Histoire d'un amour

This Stahl weeper stars Irene Dunne as John Boles' kept woman, whom George Meeker wants to marry, although I thought that Meeker might be the 6th Marx Brother, judging by his look and voice.

It's from a Fanny Hurst opus, but even though the script is not as intelligent as yesterday's Seed, it's a much better movie. It's tighter -- ten minutes shorter -- with a beautiful set-piece opening which purports to be Cincinnati in 1907, complete with band shell, no automobiles and plenty of horses -- spotless streets, despite the horses. Was you ever in Cincinnati, Charlie?

I still don't like soapers, but Irene's oh-well-it-is-what-it-is attitude when she can't help lovin' dat man o' someone else's is far more affecting than the typical overwrought attitude.

The first of the thrice filmed Fanny Hurst novel under the tasteful direction of John Stahl features a superb performance from Irene Dunne. From carefree youth to dying day Dunne gives an incredibly restrained yet powerfully emotional effort of a woman who signs her own death warrant to the American ideal.

Ray Schmidt is one elusive chick to the men chasing her. On to the traveling salesman con she also rejects the well intentioned local boy with promise Kurt Schlender who nevertheless remains persistent. One day at the train depot she's introduced to Walter Saxel (John Boles). The two hit it off and embark on an on off affair until the day they die.

Dunne endures the highs and lows of the relationship with a low key melancholy, much of it reflected in her eyes and long silences that reaches the audience and speaks volumes. The tragic chemistry between the two is evident in many of their scenes as they knowingly play out the doomed affair that will never attain respectability with a wan despair.

Stahl along with cameraman Karl Freund provide one fine background after the next with some beautiful set pieces as well some tender two shot close-ups of the star crossed lovers conflicted by their desperate passion for each other and the "proper " thing to do. A top rate tearjerker.

At our recent film society screening of this film (we very luckily have a 16mm print in The National Film and Sound Archive here in Australia) it was very apparent of the skill of director and his star in what is an subtle and underplayed telling of this Fannie Hurst tearjerker. There is an absence of musical underscore very typical for the period prior to 1934, and this added to the potency of the effect of Dunne's absorbing and masterful performance, illustrating her as not just a star but an actress as well. Overall this film has a very gentle feel with slow fade-outs used frequently in giving this effect. Dunne is wonderful in her playing earlier in a lighter fashion and makes a skillful transformation into the section of the film where she is older and more serious. I had sympathy for her character in spite of the sacrifices she makes for John Boles, remaining in the "back street" of his life. I see director Stahl as a sort of predecessor to Sirk in his handling of solid fare such as this and "Leave her to Heaven" (1945).

Rae Schmidt (Irene Dunne) is a free spirited girl in the early 20th century who meets dapper Walter Saxel (John Boles) one day when she is seeing off an acquaintance on a train trip. Walter is engaged, but this marriage is his mother's dream more than his own, and he and Rae quickly fall for one another. Walter gets the idea that he might get his mother to come around to him marrying Rae instead if they could meet. They plan to have a "chance" meeting at a band concert the next day that Walter will be attending with his mother. But fate intervenes and Rae doesn't get there until after everyone has left because of a family emergency that she must attend to. Walter thinks he's been stood up.

Five years pass and Walter and Ray meet again, this time in New York. Walter married his fiancée and now has two children. But that doesn't stop them from starting a long running affair since both have loved one another all of these years. He rents an apartment that she lives in, and she gives up her job so she can be available when he needs her. She also gives up her friends because she can't risk anybody finding out about this arrangement as Walter is the member of a prominent family and has a prominent job with a prominent bank. What does he give up - Zilch, Zip, Nada.

This is a creaky soap opera to be sure, but well-acted and very well directed by Stahl. The episodic story left some plot points dangling (what did the car inventor think of Rae dumping him and running back to Walter? And what did daddy think of Rae's lifestyle? He's dropped, too, after the early scenes) I thought this was the best of the three versions. The second is well acted, but Boyer comes off as a cad overall. Boles, in this version, is more sincere and nicer (though still selfish). The 60s remake is pretty bad, saved in part by Vera Miles as the shrewish wife (which is a minor part in the first two versions). Dunne is good, as always. She played the same kind of part in The Secret of Madame Blanche shortly after this.

