From the Archives : Miracle in the Rain ( 1956 )

Van Johnson and Jane Wyman tenderly embracing in a scene from Miracle in the Rain ( 1956 ), a touching World War II romance film. In this scene, Johnson's character was about to be called away overseas and he had a feeling it would be the last time he would see his sweetheart. 

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store : http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures

Moments of Intuition from Seven Actresses - Part Two

Audrey Hepburn

I was engaged. 

I don't think there was a girl in all the world who looked and acted happier than I did. His name was James Hanson and I had met him at a party in England. Love? No woman who ever lived could have been more honestly betrothed to a man. I could not have dreamed of a more perfect match than Jimmy and me. We had picked a beautiful ivy-covered English church for the marriage, and on the third finger of my left hand was the most grand of all engagement rings - mine. I scoured the courtiers of Paris and London for the wedding trousseau which I had pictured in my mind since I was a little girl. I had secured one whole week free from the shooting of Roman Holiday. 

On the evening of my last day's work, I went back to my apartment in Rome and, with a kind of gloating that only a woman can understand, I got out the entire trousseau : the wedding gown, the night gown, the unmentionables, the suits, the shoes, the hats, the hose, the gloves. My little flat looked like a dress shop. Wherever I looked in that room were clothe. I spun around the room in happy pirouettes until I was dizzy with pleasure. 

And then, for no reason at all, I sat down in the middle of the floor and cried. I tried to stop, but I couldn't. The tears poured down my cheeks and as I sobbed, three words kept coming to my mind. This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong. 

At first, I thought I had gone crazy with happiness. Then I looked at the wedding dress and felt nothing. No love, no pleasure, no joy. 

In that split second, a beautiful dream had ended. 

The next day, I talked with Jimmy and told him I couldn't marry him. 

To this day, I do not honestly know what changed my mind. 

***************************************************

Jane Wyman

The time I remember was a beautiful bright, sunny day on the patio of my home. If it hadn't been for the sparrows - well, I get a chill in my heart just thinking about it. 

Maureen, our first baby, was then about seven weeks old. Every morning, I'd bring her out in the bassinet and let her bask in the sun. Then I'd go back into the kitchen to get a napkin full of crumbs for the sparrows. They were a noisy lot and I'd laugh at the way they scrambled and fluttered about trying to get the food. 

It got so that the moment I'd come out on the patio each morning, the sparrows would come seemingly from nowhere and perch patiently on the rose bushes and trees, just waiting for my morning handout. 

On this particular morning, I set Maureen in the sun, as usual. She was gurgling happily, squirming her little body, kicking her legs and waving her arms. I fed the sparrows. Then I leaned back on the redwood chair and closed my eyes. Then sun was warm and soothing and I fell asleep. 

Suddenly, I was awakened by a terrific chirping and flapping of little wings. I opened my eyes and there were sparrows all around me. They'd swoop down close to me, fly over to Maureen's crib, then come back to me. At first, I thought they were trying to peck at me for more food. I was a bit irritated by this and I tried to shoo them away, but they only screeched louder and flapped their wings harder. 

I don't know why, but in that split second I knew something was wrong. Then I realized what the sparrows were trying to tell me. I jumped up and ran to Maureen's crib. She had turned over, and her small face was buried deep in the blanket, which she had worked around her head. She was completely still. Quickly, I picked her up and turned her over. She was limp and there was an unnatural blueness in her white skin. I was terrified. Then Maureen took a big deep breath, as if she were sobbing. 

Pretty soon, she was breathing regularly and opened her eyes and smiled. I hugged her to me as if I had just seen her for the first time. And then I cried. 

After a few minutes, I looked around for those wonderful sparrows. There wasn't one in sight. I waited and waited for them, but they never came back again. 

This post is Part Two of our republication of the 1957 Motion Picture magazine article that featured seven actresses sharing stories of moments of intuition. We hope you enjoyed reading it. Please be sure to check out the first post here and stay tuned for the third part! 

