BECAUSE OF HIM: Blu-ray (Universal, 1945) Universal Home Video

A chunkier than usual Deanna Durbin and slightly over-the-hill Franchot Tone reunite for director, Richard Wallace’s Because of Him (1945) – a maudlin, though occasionally merry and melodic programmer from the Universal stables that cast their winsome and most bankable soprano as Kim Walker, an enterprising waitress at Grand Central’s terminal, out to land the role of a lifetime by whatever means necessary. On this occasion, the dupe in her sights is none other than Charles Laughton, playing the supremely loveable and properly cured Broadway ham, John Sheridan. The teaming of Durbin, Tone and Laughton was nothing new, and neither was the screenplay by Edmund Beloin (based on a short story, ‘Catherine the Last’, cobbled together by Beloin and Sig Herzig) who, try as he might, and rather skillfully too, could not help but call out the specters of a typical Durbin fluff piece. The chief hurdle to overcome here is Durbin, having wed the movie’s producer, Felix Jackson, and already great with his child, she could no longer sincerely pass for the naïve ingenue, a studio-crafted persona hermetically sealed by Universal’s rather shortsighted approach to her career. And thus, Durbin – playing to that perception of wide-eyed innocence, to have endeared her to audiences as a prepubescent moppet, now appeared as, not only long in the tooth, but decidedly disingenuous, making her character’s scheming for success not only devious to a fault, but also slightly demented as Kim attempts to play all of the men in her life as a gaggle of fools.

The only one not buying the bluff is Tone’s Paul Taylor – the writer of Sheridan’s latest play, and certain this Junior Miss is taking everyone for a ride. Paul is old-fashioned. He would prefer to be in the driver’s seat. Alas, the initial ‘cute meet’ between Paul and Kim, tailing her on a crowded New York Avenue (actually, on the Uni backlot), is almost immediately shot down by Kim’s pertly pleasant ‘go away’ attitude, already too absorbed in her cruelly motivated desire to perpetuate the ruse that will get her in the front offices of Sheridan’s busy and frantic agent, Charles Gilbert (Stanley Ridges).  Helen Broderick, as Kim’s aged gal/pal, Nora proved a crisply congenial and hilarious sidekick of the Mary Wickes vein, while Donald Meek, as Sheridan’s bumbling, but ever-devoted valet, Martin is, indeed, another comic treasure worth noting in the cast. Renowned Hungarian-born/Hollywood film composer, Miklós Rózsa supplied the score here, and Durbin, who otherwise appeared as though Travis Banton was calling out all the wizards and widgets of costume design to conceal her pregnancy while simultaneously to avoid the impression she is wearing elegantly tailored gunny sacks, acquitted herself nicely of only 2 original songs, ‘Lover’ (written by Edward Reekers), and, ‘Goodbye’ (by Francesco Paolo Tosti and G.J. Whyte-Melville); also, the traditional ‘Danny Boy’ – intermittently sung and hummed.

After the main titles, we are introduced to the pontification Laughton’s John Sheridan, having just concluded a year’s run, on Broadway playing Cyrano de Bergerac. Thanking the audience with a self-aggrandizing pat on the back, Sheridan and his agent, Charles Gilbert depart for the train station. It seems Sheridan has plans to go into quiet seclusion in a cabin upstate to collect his thoughts and indulge in a little recreational fishing. Before that, however, both Charles and Paul Walker, the author of the new ‘contemporary’ play already being planned for Sheridan’s return, implore him to reconsider his stalemate on an actress both prefer for the female lead. Sheridan, however, is vehemently opposed to the aforementioned starlet, whom we never meet, perhaps concerned her reputation as a prima donna will submarine his efforts to remain the star of the show. Departing the theater, Sheridan is assailed by autograph seekers. At first, Kim Walker seems to be just one of the many, pen in hand and hoping for a signature to add to her collection. In truth, she has folded the paper in her hands to conceal a forged letter of introduction, written by her, she plans to market to Charles as her calling card to land the pivotal role in Sheridan’s next play.

