Little Gloria... Happy at Last

"Little Gloria...Happy at Last" is a two-part television mini-series about the unhappy childhood and child custody trial for Gloria Vanderbilt.

The story begins with Gloria Morgan meeting and falling for Reggie Vanderbilt. They soon marry, have a child and then Reggie dies...all withing about 2-3 years. The widow soon learns how dire her financial situation is. The alcoholic Reggie apparently blew through almost his entire fortune. Apart from a couple properties, the only other asset is a trust fund for $2,500,000. But since Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt is not yet 21, an executor is appointed to dispense money for little Gloria.

During the next eight or so years, the mother mostly parties and has fun in Europe...while leaving the child to be raised by a goofy nanny...often in a different country. To call the mother neglectful and selfish would be reasonable. When Gloria Morgan later petitions to have herself appointed little Gloria's guardian (and get rid of the court appointed executor), the trial has a surprising twist, as Gloria Morgan's own mother and step-sister file for custody of the child. Is this a selfless thing being done to save poor little Gloria...or is a bid to try to take control of the child's trust fund?

Part one of the story consists of Gloria Morgan and Reggie Vanderbilt meeting, marrying, Reggie dying and the mother and child leaving to live in Europe. Part two picks up just after the petition by Gloria Morgan's mother and step-sister is filed. Most of the second part is about the hysteria and ensuing trial. Through all this, what's best for little Gloria seems secondary...at best.

The reason I watched this mini-series is mostly because it's one of Bette Davis' final performances. She was just fine though wasn't a major character in the shows. Now this doesn't mean the mini-series is bad...just that if you only care about Davis, you might be disappointed.

Overall, this is a very good but also an incredibly sad mini-series. Well acted and well made throughout.

I knew absolutely nothing about the Vanderbilt scandal, so when I watched Little Gloria...Happy at Last, I was completely surprised by every turn. Those who are very well versed in their socialite history might be a little bored or come to the miniseries with their own points of view. As it was, I got the distinct impression that William Hanley's screenplay, based on Barbara Goldsmith's book, had its own axe to grind. Without spoiling the story, I will just say that there is no clear-cut villain, but instead several potentials.

Lucy Gutteridge takes the lead as Gloria Vanderbilt, the older. It's a little ironic that Lucy Gutteridge was cast as Mother Gloria Vanderbilt, when she bore such a striking resemblance to what Little Gloria grew into as an adult. As a teen girl, Lucy gets swept off her feet by the older, world-wise Christopher Plummer. They marry, much to the delight of her money-hungry mother, Glynis Johns, but soon after the birth of their daughter, Chris drinks himself to death. Young, alone, and with an inheritance she believes is unfair, she becomes a careless mother who would rather galivant in nightclubs. The baby's nurse, Maureen Stapleton, forges a bond with Glynis and vows to help the child grow up with a Catholic faith, despite her Protestant christening. As Lucy becomes more distant and self-centered, Maureen becomes the most important fixture in the child's life. With the Lindbergh kidnapping case in the newspapers, Little Gloria becomes fearful and clings further to Maureen.

I loved Bette Davis's performance as Lucy's formidable mother-in-law. Stripped of her false eyelashes and over-the-top makeup, she really toned down her delivery and channeled her inner Gladys Cooper. A far cry from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, she seemed to finally adapt to modern times. Martin Balsam was once again cast as a lawyer who's not very good at his job (poor guy), and it was ironic because he also played the defense attorney in the tv movie The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case. Angela Lansbury's character was my favorite, as she was the only one who acted unselfishly and with the child's best interest at heart. Also toned down, she was subtle, savvy, and played a good match as Bette Davis's daughter. If the story interests you, rent this three-hour miniseries for a lot of soap and some very beautiful costumes and houses. It's a little dated, and part of it is upsetting, but you should be expecting some soap opera elements to a Vanderbilt story.

They don't make miniseries like this any more. Superb all star cast playing interesting historical characters in a straightforward clear and detailed way. Better than a lot of newer series that muddle things with non linear plots and focus on the obscure and salacious. Here the reasons for the custody battle financial and otherwise are clearly explained.

