Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board: To reach If You Knew Susie by Trish Sharp, click the profile photo at www.facebook.com/susanhaywardclassicfilmstar and you will see the link.
The weather all weekend here (and today) and continuing for most of this week, has been -- and will continue being -- terrible. Rain, rain and more rain. A perfect time for a Susie film festival.
Of course, I started with WASIMH, as that was the one that made me a fan for life of this lady. To this day, whenever I hear so-called experts say that the best musical ever made was "Singing in the Rain," I want to shout out, "Haven't you seen 'With a Song In My Heart?'"
"Singing" was a film of songs and dancing, yes, but there was no heart to it, no human warmth as in WASIMH. I cannot even put them on the same level, and not only because of my admiration of Susan Hayward.
It was such a relief to finally hear some experts in the Special Features section of the WASIMH DVD say that, to them, this was the greatest musical ever. And they were all so mindful of Susan's wonderful performance and her "graciousness" (actually said by one),
especially towards Bob Wagner -- not only because he was a young actor who felt insecure about his performance, but also because she knew instinctively that concentrating on his reactions to her was more important in their two scenes together than concentrating on her only.
I always believed that Susan was a great actress because she WAS so instinctive. I believe that had she so desired, she could have become a great director, due, in large part, to this ability of hers. Robert Wise knew that she had these instincts, and he was right.
Am I saying that there were no less-than-perfect parts to this film? No. First, some of the dialog was dated, as would be expected from a film made over a half century ago. But what hadn't changed was the warmth, the human emotion, and the wonderful music that has stood the test of time.
WASIMH will always be my favorite Hayward picture. I am so very glad Jeanne Crain didn't get it!
Gloria, I watched some of the film (WASIMH) last night.. I'm up to the scene with Robert Wagner and "tea for two"...oh, he was good looking, and Susan of course was breathtakingly beautiful and warm of heart. I first saw this film on a television show on Saturday nights called "Saturday Night At The Movies"...remember that?...They ran a lot 20th century fox films. I remember seeing "Garden of Evil" and "White Witch Doctor on it also....also "Untamed."
I think WASIMH is one of the finest musicals ever.
