The Shopworn Angel

I know I am going to sound really picky here, but the hairstyles and clothes are 1938--not WWI like the movie is supposed to be (other than uniforms). You'd think that MGM would pay attention to this detail, as it was THE top studio at the time. Yet, oddly, nearly everyone (especially the women) wear clothes that just would never have been worn in 1917--and hair to boot. And, when the folks were riding the roller coaster, they almost all had hats on--and none of them flew off! As a retired history teacher, I notice these things and felt the movie didn't try very hard to get these simple details right. So is the rest of the film worth seeing? Well, considering that it's got Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, what do you think?!

The film is a sweet romance. Stewart is a backward country boy who, unlike all his other friends in the army, does not have a girlfriend and is very awkward around women. So, to stop them from making fun of him, on an impulse, he pretends that an actress (Sullavan) is his girlfriend. Oddly, she feels sorry for him and agrees to the ruse. However, over time, this jaded lady comes to life when she's with Stewart and eventually they fall in love for real. Where it goes next, I won't say--but I was very surprised where the film went. Some may hate the surprise but I appreciated how the writer avoided the clichéd or simple ending.

Well worth seeing despite some poor attention to details. Exceptionally acted (it doesn't get much better) and a dynamite script. See this one.

What others might say is a lack of chemistry between Stewart and Sullavan in this charming picture, is what I call "acting".

People from widely different social circles react to situations differently. It is evident that the rich talents of these two actors contributed strongly to the feeling question of their compatibility.

That is the whole point of this story! The examination of things that sometimes happen during a war between unlikely pairings.

Without trying to reveal any of the story, I will say that one never felt as if Sullavan portrayed the complexity of her character without conviction, in fact, she did it admirably. She merely expressed it in the only way that a person of another "class" from Stewart's would. What I did find refreshing in Sullavan's character, although taken from the mold of a Broadway star, she displayed none of the expected snobbery which those parts normally include. It made her character all the more likeable.

Stories about romance during a war are filled with stories that sound fantastic - but may have very well occurred. This movie is no exception and I took that perspective into account as I watched the story unfold.

I would recommend this movie to any fan of James Stewart or Margaret Sullavan. They delivered their parts with originality and a lack of staleness which is normally associated with such simple stories.

The Waldo Salt screenplay takes a small story and develops it into an affecting portrait of three surprisingly convincing and complex human characters, all of whom transcend the typical dramatic constraints of late '30s Hollywood. All three principals turn in excellent, low-key performances in perfect keeping with the film's narrative strengths. I find it particularly interesting to compare this with the other bookend to Salt's screenwriting career, Coming Home, also a character-driven story that revolves around the complex, three-way relationship between a woman and the two men who love her in a time of war.

Shy young soldier James Stewart is picked on by his fellow soldiers for not being a ladies man. Jaded showgirl Margaret Sullavan agrees to help him out by pretending to be his girlfriend. He quickly falls in love with her for real but things are complicated by his having to ship out for the war and her already having a boyfriend (Walter Pidgeon).

The second of four movies pairing Stewart and Sullavan. Their chemistry is remarkable as always. This one doesn't turn out how you might think and I can easily see many viewers being disappointed. It builds up towards one thing but shifts gears 3/4 of the way through and becomes something else. I still enjoyed it, though.

While the Stewart-Sullivan pairing doesn't quite live up to the chemistry they have in The Shop Around the Corner, this earlier film shows they had it even then. It's their acting talent that keeps this film from being a major letdown. Walter Pidgeon is also good in his role, for what it is. It's the plot that stinks. The two leads have SO much chemistry that it makes Sullavan's character Daisy Heath's relationship with Pidgeon's Sam Bailey not so realistic. She was supposed to have realized she was still more in love with Sam than ever but it just doesn't quite come across. What does leap off the screen is the chemistry between Bill Pettigrew (played by Stewart) and Daisy Heath..so yes, it's a letdown that Heath is not supposed to be in love with Bill when the plot builds up to it.