La fière créole

If you've heard The Foxes of Harrow being compared to Gone With the Wind, it's probably because the novels have a similar setting. The movies really aren't alike. I've since looked up a synopsis of the novel, and it's quite different from the 1947 drama. So, in case you don't like the movie, you might still be interested in checking out the scandalous novel, which spans more time and goes through the Civil War.

In the movie, Rex Harrison plays an illegitimate Irish rogue who makes his way to America by gambling and sometimes cheating. He doesn't care about being a scoundrel, because he always lands on his feet and he climbs his way back to the top. He gets an influential friend, Richard Hayden, in the crème of New Orleans society, and quickly he amasses a fortune and becomes a legitimate suitor to Maureen O'Hara, a fiery debutante. She should know exactly what she's getting into, because she's seen his roguish ways first-hand, but after she marries him, she seems shocked and disgusted by his character. They have a child, but because his housekeeper threw away some good-luck voodoo dolls made by one of their slaves (remember this is pre-Civil War times), their house gets a curse on it and things go from bad to worse.

I'm neither a Rex Harrison nor a Maureen O'Hara fan, so I wasn't the best target audience for this movie. I appreciated the intense melodrama of the story, and part of me is tempted to read the book, but since I find Rex unlikable anyway, I couldn't really get behind the story. He's unlikable enough even when you're supposed to root for him, let alone when he's a scoundrel!

"The Foxes of Harrow," released in 1947, like a lot of Fox movies, is reminiscent of classics made at other studios. Fox was very reactive: when San Francisco was a hit, Fox followed with In Old Chicago; It Happened One Night - Fox does Love is News; and here we have Fox's low-budget answer to Gone with the Wind, The Foxes of Harrow. Based on the novel by Frank Yerby, it is purported to be the first novel by a black author purchased for films. Given that Fox paid $150,000 for it, I suspect the intention was to do the film in color, especially with Maureen O'Hara in it - I mean, what a waste in black and white. What happened, I don't know.

I don't have any doubt that this film was intended for Tyrone Power (and this may be why the budget was cut) - I mean, come on, Irish roots, Maureen O'Hara, period costumes, swordplay - it has his name all over it. He was busy in 1947 during this time, having gone from Captain from Castile into Nightmare Alley, so Rex Harrison plays the role of Stephen Fox, who was taken from his wealthy family when he was born illegitimate. In the 1800s, he becomes a successful gambler and eventually wins a Louisiana plantation from a compulsive gambler, though Fox turns around and purchases the property from the man's widow. He builds Harrow, intent on creating a new dynasty with the woman of his dreams, the beautiful Odalie 'Lilli' D'Arceneaux (O'Hara), the feisty daughter of a friend (Gene Lockhart).

Odalie finds him disgusting and wants nothing to do with him, but her father points out that the line between love and hate is a thin one. Once she confronts her feelings, the two marry. After a fight on their wedding night, during which she locks him out of her room, he knocks the door down. You can guess the rest. She never has anything to do with him again, though a child is born as a result of that night. The story continues from there, as Fox obsesses on his son and later becomes involved in the bank crash of 1821.

Slavery, voo-doo, prostitution, and kissing in front of a double bed (the Hayes office must have loved that one) are all part of "The Foxes of Harrow," and the film is fairly well done. It's a funny thing about miscasting - with a good enough actor, sometimes it works out. This isn't a usual role for Rex Harrison, but brilliant actor that he was, he pulls it off. He's quite dashing and powerful here. Maureen O'Hara is gorgeous, with magnificent costumes. Though she has a gentle, lilting voice, she does feisty well, and here she plays a rather cold woman who softens toward her son.

The big problem is that there are no sparks between Harrison and O'Hara. The chemistry just isn't there. Nevertheless, this is a good, entertaining film. Sigh. I just kept picturing Tyrone's flashing eyes, and talk about chemistry with Maureen O'Hara - oh, well, the best laid plans.

