Fairy Tales and Women's Pictures

I've realized that the stories that move me the most usually are a twist on the Cinderella story: a young girl that is terribly abused by an adult female, and who has to make her own way until she is saved somehow. So many of the fairy tales revolve around this theme. We also have Peau d'Ane, or Donkeyskin, in which a young princess flees from her home disguised in a donkeyskin to avoid the amorous advances of her father, and is ridiculed and snubbed by villagers who are disgusted with her rancid smell inside of the foul animal skin. Then there is Mother Trude, where an overly curious girl goes into the forest and sees what she shouldn't through the witch's window, and the witch throws her on the fire and warms herself to the new blaze. And of course there is Snow White, where the stepmother is competitive with the beautiful daughter, and hates her and plots her death.

I wonder why these stories are so unpopular now, except among children. They're so universal. There used to be so many fairy tale movies, movies about girls and women. In the 30's EVERYONE watched Shirley Temple movies. They were very sophisticated entertainment, with great writers, directors, performers, songs, choreography, stories. They were the cream of the crop, the finest Hollywood had to offer.

The other day The Little Princess with Shirley Temple was on, and it was so moving, I was sobbing by the end of it. Literally, tears pouring down my face. Where it really gets me is when she is having a perfect little birthday party at the boarding school, and news comes that her father has been killed in action. He hasn't paid the bill at the school, and apparently she is left penniless, so the evil headmistress takes away all her presents and sends her up to her room, where she is promptly informed of her father's death, stripped of all her fine possessions, and put to hard labor as a scullery maid. It all comes out all right in the end, but watching it is too much.

The Shirley Temple movies are remarkable in that she usually gets herself out of her tight spots, rather than relying on a handsome prince (or, her case, a dashing daddy), to get her out of it. The daddy figures often do help, but it is always her own resourcefulness that pulls her through in the end.

In the 30's and 40's there were so many great women's pictures. One that I saw recently for the first time that really did a number on me is The Locket, with Larraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum. One of the most haunting films I've ever seen. A woman has mental problems, and it all stems from her childhood. She was the daughter of the maid in a rich household, and was friends with the little rich daughter of the house. The rich daughter has a birthday party and gets a beautiful gold locket, which she gives to the maid's daughter as a gift. But the rich girl's mother takes it away, explaining that it's a family heirloom. The maid's daughter had a tremendous sense of loss, and can't get over the fact that she was given something so special and was not allowed to keep it. In the meantime, the locket is missing, and the rich lady of the house accuses the maid's daughter of stealing it. There is a horrifying scene where she is sort of throttling the girl and screaming at her for lying, but then it's found by the maid. The rich lady doesn't believe it, and thinks the maid is covering up for her daughter. They are discharged from the household.

Years later, the maid's daughter grows into a charming young lady, and gets married. But it's subsequently revealed that she is a kleptomaniac with serious mental problems, and she proceeds to bring death and destruction to everyone around her because of her problem. The flashback to her childhood comes about halfway through the movie, when we are starting to realize that she is not normal. All of her problems stem from this one incident with the locket. There's more and it gets worse, but I don't want to give away the whole plot.

Another great woman's picture is Aventurera, a Mexican melodrama from the 40's about a girl who is led into a life of prostitution, because of being kidnapped by an evil woman who sells her into slavery. I also enjoyed The Revolt of Mamie Stover with Jane Russell, about a woman who is a drink hostess and entertainer at a Honolulu nightclub, where she works for a hard-as-nails Agnes Moorhead, who keeps her stable of girls in line like prisoners.

And there is Waterloo Bridge, where Vivienne Leigh is a dancer who is abused by a sadistic ballet mistress and is discharged for meeting with her lover. Then, because it's the war and there are no jobs, she and her girlfriend are forced into prostitution. She thinks her lover Robert Taylor is dead, but then it turns out he is alive, and her life is ruined now and they can never be together. And there is Madame X, where Lana Turner, a girl of humble origins, weds a wealthy politician, John Forsythe, who is always away on business. In her loneliness she has an affair with Ricardo Montalban, and when she tries to end it there is an accident and he falls down the stairs to his death. To avoid scandal her mother in law forces her to disappear forever and leave her little boy, which breaks her heart. She becomes a worthless alcoholic, her life ruined, her only wish to see her little boy again.

Great films. Modern fairy tales. For some reason there were no more fairy tales after about the 60's. There was a resurgence of fairy tales and fables in the 60's and early 70's, and then nothing. I recently saw The Pied Piper, starring Donovan. Wonderful fairy tale, very magical. It was the 60's, so it was also very cynical. But interesting and great. It's time to bring these types of movies back.