Lucy Gutteridge plays the too young widow who gallivants through Europe. Angela Lansbury plays Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney of the Museum game the aunt who alongside the nasty money faced Mother sues for custody of little Gloria. Supporting cast are so well cast including Christopher Plummer as the Father who died.

The sets and mansions are sumptuous. The trial is riveting. Along with Poor Little Rich Girl this one is just superb.

Watching Little Gloria forthe first time what struck me about this film is how the women were totally running the show. Old Commodore Vanderbilt may have made the family fortune from the New York Central Railroad, but by the 20s and 30s the women were certainly running the show.

The only male Vanderbilt is Christopher Plummer playing Reginld Vanderbilt and he's a wastrel just wasting away. In his 40s he marries Lucy Guttridge and the marriage lasts long enough to produce Little Gloria our subject. Plummer dies from the excesses of a partying life Prohibition spirits no doubt helped.

Jennifer Dundas plays Little Gloria the heir to a trust fund set up by her grandfather who wisely knew Plummer would blow it. But when he dies Dundas becomes the center of a custody battle between Guttridge who has a hedonistic lifestyle in Europe and Plummer's sister Angela Lansbury.

This was a good mini-series which even had an appearance by Bette Davis playing Plummer and Lansbury's mother the Vanderbilt grand dame. But the appearances I liked were that of Maureen Stapleton the nurse who poisoned Little Gloria's mind against her mom and Glynis Johns who was Guttridge's mother and quite the character herself.

All this was entertainment fodder for the Depression masses. Little Gloria certainly captures the mood of the times.

I never thought I'd say this about a film made in my adult lifetime, but they just don't make them like this anymore. From 1975 until the early 1990's the miniseries was one of the mainstays of broadcast TV. In the better ones - which this was - the production values were high, the story intricately told, and prominent stars were involved.

In this day of people who seem to believe that they deserve what they have simply because they have always lived this way, this story of the super-rich set against the background of the Great Depression is timely. Gloria Morgan is the bride of 43 year-old Reggie Vanderbilt at 18, a mother at 19, and a widow at 20 when her husband, whose health has been ruined by a dissolute lifestyle, dies and leaves her penniless. The fact that she is the mother of one of Reggie's two surviving children leaves her the impoverished mother of a wealthy infant. As Gloria is an infant, though, and she is the surviving parent, big Gloria has an income of 48 thousand dollars a year on which to live, a limitation over which she complains endlessly. 48 thousand dollars a year would be roughly half a million dollars annually in today's currency.

Over the next ten years or so, Gloria travels around Europe and complains when the judge that is her daughter's guardian says that she must come back to America so that little Gloria can grow up there, as per their prior agreement. She gripes that she can't live the way she wants and that it is all Gloria's fault. Big Gloria seems to forget she would be living in a cardboard box were it not for little Gloria's existence. Eventually big Gloria's lifestyle, her vengeful mother, and little Gloria's religious nurse all work against her when her former sister-in-law, Gertrude, sues for custody of Gloria.

There are really no sympathetic characters in this story. The doctors are more than glad to give quack treatments to little Gloria and take the Vanderbilt money, the lawyers -as always - are glad to take anyone's money, the judge in the case is more interested in the Vanderbilt's opinion than justice, and Big Gloria doesn't come across so much as a bad mother as she does as someone who simply knows no other way to live than the way she has been living. Not exactly having a glowing example of motherhood upon which to rely, Big Gloria seems genuinely baffled as to why everyone is upset with her.

Unfortunately, miniseries such as these have been replaced with one reality show after another all of which are just variations on the theme "Human Beings Behaving Badly". Years from now I doubt anyone will be interested in them other than as exhibits on a degenerating culture. This film was a theatric reproduction of an actual true story, and for that reason it surprises me that Gloria Warren Vanderbilt's story has so many parallels in the biography of silent film star Lina Basquette. Her tragic tale can be found in the book Lina Demille's Godless Girl. That book is a rare title, but it is good reading if you can find it.