L'Esclave du souvenir

'if my tires hold out' er

According to the IMDb trivia section, it sure sounded like Jane Russell didn't like this film...saying "Young Widow should have died with her husband"! I just cannot understand this, as it's clearly one of her better films. Perhaps she was just self-conscious since it was one of her earliest performances...but I sure liked it. Much of this is because unlike most of her films where here characters have a hard edge to them, this one features a more vulnerable and likable character.

Joan Kenwood (Russell) is a newly widowed lady. Her husband was killed in the war and she is determined to make herself a miserable spinster instead of getting on with her life. However, try as she might, she becomes bored and wants to return to work...but still, she does NOT want another man in her life. Too bad that Lt. Cameron (Louis Hayward) is interested in her and thinks she needs him in her life.

This is a nice romance and I was happy that Lt. Cameron was insistent BUT not a boorish jerk who just wouldn't take no for an answer (a pretty common type of character in films of the day). No, instead he's just decent and kind...and the movie is likable and seems realistic and I enjoyed it throughout.

By the way, late in the film a male friend offered to give Joan a ride "...if my tires hold out". This is a reference to the fact that during WWII, tires were in very, very short supply and were often patched and re-patched and re-patched because almost all the tires were designated for the war effort.

This is Jane Russell's one serious film, or at least it begins as such, on the brink of turning into a downrightr noir, but then Louis Hayward appears, a man was missing in her life, and here he is. But he doesn't come alone. Along there is a whole bunch of merry war pilots with their girls crowding into the apartment which she has to stay in with a friend for want of vacansies in all hotels in New York, and so it turns into a brilliant, ebullient and very enjoyable comedy.

Many have said that this is Jane Russell's best film, and it couldn't be otherwise. She is as beautiful as Hedy Lamarr and Linda Darnell, and her grief as a widow becomes her more than well and adds to the attraction - Louis Hayward's reactions are perfectly natural and logical.

Still, the serious background remains, many war pilots never return, and they still all have to return to battle. This was made towards the end of the war, but although it is closing on the finish (with bombings of Tokyo), it isn't quite over yet, and the Gerry Taylor subplot stresses the concerns. It's a wonderful film, the dialogue is like crossfire all through but positively witty all the way, and it will be a joy to once return to this film once more.

Others here have already mentioned that Jane Russell was either miscast, or rose to the occasion playing this serious role. I was struck by how much she looked like an earlier obsession of Howard Hughes, Kate Hepburn.

If you think of Katharine playing Sylvia Scarlett, wearing a Fedora and kind of squint, it makes some sense. Jane has her hair pulled back and is barely made up. Her jawline is very similar too. Once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it. Is it an amazing portrayal? Not quite, but Jane is playing with some of Hollywood's best here, and she does pretty well. I'm fond of these "war at home" films, and this is good enough.

And Jane looks great. Too bad she didn't get more opportunities like this.

Jane is gorgeous in this her second film but wasn't ready for a part that required a haunted bruised quality like this does. Missing from her performance is the permeating sadness of a woman who has lost her true love, something that Barbara Stanwyck could have injected in the part without breaking a sweat, still she makes a good try and practically glows on screen. The real reason to watch this is for the supporting cast. Connie Gilchrist and Cora Witherspoon make a fun pairing as Jane's opposite sides of a coin aunts back on the farm. Marie Wilson is charming as her usual ditzy blonde but it's Penny Singleton of Blondie fame who really delivers the best performance as an old friend of Jane's character who provides a nest for her to recover from her heartbreak. She's funny and strong by turns and enjoyable throughout.

Young Widow was probably the first time that a lot of the movie-going public actually saw Jane Russell on the screen. With The Outlaw being pulled in and out of circulation for editing and reshooting, it was felt that she ought to do something to keep her name before the public. After all without a movie in circulation there was only so much The Outlaw and all the publicity around Jane's bosoms could do.

This was an independent film from producer Hunt Stromberg who normally worked at MGM. Which was the reason no doubt for the use of the song All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings as a theme which was introduced the year before by Kathryn Grayson in Anchors Aweigh.

But this United Artists film was a romance that was slow and sluggish and quite frankly Jane Russell didn't have the acting chops to pull it off. I could have seen someone like Teresa Wright doing this far better.

Russell is just that a young war widow who hasn't gotten over the death of her husband over Berlin. Despite that she's being given quite the rush by Louis Hayward another member of the Army Air Corps. Another rival is her boss, newspaper publisher Kent Taylor. But he's clearly running second throughout the film.

Though his name is nowhere to be seen, no doubt Howard Hughes was behind this film because of the presence of Faith Domergue in the cast who was another Hughes discovery. She's another widow trying to cope and turns to Russell for help. Given their respective chests the screen could barely contain them.

Jane would have to wait another two years for The Paleface, a really good and funny film to become a genuine movie star.