here are the films:

Walter Pidgeon (1897-1984)

Greer Garson (1904-1996)

Blossom's In the Dust (1941)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Madame Curie (1943)

Mrs. Parkington (1944)

Julia Misbehaves (1948)

That Forsyte Woman (1949)*

The Miniver Story (1950)

Scandal at Scourie (1953)

They were a more realistic couple on the screen than many of the others. True to life, they depended on the other and drew off each other's strengh and encouragment. Though they didn't kiss every time they met, they were concerned with each other's dreams and hopes. What a great example to marriages today.