Maureen O'Hara is always stunning, but I don't remember seeing Rex Harrison so young and handsome. Even so there wasn't much romance between two such intransigent characters as Odalie D'Arceneaux and Stephen Fox. Their relationship is tragic enough, but the film also makes no apologies for the institution of slavery that haunts the background of so many scenes. Fox starts out as a decent "maitre," who'll work alongside his workers and slaves, but he never recognizes the parallel between his own loss of family and birthright and that of Little Inch, whose fierce mother Belle intends to be a warrior. In that sense "Harrow" may be a more useful look at slavery than in more enlightened films.

I have been reviewing the films of John M. Stahl recently -- not an easy task as their availability is quite limited -- and they are a very mixed bag. From the gripping melodrama of "Back Street" (probably his best film), to the original versions of "Magnificent Obsession" and "Imitation of Life," both very different from and as interesting in their own ways as Sirk's remakes, and "Only Yesterday," to the excellent period comedy "Holy Matrimony" and the comedy/drama "Letter of Introduction," when Stahl is engaged with his material he is unique and interesting. All these films have a tone of serenity and patience which is not in the least boring. (It's there, too, in the unique noir/Technicolor melodrama, "Leave Her to Heaven," Stahl's uncannily brilliant success -- a great picture that uses color in a highly controlled and most original way). When he is less involved-- both here and in "Parnell," for two examples, the serenity disappears, yet without a compensatory excitement. Both of these films have a strange, disengaged quality. Stahl seems less than comfortable with the grand gesture -- certainly the political scenes of "Parnell" are remarkably lifeless, and the sweeping quality of a "Gone with the Wind" -- to which it bears some narrative resemblance -- is largely missing from "The Foxes of Harrow." It starts off well, and Rex Harrison is dynamic and exciting in the first hour, as he courts the ever-reluctant Maureen O'Hara. This courtship goes through very rough waters (her resistance is iron), but ultimately -- and in a beautifully played scene --Rex clearly has genuine tears in his eyes -- he does win her over. Then the trouble starts all over again, for, no sooner has she overcome her scruples than she gets them back again -- understandably as Fox (Harrison) drunkenly rapes her on their wedding night! The relationship is not unlike that between Robert Mitchum and Eleanor Parker in "Home from the Hill," but nowhere near as interesting. Rex's panache, unfortunately, disappears with the leaden problem-filled second half, and there is little that is really engaging after that. (We can be grateful, I think, that Stahl was removed -- after several weeks of shooting, apparently -- from "Forever Amber," which no doubt would have arrived equally stillborn had not the great Otto taken over and made it into a really exciting picture.) O'Hara, fine actress though she is, often got stuck in these reluctant maiden parts -- she fares only a little better in Borzage's "The Spanish Main" or Nick Ray's "A Woman's Secret." Thank God she got to work for John Ford, for whom she is always delightful, nowhere more so than in "Rio Grande," where -- again! -- she is playing an estranged wife with scruples. I guess scruples were Maureen's main hindrance! To sum up: there's not much magic in this one, despite a promising start.

Some interesting things going on in this one... Rex Harrison in his early days. William Schallert's first film... he probably still holds the record for the most film and TV series appearances (even more than Charles Lane!). Rex Harrison is "Fox", who started life with a couple strikes against him already. A gambler, he's pretty rough around the edges, but Fox tries to make it up to his wife. Co-stars Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglan, Gene Lockhart. It's a period piece, so there's strike one for me. and it's in New Orleans, so there's voodoo afoot. A lot going on, but its fairly entertaining. When they get involved in the lives of the slaves, things really get complicated. Trials, tribulations. Lessons learned. Writer Frank Yerby wrote over 30 novels, but it looks like not very many were made into film. and THIS one must not be shown on Turner Classic very often, only 290 votes so far. Shown on a double feature with Tomango on TCM.