This Is My Affair

A bland title disguises this solidly-carpentered example of old-fashioned Hollywood entertainment, this film proves a largely successful hodgepodge of several disparate elements: a period piece, a romantic drama, a crime movie and a political thriller. Interestingly, though made by Fox, its protagonists – Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck – were both usually associated with other studios; their on screen chemistry here is palpable and eventually led to marriage in a couple of years' time. While a bit too young, Taylor is a dashing hero (a Marine personally appointed by President McKinley to uncover the culprits behind an organized clean-up of numerous banks); unsurprisingly, no sooner has he tracked them down (led by smooth Brian Donlevy and thuggish Victor McLaglen) that he falls for a chanteuse (naturally, Stanwyck) who has thrown her lot with the gang – although, truth be told, singing is far from being the actress' forte! Similarly, apart from having to prove his worth to make it into their fold, he has to vie with McLaglen for Stanwyck's attentions; by the way, the practical joker persona of the former reminded me a lot of Charley Chase in SONS OF THE DESERT (1933) which, incidentally, was likewise directed by William A. Seiter. Later on, Taylor is in two minds about involving Stanwyck in the impending bait and tries to offer his resignation to the President while eloping with the girl – but the jealous rival disrupts his plans. The robbery gone awry, we find Donlevy dead and the other two in jail; Taylor's hopes for McKinley's intervention – having meanwhile learned the identity of the elusive and obviously prominent 'inside man' – are seemingly dashed when the President winds up assassinated himself (a great plot twist, though the resulting eleventh-hour suspense feels contrived)! To get back to the film's jumble of styles, even if the vaudeville sequences are a matter of taste, the romantic triangle slows things up and it skimps somewhat on the thriller aspect, this emerges a handsome production indeed – with the actors already mentioned ably supported by the likes of John Carradine (who unaccountably disappears after just one scene!), Douglas Fowley, Sig Rumann and, as two American Presidents, Sidney Blackmer (the bubbly Theodore Roosevelt) and Frank Conroy (McKinley).

...from 20th Century Fox and director William A. Seiter. US President William McKinley assigns naval lieutenant Richard Perry (Robert Taylor) to go undercover in order to find and stop a bank robbery ring in Minnesota. The job is so sensitive that no one is aware of Perry's true identity and mission other than McKinley himself. Once in Minnesota, Perry connects the gang to a casino run by Batiste Duryea (Brian Donlevy) and his right-hand man Jock Ramsey (Victor McLaglen). Perry tries to gain entry to the gang while also romancing Batiste's stepsister singer Lil Duryea (Barbara Stanwyck), who had been Jock's girl. This is all leads to confrontations, double-crosses, and...well, any history buff can probably guess what happens. Also featuring Frank Conroy as William McKinley.

This silly circumstances of the plot lead to a decent undercover cop story with a lot of interesting actors. Stanwyck and Taylor's real life romance helped their on-screen chemistry, although it didn't help Stanwyck's singing voice. Sidney Blackmer makes for what may be the screen's worst Teddy Roosevelt.

In a recent biography of Barbara Stanwyck, I learned that Darryl Zanuck was keen on teaming Stanwyck with her soon to be husband Robert Taylor. Stanwyck freelanced and was currently owing 20th Century Fox a picture, so Zanuck must have worked something out with Louis B. Mayer at MGM to get his favorite star over to Fox.

The year before the Taylor/Stanwyck team starred in His Brother's Wife which I'm sure did good business, but wasn't exactly memorable. Neither would This Is My Affair if it hadn't been for the fact that it starred a couple that were a hot gossip column item.

What Zanuck did was give Bob and Barbara a vehicle that must have at some time been intended for Tyrone Power and Alice Faye. It's a period piece set at the turn of the last century. Barbara is even given a couple of songs by Alice's own songwriting team of Harry Revel and Mack Gordon to do as well as some period public domain music. Apparently she does them herself because I see no credit for voice dubbing. They would have been better had Alice Faye done them however.