Missing the mark on her first pass for Sheridan’s John Hancock, Kim, with Nora’s goading, gets him to unknowingly sign the letter before she is fired by her boss, Mr. Dunlap (Charles Halton) for being late for work yet again. It makes no difference. Kim is on a mission. The next morning, she dresses smartly and heads for Charles’ offices downtown, spotted in her haughty jaunt through the streets by Paul, who pursues her for several blocks before making his romantic pitch. It doesn’t come off and Paul is nearly struck by a car for his efforts. A short while later, Kim arrives at Charles’ office and is almost immediately shown in, thanks to her forged letter of introduction. Charles is blindly eager to set Kim up for the part. But Paul, arriving several moments later, is now convinced something is afoot. He challenges Kim to admit where she and Sheridan first met. Kim lies, but is forced to confess her lack of experience. Indeed, she has no previous acting experience. This signals to Paul that Kim is a fraud. Sheridan would never pick a virtual unknown to costar opposite him.  Paul denies Kim before storming out of Charles’ office. But Charles remains empathetic towards her and now launches into a press release with Walter Winchell-styled gossip columnist, Samuel Hapgood (Douglas Wood), who begins to spread the word Kim is definitely set for the part. In the meantime, Charles stages a ‘coming out’ party for Kim at Sheridan’s fashionable apartment, much to Martin’s chagrin.

As Sheridan’s fishing trip has been cancelled due to chronically inclement weather, he now returns home to discover a house-full of guests and Kim as the center of attention. Determined to get to the bottom of things, as Sheridan approaches, Kim feigns a blackout. She is carried by Sheridan into the next room, but then confronted by him as to the validity of her intentions.  From here the plot only becomes more convoluted as Sheridan takes pity on the girl and does what he can to promote her involvement with the entrenched and caustic Paul, leading predictably to Kim achieving her wildest dreams, plus a reconciliation and romantic involvement with, presumably, the man of her dreams. Was there ever any doubt? Franchot Tone, who had appeared to far better effect in two previous Durbin outings, here emerges is a colorless fop. It should be noted Tone – the one-time hubby of screen legend, Joan Crawford, did not age well. Indeed, his appeal as a leading man has always rather baffled me – lanky, but lacking in the chiseled good looks of, say, Gary Cooper, with a chipmunk-like visage and receding hairline. Oh well, it didn’t seem to hurt his chances with Crawford, although their brief marriage was an open one in which both indulged in various extramarital affairs before la Crawford officially tired of him. Tone looks weathered here. He’s only 40 (to Durbin’s 24) but easily appears 10 years more her senior and hardly the appropriate suitor for Durbin’s plump and prego maven on a mission.  

Nevertheless, and despite this casting misfire, Because of Him is a generally amusing, if disposable movie. It’s much more a piece for the second-billed Laughton, than top-tiered Durbin, whose strength was always her singing. She does so very little of it here, but manages to make the most of the deftly drafted comedy that buoys much of this predictable plot. Charles Laughton, once again typecast as the éminence grise, provides the necessary anchor for all the fluff and nonsense otherwise floating haplessly in the ether of musical comedy. As Durbin matured from prepubescent teenager to young lass, her persona gradually began to morph into that of a more calculating creature of habit. On any other actress, this might have come off as unflattering. But Durbin had an unusual quality that could otherwise counteract the anathema of the gold digger lurking beneath the surface. Whether through sheer acting chutzpah or just on the blind-sided faith invested and carried over from her earlier movies, she managed to skillfully straddle this chasm and never entirely come across as the snooty, sinful or otherwise sexy bitch.  That said, Kim Walker is hardly a likeable person. She is, instead, an ambitious working-class pixie who sets her sights on what she wants and then, come hell or high water, used her formidable feminine wiles to get it instead of, arguably, getting what she actually deserves – a well-deserved reprimand for her cheek.

Because of Him arrives on Blu-ray via Universal Home Video. Predictably, the studio is cribbing from a careworn print master sourced decades earlier instead of providing us with a new scan. The results are not entirely displeasing.  The main titles are window-boxed and look pretty rough around the edges, particularly the iconic art deco Universal logo, with slight shimmer in the credits. Throughout this presentation we have ever-so-slight gate weave. It’s more pronounced at the start of this movie, but persists thereafter, with a tug and lean to the left. Contrast is anemic at best, but close-ups look pretty solid and occasionally we do get flashes of fine detail revealed in Hal Mohr’s highly romanticized B&W cinematography. Otherwise, the image here is frequently soft. Age-related artifacts are practically nonexistent. Alas, so is film grain, the image digitally scrubbed in the bad ole days of VHS and DVD mastering, and given no further upgrade, correction or consideration since. Overall, this is a mediocre visual presentation, further marred by Uni’s chronic shortsightedness to provide us, either with a main menu feature or even chapter stops. The 1.0 DTS audio is adequate with no hiss or pop. Uni’s back-packaging advertises this movie as ‘tune-filled’. As already stated, Durbin sings only 3 songs, more evidence – as though any more were needed – that those marketing the Uni catalog today have no clue about the various archival treasures they actually possess! No kidding – no extras. It’s Universal. You were expecting some? Bottom line: a passable, but unremarkable effort from Durbin in the day, and Universal now. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

3

VIDEO/AUDIO

2.5

EXTRAS

0