Un grand séducteur

Imagine the surprise when the faculty and students of a small college discover that a prim and proper English professor was in fact a silent screen star. It's discovered when Clifton Webb's old co-star, Ginger Rogers is hosting a program showing some of their old films. The man she calls her Dreamboat.

I suppose it's hard to imagine for today's audience a television in its infancy. But in 1952 it still was and a good way to fill up a lot of programming time was to broadcast old films. Even the silent ones. In my youth WOR TV in New York City was an RKO station and had the entire RKO library available to it. In the infant days of that station their programming was mostly old films as I remember.

Anyway Clifton Webb is quite content to be out of the Hollywood scene and he's quite annoyed that his past has been resurrected. He and daughter Anne Francis have law suit on their minds.

It's a dated story, but the script is quite good with some nice witty lines for Webb and Rogers to toss back and forth at each other. Among the supporting cast, the biggest kudos should go to Elsa Lanchester the prim and proper college president who discovers she's got a genuine sex object on her faculty and wants to do something about it.

When it first appeared, Dreamboat hit the mark with Sid Caesar-like precision. The old old movies were still floating around the smaller channels, and it was not unusual to find the TV screen filled with the histrionics of Valentino, Pola Negri, among others. Today, their existing work can be found, occasionally on TCM. Dreamboat was an absolute 'hoot' in its initial release, and Webb and Rogers were every bit as wacked-out funny as Caesar and Coca in a TV sketch about silent movies. Today, Deamboat may seem a little obscure, perhaps, but its broad and zany humor will still be there. One hopes that someone somewhere decides it is time to produce that elusive DVD release of this film (which includes an adorable Anne Francis, one of those underrated stars who deserves special attention).

Clifton Webb is "Dreamboat," in this 1954 film. Webb plays a silent film star named Bruce Blair who is now a college professor under what one assumes is his real name, Thornton Sayre.

All is well until his silent films begin to appear on that new popular medium, television, and hosted by his former co-star (Ginger Rogers).

The college board calls for his resignation, so Sayre goes to New York with his brainy daughter (Anne Francis) to get an injunction to stop the televising of his old films.

Webb was an underrated actor who could do the acerbic queen beautifully, but one forgets he was also a gifted comedian and a moving dramatic actor - "The Man Who Never Was" and "Titanic" being two prime examples of his capabilities. He also was a trained opera singer, something the New York theater audiences, alas, only got to hear.

In "Dreamboat," his silent film character is a cross between John Gilbert, Rudolph Valentino and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Webb does a terrific job overplaying the silent film acting.

Ginger Rogers is wonderful as the glamorous, conniving ex-costar, Gloria Marlowe, but I have to agree with one comment, that the two stars had little chemistry. The role was originally offered to Marlene Dietrich - she and Webb might have been quite funny together.

Anne Francis is the plain Jane daughter in an early role, and Jeffrey Hunter is the gorgeous Bill Ainslee in an early role for him, a man assigned by his agency boss (Sam Levitt) to escort Francis around town. They make a great couple; both appeared in the 1965 programmer 'Brainstorm' to excellent effect.

By that time, their studio days were over; Hunter's film career had disintegrated, and Francis would have her most of her career in television. They both still looked fabulous, though.

Very, very entertaining. Highly recommended.

Clifton Webb is in top form here as a college professor who starred in old silent films. His past resurfaces when the old movies are shown on TV and he becomes the "Dreamboat."

This is a deftly amusing film in which Hollywood is poking fun at the silliness of its arch-rival of the 1950s, TV. It also pokes fun at its own early days of silent melodrama.

The film is an enjoyable experience overall, but especially delicious is Webb as the prim professor who is also the soap-opera film star of old Hollywood.

Former silent film star Gloria Marlowe (Ginger Rogers) is hosting a show on TV that features her old movies. This causes problems for her former costar, Thornton Sayre (Clifton Webb), now a respected college professor. Sayre, who was known as Bruce Blair during his acting days, sets out with his bookish daughter (Anne Francis) to stop the movies from being shown.

What a treat this is. One of those movies you never hear about but is just great fun. Clifton Webb is terrific, throwing out one pithy line after another. I'm kind of surprised Ginger did this part, given that it dates her in a way most actresses of the time wouldn't want any part of. Actually, it makes her seem older than her real age. Props to her for not caring. You sure as heck wouldn't have caught Joan Crawford admitting to being 40 -- even when she was 60! She looks amazing, though, and is very funny. It's one of her best post-1940s comedic roles. Anne Francis is cute as a button and holds her own quite well. Supporting cast includes a wonderful Elsa Lanchester and an early role for Jeffrey Hunter. The fake silent movies are hilarious. It's especially funny seeing Webb channel Douglas Fairbanks in one of his action scenes. It's an underrated gem of a comedy that provides some smart commentary on celebrity and satire on television ("The phenomenon of television -- it encourages people who dwell under the same roof to ignore each other completely"). Definitely a movie you should check out if you get the chance, especially if you're a fan of Clifton Webb or Ginger Rogers.