White Banners

Just happened to wake up very early this morning and stumbled upon "White Banners" on Turner Classic Movies. What a nice little film. Fay Bainter, normally known for her outstanding support of many a fine lead actor, is given a chance to shine in a more substantial and pivotal role. Claude Rains turns in his usual fine performance and there is fine work from young actors Bonita Granville and Jackie Cooper. In lesser hands this film could easily lapse into a puddle of maudlin sap, but these fine performers truly elevate this moving and interesting story. The film is based on a Lloyd C. Douglas short story. Douglas was also the author of "Magnificient Obsession" and "The Robe. Would love to see this one on DVD someday. Until then, I'll be watching TCM's schedule for it. A film not to be missed!

It starts out like the original Imitation of Life where Louise Beavers shows up at Claudette Colbert's house looking for a job, but in this case it's Fay Bainter trying to sell her apple peelers on a cold, windy, snowy day in dreary Indiana. The film is very realistic in its portrayal of the weather, making you feel cold and depressed. When the lady of the house invites her in to get warm and Hannah sees the disorder in the kitchen, she(like Louise Beavers) sees a perfect opportunity to get a job with room and board.

Offering to save the family money (she sees immediately they are struggling), they take her offer and come to love her like family. She comes up with ideas like selling their old useless furniture for cash, gives Claude Rains a spot in the basement to work in peace on his experiments (he is a professor by day and an inventor by night). She is wise and has the instinct to know when something is going to go wrong trying to save the family whatever heartache she can.

When Jackie Cooper (spoiled rich boy) takes a job as Rains assistant, it is the beginning of his life changing him into a fine young man. Only by accident does he cause Rains harm thru an error of judgment. But justice prevails, as Hannah tells Rains to turn the other cheek and go on.

Hannah stumbling upon this house at a time when they are in need of help provides her the opportunity to get what she came for. That being said - all is well at the end. When you see her walking off in the snowy storm, the same way she came in, one cannot help but feel sorry for her - hoping that she would turn around and stay, but doing so would cause her too much pain. Like some of the other poster's, I taped this out of curiosity, and wound glued for the entire film. Definitely a keeper.

WHITE BANNERS has a couple of very odd but satisfying plots running through the film. The first involves Fay Bainter who plays a woman who just moves in with a family and becomes the perfect housekeeper--in many ways a lot like an earlier incarnation of Mary Poppins! However, her hidden agenda and why she works for mere "peanuts" is interesting and unfolds throughout the film. The "why" exactly isn't all that hard to predict--there are lots of pretty obvious clues thrown out to the audience. The second plot, and this IS an odd one, is about Rains and Cooper working together to try to create the first home electric refrigerator and sell the idea. While this may sound dull, I actually liked this--it reminded me a lot of movies like YOUNG TOM EDISON.

This is not exactly a perfect movie, but I enjoyed it and appreciate how the studio at least tried something different. Plus, some of the performances were very good. Claude Rains was his usual wonderful self, but I also appreciate the teen parts played by Jackie Cooper and Bonita Granville--Bonita was bouncy like a teen and it was nice to see Jackie doing a more mature role than what he'd been previously doing for MGM when he was a bit younger. Also, Fay Bainter was generally excellent, but there were a few times when her character seemed a bit "sappy" and too good to be true. The bottom line is that this is an excellent movie and a good one for old movie buffs who want a change of pace.

It's nice to see FAY BAINTER in a starring role opposite CLAUDE RAINS. Bainter has the sort of role you might expect BARBARA STANWYCK to do in one of her "Stella Dallas" moods about a mother whose love for her son has to be from afar until she comes to live in a household where she's able to be a part of his life again.

And thanks to a good script, there's no settling for a happy ending. Having satisfied herself that he's on the right path, she leaves him thinking that his adopted mother was his real mom and she walks off into the wintry landscape just as she drifted into the household at the beginning.

It's a warm story, full of Lloyd C. Douglas touches (he wrote the original Cosmopolitan magazine story) and it's nicely played by a cast that includes JACKIE COOPER (the boy inventor with the likable personality), BONITA GRANVILLE (his love interest in a puppy love sort of way), and JAMES STEPHENSON as Cooper's father who has a reunion with the son given up for adoption years ago, but keeps the secret from him.

Of course the flaws are there, as they are in any story of this kind penned by Mr. Douglas. The sentiment is poured on pretty thick at times, the speeches seem like pearls of wisdom coming from characters who always know exactly what to say in any sort of predicament, and Bainter's character, in particular, is a bit too noble and self-sacrificing to be really believable.

But she gives the role her personal warmth, dignity and intelligence in this story of a struggling inventor (Raines) who gets a lot of his inspiration from a woman with a penchant for helping others.

Summing up: A little known film, dated now, but still has some interesting things to say. The 1909 era is nicely evoked and the patent process for new inventions is something rarely dealt with in stories of this kind.

Trivia note: FAY BAINTER had two Best Actress nominations in 1938: one for JEZEBEL (she won Best Supporting Actress) and the other for Best Actress in WHITE BANNERS.

I saw a preview of this movie on TCM and was very interested, so I made a point to watch it. I am so glad I did!

I can't remember ever seeing Claude Raines in a such a light-hearted, at times comedic, role; he is delightful! At first I thought I had stumbled upon a "Mary Poppins" type of movie, especially when Hannah--perfectly portrayed by Fay Bainter, who is not remembered in present day as much as she deserves--begins to pull things out of her bag; but as the story moved on I recognized it as so much more. The supporting cast, as was so often the case in the days of the studio-controlled movies (like it or not) is also excellent, especially Jackie Cooper and Bonita Granville.

A wonderful film, a tale of hope and the results of perseverance.