Though the film had a troubled production history, this RKO precode comes off fairly well. Mostly, it's a tour-de-force for lead actress Constance Bennett playing a role that was originally intended for Gloria Swanson. Swanson bought the rights of the unpublished play and the story upon which it is based, but then sold these properties to RKO. Producer David Selznick was keen to use the material as a showcase for his all-important star at the studio.
Many scenes had to be redone when the director was fired and replaced by Selznick with George Cukor. The leading actor was also dropped and so was one of the supporting players. These changes necessitated a lot of reshooting when Joel McCrea and Jobyna Howland, one of my favorite character actresses from this period, were brought on board in the middle of production.
Miss Bennett had previously costarred with Mr. McCrea in two previous pictures, so they were a proven commodity. Plus they share considerable chemistry on screen together.
Some scenes already shot with Bennett and the costars that were not replaced have been retained and "blended" with the newer footage. As a result, the film is a hybrid of two versions that features shots from before the switch in director and subsequent cast changes, with Cukor's stuff. This sewing together of shots is a bit noticeable, because the editing is not exactly smooth in a few spots.
Also, while Selznick was careful to match Bennett's hairstyle, make-up and costumes with the older footage, you can still sense a different energy in what was filmed earlier compared to what was done later with Cukor.
Despite the behind-the-scenes difficulties, the finished picture is mostly cohesive. I would be lying if I said what we have is a great movie, but ROCKABYE does contain engaging performances. One thing that helps is how Bennett seems to take chances with the material. She does an admirable job; and while she addresses the script's stiffer tearjerker moments with skill, she manages to loosen up and give us some manic comedy bits. These dimensions seem to suggest the screwball roles she would do for Hal Roach a few years later.
In the story, she portrays a renowned Broadway personality who finds that happiness eludes her. When her character thinks she has finally found true love with McCrea, appearing as a neophyte playwright, it is all snatched away from her. The relationship must end when it turns out his estranged wife secretly had a baby, and he has to go back to them. Ironic, since a theme in the movie is that career gal Bennett has been anxious to settle down and have a baby of her own.
If this film had been produced at Warner Brothers, it certainly would have been made with Bette Davis and George Brent. It is that type of film, where the melodrama is dialed up and the lead actress is encouraged to overplay the more full-blown aspects of heartache and pain that come her way.
In the end, she will make a supreme sacrifice so that we can see her suffer valiantly before the closing credits, and so we can be assured she's not really self-centered at all, but a great lady.
Probably the best performance in this piece belongs to Jobyna Howland. She is on hand as Bennett's mother, a soused matriarch who sneaks sips from a hidden flask and is first out the door when someone mentions a party.
There is a wonderful scene where she has to walk down some steps inside her daughter's posh apartment. Just as she reaches the bottom landing, and it seems she has miraculously maintained her balance, she hobbles forward then falls flat on her face. It's quite funny.
Another thing that's interesting about Howland's character, which the writers neglect to explore in any real detail, is that she is in direct competition with Paul Lukas' manager character for control of her daughter. She takes credit for Bennett's stage triumphs, but she has been a total flop, literally, in the motherhood department. This ties in thematically with the fact that Bennett still wants to be a mother herself...maybe to prove that she can give a child a better set of circumstances than she was given.
Many scenes had to be redone when the director was fired and replaced by Selznick with George Cukor. The leading actor was also dropped and so was one of the supporting players. These changes necessitated a lot of reshooting when Joel McCrea and Jobyna Howland, one of my favorite character actresses from this period, were brought on board in the middle of production.
Miss Bennett had previously costarred with Mr. McCrea in two previous pictures, so they were a proven commodity. Plus they share considerable chemistry on screen together.
Some scenes already shot with Bennett and the costars that were not replaced have been retained and "blended" with the newer footage. As a result, the film is a hybrid of two versions that features shots from before the switch in director and subsequent cast changes, with Cukor's stuff. This sewing together of shots is a bit noticeable, because the editing is not exactly smooth in a few spots.
Also, while Selznick was careful to match Bennett's hairstyle, make-up and costumes with the older footage, you can still sense a different energy in what was filmed earlier compared to what was done later with Cukor.
Despite the behind-the-scenes difficulties, the finished picture is mostly cohesive. I would be lying if I said what we have is a great movie, but ROCKABYE does contain engaging performances. One thing that helps is how Bennett seems to take chances with the material. She does an admirable job; and while she addresses the script's stiffer tearjerker moments with skill, she manages to loosen up and give us some manic comedy bits. These dimensions seem to suggest the screwball roles she would do for Hal Roach a few years later.
In the story, she portrays a renowned Broadway personality who finds that happiness eludes her. When her character thinks she has finally found true love with McCrea, appearing as a neophyte playwright, it is all snatched away from her. The relationship must end when it turns out his estranged wife secretly had a baby, and he has to go back to them. Ironic, since a theme in the movie is that career gal Bennett has been anxious to settle down and have a baby of her own.
If this film had been produced at Warner Brothers, it certainly would have been made with Bette Davis and George Brent. It is that type of film, where the melodrama is dialed up and the lead actress is encouraged to overplay the more full-blown aspects of heartache and pain that come her way.
In the end, she will make a supreme sacrifice so that we can see her suffer valiantly before the closing credits, and so we can be assured she's not really self-centered at all, but a great lady.
Probably the best performance in this piece belongs to Jobyna Howland. She is on hand as Bennett's mother, a soused matriarch who sneaks sips from a hidden flask and is first out the door when someone mentions a party.
There is a wonderful scene where she has to walk down some steps inside her daughter's posh apartment. Just as she reaches the bottom landing, and it seems she has miraculously maintained her balance, she hobbles forward then falls flat on her face. It's quite funny.
Another thing that's interesting about Howland's character, which the writers neglect to explore in any real detail, is that she is in direct competition with Paul Lukas' manager character for control of her daughter. She takes credit for Bennett's stage triumphs, but she has been a total flop, literally, in the motherhood department. This ties in thematically with the fact that Bennett still wants to be a mother herself...maybe to prove that she can give a child a better set of circumstances than she was given.