Taylor is a Navy Lieutenant on detached assignment to work a job for President William McKinley personally. McKinley is worried about a successful gang of bank-robbers operating in the Midwest who seem to have inside information about vault combinations and even have keys to let themselves in at night so no break-in is required. He has Taylor go under deep cover and report only to him if needed.

It takes months, but Taylor does find the gang which is headed by Brian Donlevy and Victor McLaglen. He also finds Donlevy's stepsister Barbara Stanwyck with whom he falls for. But still his duty is clear.

The notion that a President of the United States is taking such a personal interest in apprehending a gang of robbers is interesting. William McKinley's administration was one that had a lot foreign and domestic concerns. I can't believe that particular president could have involved himself in this crime investigation. But also the banking system was not so tightly regulated that one man could have had all that inside information. It's not even that tightly regulated now, even with the creation of the Federal Reserve which was a dozen or so years in the future.

In fact McKinley's own assassination nearly cooks Taylor's goose. Frank Conroy looked very much like William McKinley and his character portrayal was accurate right down to the cigars McKinley enjoyed, the only vice this most Christian of presidents was known to have. Sidney Blackmer played Theodore Roosevelt many times on screen and really does make you think you're watching TR himself. He was much better at it than John Alexander from Arsenic And Old Lace.

The two stars who soon married never did another project together while they were husband and wife. Taylor and Stanwyck did do The Night Walker after their divorce almost thirty years later. None of the three films is at the top drawer of credits for either star.

Did anyone watching this movie wonder if President McKinley got assassinated, because of his secret attempt to unmask one of his confidantes as the kingpin of a crime syndicate? It's a question that was left unexplored here, because, I take it, Americans of the thirties never saw the event as anything but the act of a lone fanatic instead of as a conspiracy. After all, audiences were still recovering from the aftermath of a Depression, and the movies of the time were more concerned with stamping out the Little Caesars and Duke Santees of the day than uncovering political corruption. Allan Rivkin ("The Farmer's Daughter") wrote an interesting story about a naval officer (Robert Taylor) who, in secret correspondence with McKinley, uncovers the linchpin behind a wave of bank robberies in the upper Midwest centered in, of all places, St. Paul, Minnesota. The screenplay gets sanctimonious in the hands of Lamar Trotti, and the script did not inspire William Seiter to more imaginative heights. Brian Donlevy plays the crime boss with his usual menace, while Barbara Stanwyck (of all people) as his half-sister is made to sing (She's barely on-key, like Marlene Dietrich in "The Blue Angel.") and wear big, floppy hats--even in her stage act. The only one I've ever seen on screen who could pull off wearing headgear like these is Mae West, and she was at least in on the joke. Stanwyck, on the other hand, is forced to be unswervingly sincere throughout. Her character Lil and the officer idle on Lake Como and get serious about each other, much to the dismay of Victor MacLaglen who's Donlevy's sidekick, prone to playing practical jokes, and thinks he has it in with her. The acting is uniformly bad; I guess Stanwyck and Taylor were too much in love at the time to care. The story deserved better than this. A secret only you and the President share you would think should take precedence over run-of-the mill movie romance. Unless it involves a cigar and a stained dress...

In 1937 Darryl Zanuck, who had recently moved from head of production at Warner Brothers, was trying to get his newly created company, 20th Century Fox off the ground and on a level playing field with his old bosses at Warners and the glitter palace at MGM. "This Is My Affair" was an attempt to cash in on the current success of historical films set around the turn of the century ("San Francisco" "In Old Chicago")and in retrospect he succeeded quite mightily. The plot is fascinating. A trouble maker but heroic naval officer (Robert Taylor) is given a secret assignment by President McKinley to uncover a ring of bank robbers that are paralyzing American finance. He finds the gang but falls in love with their female mascot (Barbara Stanwyck) and must decide between love and duty.

Not everything about this vintage film works well, but overall it is a good slice of studio film-making. The plot gimmick would be borrowed by Kurt Vonnegut for "Mother Night" (the lead role of that film of the book was played brilliantly by Nick Nolte) and seems quite believable, at least within the confides of studio make believe. As a fan of old movies I am always thrilled when I stumble upon one that I have never seen and "This is my Affair" was no exception.