I wondered why Walter didn't at some point divorce his wife as apparently his marriage was just something he did to make his mother happy. I thought he was staying just to protect his career, and then I found out something about the source material. In the novel, Walter was Jewish and under pressure from his mother to marry a Jewish girl. Given the times, it's not too surprising this was dropped in the film versions, even in the precode era. It does dilute the man's motivations in the story considerably.

BACK STREET (Universal, 1932), directed by John M. Stahl, from the popular novel by Fannie Hurst, is not so much a story about a certain street in a certain town, but a love story of two people who have each other but are unable to unite as husband and wife. While such a theme might have been a product for a Ruth Chatterton or Kay Francis, the heroine in question was awarded to Irene Dunne, on loan from RKO Radio, based on the strength of her Academy Award nominated performance in 1931's Best Picture winner, CIMARRON. John Boles, a likable actor and fine singer of screen musicals who made his way through dramas, assumes the sort of role suited for prospects as Ronald Colman or Ricardo Cortez. Under Stahl's direction, BACK STREET turned out to be a money maker for the studio, career advancement for Dunne, and further roles in the "soap opera school" for Boles, including another opposite Dunne in THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (RKO, 1934).

The story begins at the turn of the century, "Cincinnati, in the good old days before the Eighteenth Amendment." Ray Schmidt (Irene Dunne) is introduced as a carefree girl living at home with her father (Paul Weigel), whom she works at his store; stepmother (Jane Darwell); and half-sister, Freda (June Clyde). Popular with the men, she's loved by the ambitious Kurt Shendler (George Meeker), who hopes to marry her after investing in the profitable automobile business. Fate steps in when Ray's friend, Mr. Bakeless (Walter Catlett), a traveling salesman, introduces her to visiting businessman, Walter D. Saxel (John Boles), at the train station. Their one day courtship turns to love. Although engaged to marry his childhood sweetheart, Walter hopes to change all that by arranging Ray to meet with him and his mother (Maude Turner Gordon)the following afternoon at Eden Park by the band stand. Delayed due to Freda's personal troubles, Ray's late arrival finds her watching the crowd gathering away. Five years later, Walter, a junior partner in the banking business, and Ray, employed at a Wall Street firm, meet again on the streets of New York. In spite of Walter's marriage to Corinne (Doris Lloyd) and father of two, he finds he cannot live without Ray. Leaving both her job and apartment, Walter arranges for Ray to take up residence elsewhere so they can meet secretly and resume their relationship. Posing as a married woman, Ray keeps very much to herself during Walter's business or family trips, corresponding only with her friendly landlady, Mrs. Dole (ZaSu Pitts). As Ray befriends a troubled girl named Francine (Shirley Grey), whose life parallels hers, advising her to break off her relationship with a married man, Ray continues living her "back street" existence with Walter for the next 25 years, leading to complications when confronted by Walter's now grown children (William Bakewell and Arletta Duncan).

The success of BACK STREET produced many imitations, along with two remakes for Universal: 1941 starring Charles Boyer and Margaret Sullavan (the best and most revived version), and 1961 featuring Susan Hayward and John Gavin (the least inspired in spite of Technicolor and up-to-date story). While remakes usually fail to compare with the original, the 1941 version is an exception to the rule. Boyer and Sullavan's enactment of Walter and Ray improve over Boles and Dunne, each more satisfying playing loyal or long suffering spouses than unfaithful husband and his mistress. Boyer's acting is more direct, especially during a scene when confronted by his son about his illicit affair, to then order him to "mind his own business" as compared to Boles' more polite manner in the same situation. The only time Boles breaks away from his gentle manner is when Ray asks him to "give her a baby," but even his outrage as to how this could ruin him is more controlled than forceful. Dunne's handling of Ray, too, is gentle and soft-spoken throughout, except during the opening in a couple of unrelated scenes where she speaks and acts in the manner of actress Barbara Stanwyck. The underscore that sets the tone for plot and characters, used to great advantage in the remakes, is sadly lacking in this "back street" of classic love stories. For Irene Dunne, greater movie roles, I REMEMBER MAMA (RKO, 1948) included, were ahead of her.

Out of circulation possibly due to the latter remake(s), the original BACK STREET sufficed again at revival movie houses in the 1970s, public television by 1982, American Movie Classics (1991) usually on a double bill with the 1941 version, and finally Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: September 9, 2023). Of the three adaptations, only the 1961 carnation had further exposure with its distribution on home video in the 1990s. (**1/2)