Comments on: The Quiet Power of Dorothy McGuire

By: TCM’s Classic Movie Blog

TCM’s Classic Movie Blog — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:28:49 +0000

[...] Working in movies as well as radio and eventually tv, it was fortunate for some of us who like the guy, that he remained “a featured player” and became useful as a utility player for the studio, (who also raked in some serious dough by loaning him out to other studios during his tenure for 38 of the approximately 78 movies he made during his time at MGM. Some of the best of those loan-outs resulted in some fine teamwork being created supporting actresses such as Claudette Colbert, Shirley Temple, and Loretta Young. Hs most memorable team may have been that which he formed with Dorothy McGuire in several movies, including The Enchanted Cottage, a topic I’ve touched on previously in blog articles found here). [...]

By: PatrickR

PatrickR — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:30:34 +0000

One quality of Dorothy McGuire’s acting that I always think of is her ability to convey thought, tenderness and anger, all within one look, gesture or the falling of her voice. It is definitely good news to see TCM featuring more of her films. Thanks for writing about her.

By: Jacqueline T Lynch

Jacqueline T Lynch — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:08:44 +0000

Thanks for a great essay on Dorothy McGuire, a terrific actress. Looking forward to your Part 2 post.

By: moirafinnie

moirafinnie — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:38:17 +0000

Hi Barb & Andrew,
Thanks for your interest!
I’ll be looking at several of Dorothy McGuire’s later films, including Invitation (1952), this coming Wednesday in Part 2 of this appreciation. The reasons why this film was made may be a bit more interesting than the movie itself.

By: Bronxgirl

Bronxgirl — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:12:02 +0000

moira, I’d love to read your comments on INVITATION, which I saw last night. Will this be in the second blog?

I didn’t think this almost Sirk-like soap opera was a good fit for Dorothy. (though Ruth Roman took to it like butt-ah, lol)

Barb

By: Bronxgirl

Bronxgirl — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:06:48 +0000

Moira, as a long-time appreciator of Dorothy’s work, I commend you for a brilliant (what else?) and insightful post.

By: andrew

andrew — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:40:57 +0000

It’s about time that some light was shone on this fine actress, who blended intelligence and that elusive quality commonly known as “class” in her career. I fell in love with her in “Swiss Family Robinson” and have been longing to know more about her for years. Thanks

By: moirafinnie

moirafinnie — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:57:19 +0000

Hi Robert, Thanks for the mention of Till the End of Time, which is one of the movies I am writing about next week, since I believe that it marked a considerable step forward for Dorothy McGuire's maturing acting skills. I share your fondness for Edward Dmytryk's movies and would recommend his books to anyone interested in classic movies as well, particularly "Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten" and "On Editing" and "On Screen Writing."

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:02:49 +0000

TCM recently screened Edward Dmytryk’s fine 1946 film TILL THE END OF TIME, a movie that is not unlike THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES and actually was released slightly prior to it. While the main focus of the film’s story is on a trio of returning veterans (Guy Madison, Robert Mitchum and Bill Williams) Dorothy McGuire illuminates the film with a complicated performance as a young war widow. There is a particularly touching scene where her character and Guy Madison’s come to the aid of a veteran suffering a public meltdown at an ice rink coffee ship. She is brilliant in this film, both raw and vulnerable.

I’m not sure how often TILL THE END OF TIME shows up on the TCM roster, but I have no hesitation in recommending it. Dmytryk made a number of WWII themed films but his most interesting were those that came in the years immediately after the war – films like CORNERED (1945), SO WELL REMEMBERED (1947), CROSSFIRE (1947), and certainly TILL THE END OF TIME which deserves to be better known.

By: moirafinnie

moirafinnie — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:36:41 +0000

"I recall reading a book about William Wyler’s career that said he had problems with and regretted hiring her for Friendly Persuasion. Do you know what those problems were?" ~Al Lowe Hi Al, Dorothy McGuire was one of several actresses who were puzzled by Wyler's approach to directing his actors. While his meticulous requests for character preparation and repeated takes elicited some of the very best work of their careers from such stars as Miriam Hopkins and Bette Davis, others, such as Jean Simmons and Dorothy McGuire, reportedly found his demanding approach more than a bit unsettling. During pre-production McGuire was asked, according to what she told Jan Herman, who wrote "A Talent for Trouble: The Life of William Wyler", to knead bread for hours on end, attend Quaker services and steep herself in the era in which Jessamyn West's story was set in order to get into character. I will be sure to discuss more about Friendly Persuasion in some detail next week, Al. "Was she bitter about her loss of status when making the Disney films? They say Disney got them on the way up and on the way down." ~Al Lowe "I look forward to your article next week, hoping you cover the Disney years. She was terrific in those films and they made her a recognizable actress to multiple generations." ~ Suzidoll Re: The Enchanted Cottage & The Disney Movies & Invitation Al and Suzi, Thanks for your interest in this blog and for confirming that many of us find The Enchanted Cottage (1945) to be compelling viewing. From what I've learned during my research, Dorothy McGuire had achieved a philosophical approach to her career by the time she started to work with the Disney organization. Walt Disney, who needed to keep a close eye on production costs for his often lushly made and innovative entertainments, provided the actress with better roles than she had found earlier in the '50s, including in the glossy MGM tearjerker Invitation (1951), the first film directed by former screenwriter and producer Gottfried Reinhardt, which did little for the career of the actress or her co-star, Van Johnson. I'll be sure to try to include as much available detail as possible in next week's blog. In many ways, I think that the work done by Ms.McGuire in some later, less critically acknowledged movies may have been among the best of her career. Btw, Al, I think Van Johnson may be underrated as an actor, particularly for the work that he did when his big period of stardom was on the wane.