La flamme du passé

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.

In a part that was tailor made for Rosalind Russell but that she had to pull out of at the last minute Joan Crawford gets a chance to shade her diamond hard persona somewhat in this tale of remembered love.

It's really a story of how we remember people and how time changes them. The part and Joan aren't a perfect fit but she does try and does a decent job of it. As in Mildred Pierce she and Eve Arden interact wonderfully and their few scenes have a nice snap.

Actually Joan's casting isn't the only one that seems off. While Robert Young is fine as the conflicted college president Frank Lovejoy is wrong as the inquisitive reporter. He was a good tough guy actor but Robert Montgomery or Clark Gable would have been more suitable, the part is the second lead so neither would have considered it.

Someone who is perfectly cast however is the wonderful Lurene Tuttle, as the seemingly simpleminded college chum of Joan. She is funny and touching and steals any scene she's in with ease.

The film does have a message about being true to your ideals but is mostly a bittersweet romance and an enjoyable one at that.

Despite the low rating and mixed reviews, there was no doubt about seeing 'Goodbye, My Fancy' anyway as part of my quest to see as much of Joan Crawford's filmography as possible. Crawford gave so many great performances, as well as some not so good ones during her twilight period, and Eve Arden was always a plus to any film she was in. Vincent Sherman was an uneven director but did do some very good films such as 'Mr Skeffington' and 'The Damned Don't Cry'.

'Goodbye My Fancy' is not one of those very good films. Actually thought it was towards being of Crawford's weaker films, though she did do worse, and am going to agree with those that felt that she was miscast. That's being said with a heavy heart. It does have its good things, namely two good performances that remarkably rises above their material, but 'Goodbye My Fancy' fails to live up to its potential and Crawford deserved a lot better than this.

Shall start off with talking about the good things. It looks good, the one exception being Arden's frightful hair here that does not flatter her. Crawford looks typically elegant and the photography is at its best luminous. Arden has some nice witty lines.

The two good performances come from Arden and Robert Young. There was no surprise that Arden would be good, she very seldom disappointed and despite deserving better she brought a dry wit and elegance to what she is given. Young has a rather underwritten character but remarkably his acting wasn't bland, actually found it very distinguished and easy to like with him being by far the most rootable of the three leads.

As said already, Crawford didn't work for me. She tries hard, too hard in fact, and the role needed a lighter touch than what she actually gave it. Here she overacts and it overbalances the film in my view, it was like she thought she was acting in a melodrama. Worse was Frank Lovejoy, who really got on my nerves fast to the extent that one is at a loss in understanding what anybody sees in him. Lurene Tuttle could have done with a toning down, too shrill. Very few of the characters are easy to get behind, Matt especially is just obnoxious, due to being annoying or dull. Woody held my attention most and that is namely down to how Arden played her.

Moreover, the script could have done with a lot more bite and also subtlety, as well as wit. Too filmed play-like and on the too heavy side. The story tended to be dull and the primary subplot felt underdeveloped. Will agree too that the ending is a real let down, very contrived with a final decision that doesn't make sense in the slightest and feels like a cheat. Sherman directs with too much of a heavy hand and fails to do any kind of reigning in, while also being quite leaden.

In conclusion, rather lacklustre with two good performances and nice production values but Crawford fans best look elsewhere. 4/10

I'm glad to see that TCM has chosen to include this film in its lineup. I have, however, noted an error in the TCM and Wikipedia summaries regarding filming location. Both cite Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Calif. as the site for outdoor scene filming. In fact, most if not all were shot on the University of Redlands campus in Redlands, Calif. I attended the U. of R. for 4 years and graduated in the outdoor Greek Theater that appears in the film. Other scenes show the U. of R.'s distinctive chapel with the San Bernardino Mountains beyond, as well as the school's administration building on Ad Hill, its quadrangle and residence halls. The movie was shot two years before I enrolled there. Perhaps Warner Bros. had originally intended to film Goodbye My Fancy on the Occidental campus (much closer to the studio) and for whatever reason had to switch at the last minute to Redlands, but the planned LA area location remained on the studio's records.

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.