Hitchcock's Stage Fright ( 1950 )

"Hands that applaud can also kill!"

The stage is set. The curtain is drawn. Act One begins. Eve Gill (Jane Wyman) is helping fellow dramatic art student Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd) escape to her father's coastal home to hideout until they can smuggle him across to Scotland. He's in an awful jam you see, as he explains to Eve he has just unwillingly become the prime suspect in the murder of flamboyant stage actress Charlotte Inwood's 

husband. In a flashback of his account we see how Charlotte manipulated him, her lover, into returning to her townhouse to fetch a dress after she had stained her own with blood while bludgeoning her husband with a fire-poker, only to be seen by Inwood's maid before fleeing. 

Eve sets out to prove his innocence and with the help of her father and Detective Smith (Michael Wilding) lead the police to whom she believes to be the real murderer - Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich). 

Stage Fright was released on February 23rd, 1950 and marked the first picture in a four film contract agreement Hitchcock had signed with Warner Brothers. While it garnered rave reviews by critics it was rather harshly received by the general public due to the key element in this intriguing film - the false flashback. Hitchcock himself dismissed the film in later years because of this flashback, a technique he considered was the second worst directorial mistake he had ever made in his career. 

Alfred Hitchcock had gained notoriety as a suspense film director in the UK as far back as the mid 1930s with such films as The Lodger and The Lady Vanishes. It was not until the early 1940s that he became known in America making such hits as Suspicion, Notorious,

Lifeboat and Shadow of a Doubt.                                                                                 

Stage Fright was a sojourn back to his native land. It was filmed entirely in England at Associated British Pathe Studios and boasts a superb English cast. Michael Wilding, a very charismatic actor who was popular overseas in his frequent pairings with Anna Neagle, plays a dapper gentleman detective named Smith who has his eye - and heart - on Eve. Alastair Sim, one of England's most engaging character actors, costars as Commodore Rill, Eve's father, who fancies himself a notorious criminal for having once smuggled two cases of brandy across the Scottish border. Dame Sybil Thorndike portrays Mrs. Gill, Eve's mother, a very dotty mother whose prim and properness contrast starkly with those of her husband, the Commodore. 

" Forgiveness is the secret of a happy marriage...that and good long stretches of the absence that makes a heart grow fonder "  - Commodore Rill

Although Stage Fright is mild in suspense it more than makes up for it in sheer entertainment. For viewers, it is a leisurely stroll to capture a criminal versus an energetic race to clear the guilt of an innocent man and we are sidetracked along the way by some delightful little characterizations by Kay Walsh and Miles Malleson, as well as Joyce Grenfell doing a wonderful guest appearance as a shooting booth attendant at a theatrical garden party. 

Richard Todd had previously scored a hit in the WWII drama The Hasty Heart (1949) and was fast becoming a leading star. Why Hitchcock chose not to use him in other films remains a mystery. His portrayal of the distraught Jonathan Cooper is quite chilling. Today, The Dam Busters (1955) remains his most recognized movie although he made many other excellent films throughout the 1950s including several Walt Disney live-action films. 

"She made me do it! Don't you see? I had no other choice"

Jane Wyman was dressed down for her role as Eve and plays a soft-spoken young lady who endangers herself for the sake of the man she believes she loves. When "ordinary Smith" comes into her life her affections take a new direction though. Marlene Dietrich, on the other hand, is as Dietrichesque as ever as Charlotte Inwood and is especially alluring in her final scene. Cole Porter wrote the song "The Laziest Gal in Town" for her one musical number in the film and it remained a signature song in her repertoire until her final days. 

Strangers on a Train would be Hitchcock's next picture and its success, both critically and commercially, would knock Stage Fright away from the spotlight to the back rows of obscurity. Nevertheless, it is an underrated gem from the Master of Suspense and deserves to be recognized among his fans for its charm and character, if not for its "fright".