Goodbye, My Fancy

What plays on the surface as a "romantic triangle" film carries a strong anti-McCarthyism message. Robert Young is the once-idealistic President of an exclusive Women's College who years earlier had trysted with Joan Crawford, a Congresswoman who has made a film depicting aspects of injustice. Crawford wants to reunite with Young and have the film played during Graduation Weekend. The school's trustees don't want the film shown, thinking it too "dangerous" for their students to see. The characters' arguments about democratic values play well with a modern audience, and both the political and the romantic aspects of the plot unfold in an engrossing and entertaining manner.

A great movie with three of my favorite movie stars: Robert Young, Eve Arden and Joan Crawford. This movie makes no concessions whatsoever to "popular" taste. It doesn't insult one's intelligence. It makes a passionate plea for free speech. Some would surely call it communist propaganda. Joan Crawford was however absurdly miscast as a flaming liberal politician. The real Joan was, I think, conservative. She ended her life as the chair of Pepsi! But somehow she captivates. Her diction is solid, her acting measured, always dignified, and her movies are darn good (she never played the Queen of Sheba, or some other "historic" nonsense). Robert Young is impeccable too, far more impressive, intelligent, than a whole host of bigger stars, but his non-muscular persona confines him to the parlor. I can hardly believe he was an alcoholic.

I thought STORM CENTER (1955) was the first free speech movie. Still, the fact remains, that STORM CENTER is more direct, powerful, dramatic and dashing. Unfortunately, the censors seems to have had the last word about THAT anti-censorship film. STORM CENTER has never been shown on TV (as far as I know) and it is not available on video. Something should be done to bring back this and other forgotten classics.

This was one of Crawford's last films under her Warner Brothers contract and was probably here first big box-office failure since her MGM days eight years earlier. The film is not too bad, but not as good as "Mildred Pierce," "Possessed" or "Flamingo Road." Crawford plays a congress woman who returns to her alma mater to receive an honorary degree, but finds romance with professor Robert Young.

Goodbye, My Fancy (1951)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Rather bizarre and uneven mix of comedy and drama features congresswoman Agatha Reed (Joan Crawford) going back to her college to receive an honorary degree. Her main reason for wanting to go back is so she can see a former love (Robert Young) who she was expelled from school for sneaking out to see. Once back on campus she ends up caught between him and a photographer (Frank Lovejoy). GOODBYE, MY FANCY has pretty much been forgotten over the years and it's easy to see why because it's really not part of Crawford's high standards, which she started six years earlier with MILDRED PIERCE and followed with some very impressive bits of work. This film here is mildly entertaining on a few levels but overall you've got to consider it a pretty disappointing picture. One of the biggest problems is that it runs 106-minutes and probably could have lost a good sixteen-minutes if not more. I say this because there's just so much going on in this picture and with so much happening the film just seems too long and uneven. The early portion of the film makes you think that we're in for some sort of weird comedy and we're given various silly scenes. Then the film because a rather bland romantic-comedy but things change yet again when we get a rather long political debate about freedom. I think the final twenty-five minutes or so are actually the best part of the film as the Crawford character tries to fight to get a film shown that tells young people some of the horrors that are out there. As for Crawford, she turns in a good performance but there's certainly nothing all that memorable here. This is the type of role should could do without trying but it's always nice seeing her. Young is pretty bland in his role but thankfully Lovejoy adds some energy when he's on screen. Eve Arden is good as the secretary and Janice Rule is also nice as Young's daughter. GOODBYE, MY FANCY really isn't going to appeal to many except for Crawford fans wanting to see everything she did.

Goodbye My Fancy finds Joan Crawford taking over a role popularized by fellow film star Madeline Carroll on stage as a member of the House Of Representatives coming back to her former college to accept an honorary degree. She's invited by college president and former boyfriend Robert Young.

There's a lot of history here and this is the only degree she'll have from the College Of New Hope for women located in rural New England. Back in the day apparently Crawford was a wild child, at least wild by those standards back then. She got into a compromising situation with Young and she took the fall by herself and got expelled for it. In the interim Young in addition to rising to the presidency of the college married a woman who died and has a daughter, Janice Rule, who is going to be one of the graduates at the ceremony Crawford gets her degree.

Crawford went into journalism and then politics. She's combining the two at this point having produced a documentary about the current social problems of Europe and how Fascism by curtailing free speech contributed mightily to them. She's hoping to show the film while she's at the college.

Her opponent in this endeavor is the chairman of the board Howard St. John who also happens to be now married to Crawford's former roommate Lurene Tuttle. He's got the part that actors like Eugene Palette and Charles Dingle normally were cast in, the arrogant, self righteous right wing blowhard who thinks he ought to be controlling the educational process. Not that he's against free speech mind you, but he feels that kids should not be exposed to this kind of serious work. He in fact donated the campus movie theater and he'd like for them to show entertainment that he approves of, such as his favorites Abbott&Costello.

Young's dependent on St. John's good will for his job. But one who isn't and is also a rival for Crawford is Frank Lovejoy, a Time&Life war photographer who is covering this event. He'll expose Young's timidity if for no other reason than to shame him in front of Joan.

Goodbye My Fancy was written by Fay Kanin and ran for 446 performances on Broadway during the 1948-49 season and was directed by Sam Wanamaker who also played the Frank Lovejoy part. The college president was played by another former movie name, Conrad Nagel.

The play took home a Tony Award for Shirley Booth who played Crawford's Congressional aide and has some really funny Eve Arden type lines. When the film came out the Eve Arden part was played by Eve Arden.

The play draws heavily on themes expressed in James Thurber's The Male Animal. If anything it's more serious here because whereas in The Male Animal, trustee Eugene Palette objected to the content in reading Nicolo Sacco's letter in class, St. John just objects to the idea of material that is mind challenging in the classroom in general. What does this imbecile think they're going to college for. In fact there's a minor role played by Morgan Farley as a physics professor who is intending to leave the college because of the limits he's being put under and Farley plays it well.

Coming out as it did during the House Un-American Activities Committee days and after Joe McCarthy started finding Communists in all kinds of places, Goodbye My Fancy was quite the courageous project for Warner Brothers at the time. It's a timeless tribute to the value of free speech and the marketplace of ideas that a university is supposed to be.

This is a film that I think needs a remake. Can you see some trustee on a university today throwing his weight around and maybe filling the campus cinema with reruns of Saturday Night Live in order that students not concentrate on serious issues?

I think it could be done.