The Saxon Charm

At the height of his career at MGM Robert Montgomery was famous for those society playboys he was always cast as. But if he's remembered at all today it is for the oddball performances that were nothing like those playboy roles. Yellow Jack as a cavalry sergeant, Here Comes Mr. Jordan as a prizefighter, Night Covers All as a homicidal maniac or They Were Expendable as a PT boat skipper and others, these are what we remember Robert Montgomery for. Fitting right in there is The Saxon Charm made after his years with MGM were over. Montgomery is debonair but there's malice in that charm.

Anyone who knew anything about the theater knew that Montgomery was basing his character on Broadway producer Jed Harris. Harris was a theatrical genius with an ego the size of South America and the antics you see here are mild compared to the real deal. Harris was used also by John Barrymore in 20th Century and Warren William in Varsity Show as a model. But in those he was eccentric, here he's a first class heel who thinks he's the center of the world.

Based on his reputations novelist John Payne seeks out Montgomery to produce his play. But Montgomery has to have his own imprint on the work and he weaves Payne into his web. It breaks up Payne's marriage with Susan Hayward in the process. Of course not helping is the clumsy pass Montgomery makes at Hayward.

Best in the film and possibly a career role for her his nightclub singer Audrey Totter who is Montgomery's main squeeze. She's loyal to a fault until Montgomery does deliberate dirt in fact goes out of his way to do it to her. Montgomery is married to Heather Angel, but they have an arrangement that also doesn't end well.

The real Jed Harris probably could have sued. But I suspect he rather enjoyed his reputation as a heel and enjoyed The Saxon Charm just as you will.

As we watch this eponymous character throw his weight around, we are not exactly inundated with any charm (or steamed cabbage). He (Robert Montgomery) is a bully, a snob, and frankly rather an odious Broadway producer. He is introduced to "Eric" (John Payne) and his wife "Janet" (Susan Hayward) when he is told that there is a script to be had. Now "Eric" is a bit green with all of this, and is soon not only rewriting pretty much everything, but his marriage is struggling and he's even bankrolling his supposed impresario (and his long suffering factotum "Hermy" (Henry Morgan). What now ensues is a nicely presented tale of being hoist by your own petard. When people start to scent blood - they combine, connive and find effective ways of exacting their revenge on their erstwhile mentor. Montgomery is actually quite convincing here, but Payne never really did set the heather on fire and we simply don't see enough of Susan Hayward - whose character is not exactly strong, anyway. It's certainly a watchable and decently paced ninety minutes that shines a bit of a light on the Machiavellian theatrical tactics of producers and their rather selfish ways, it could just have been doing with a stronger antagonist for "Saxon".

Not the greatest film ever made but it holds due to the fine cast and the superb portrayal of a true scoundrel by Robert Montgomery. I was never much of a Montgomery fan but this was surely worth a nomination. Good story with an insight into the world of Broadway and what happens to naive folk who venture there.

Robert Montgomery makes the film by his overwhelmingly impressive performance non-stop as an autocratic Broadway producer without any scruples at all - everyone collaborating with him become his victims, eventually ending up as suicides. It's a brilliant script above all, the dialog is intelligent and witty all the way in constant crossfire, making this more of a play than a film. Susan Hayward and Audrey Totter are the women who see him through and ultimately win over him, but not until he has lost everything. His character appears to have been a real phenomenon, the Broadway producer Jed Harris, who in the same way made his way by ruthlessly driving over everyone else and enslaving them in a leash of serfdom. John Payne is the sympathetic writer who gets caught up with him, a novelist who tries writing a play, and in their collaboration the producer's tragedy becomes visible - he could never write anything good himself, he only lived on finding others to write for him, and then he had to destroy them by over-editing their work. John Payne finally evades that ruin by the help of his wife, and the interesting thing is that his play, after being massively over-edited and flopped on Broadway, is then proved a success in its original version. So much for others trying to improve your creativity. Although Robert Montgomery makes an abominable character, the film is his, and his performance is as magnificent as the best of John Barrymore.

Robert Montgomery stars as a ruthless producer, based on real-life producer Jed Harris, in That Saxon Charm from 1948.

First some trivia: Everyone loathed Jed Harris. Laurence Olivier based his physical appearance in Richard III on him. Allegedly Disney based the Big Bad Wolf's look on him. Who knows, but Richard III and the Wolf look alike.

John Payne portrays a playwright who becomes involved with Saxon (Montgomery), a very controlling individual who insists on rewrites and interrupting time with his wife Janet (Susan Hayward). Janet has already been warned about Saxon by his longtime girlfriend, portrayed by Audrey Totter. Meanwhile, as great a producer as he might have been, there are signs that he has lost his touch.

Nice, different performance by Susan Hayward as a loving wife, well played without the histrionics she was known for.

Many best friend worked for Elizabeth Montgomery's manager and knew her very well. I got the impression Saxon may not have been that much of a stretch.

Harry Morgan and Cara Williams, before they starred in Pete and Gladys, also appear.