Suffragette City (Irene Dunne as Ann Vickers)

As 1933's Ann Vickers begins, our heroine is a young woman with a passion for social reform, 'Head Resident' at a settlement house and although pursued by quite a few young men, she answers to a higher calling. As her aristocratic friend Malvina tells one of her boyfriends:

"Ann has a passion for helping people. She's going to make the world over if it takes all winter!"

(YES! Malvina is played by one of the all-time great character actresses, Edna May Oliver. Horse-faced, sensible and a tower of strength beneath the matronly facade, she enriched countless films throughout her long career, and she was even famous enough to appear in cartoons of the time. Her performance is part of what makes her and Ann's friendship so special in this movie)

But back to Ann Vickers: one night, a handsome stranger walks up to her at a party...

Lafe (Bruce Cabot) is a young officer who's about to ship out in about two weeks to fight in Europe (the film begins during WWI), He's got big ears, a dopey expression on his face, but he's also got some serious bedroom eyes.

They get acquainted and over the course of the nest week he learns more about her (including the fact that she was arrested while protesting for women's right to vote). You can guess what ultimately happens, right before he leaves for basic...

And--what happens.

"There's something I must tell you..."

Suddenly, Lafe doesn't want to respond to her letters.

And then, while out at dinner with Malvina, she sees him.

Leaving hurriedly, she tells her friend:

"It's amazing--how just a few words with him freed me. I mean he freed me spiritually, mentally--and physically! Well, it's something to know you've been a darn fool..."

"What are you going to do about...?" Obliquely referring to Ann's 'condition', Malvina invites her to her country estate, and after they arrive, the two friends have an amazing conversation about the never-to-be-born baby.

"I've named her, too. None of the meaningless names they use today. A hundred years ago names meant something: Faith. Hope. Charity. Patience."

"Dumb patience, dull hope and hang-jawed faith; those were the regulation female virtues then."

"I've found a new modern-day virtue to name my daughter...'Pride'. Pride of life, of love, of work. Pride of being a woman. Those will be her virtues! If only she hadn't...died."

Discussing her up-coming job at a prison, while still thinking about Lafe: "If I want a man I must lure. Flatter. Be impressed by all he says or does...no, Copperhead Gap might be terrible, but I won't have to use woman's wiles on it!"

Beginning her new job at the prison, she learns pretty quickly that those in charge consider her little more than an interfering 'do-gooder'. 

"Come on sister, maybe you'll figure it out, even if you did waste all that time studying sociology!"

Ushered into her new job, Ann watches a female inmate start a riot in the prison...

...with the inevitable result.

When Ann later protests the whipping of another inmate she's told to quit, only to refuse, whereupon she gets set up-and by one of the cons, yet!

Called to assist a sick man in the prison, she is photographed in a compromising position...

"Now I guess you'll resign, Miss Vickers, or shall I send that picture to the press...?"

Resolutely, she demands: "Will you take those girls out of the dark cell?"

The prison boss agrees, laughingly adding:"We don't give two hoops what you do now!"
Cut to:

(and even respected Judge Bernard Dolphin approves of her sensational expose of the prison system!)

When Ann's named doctor in her new position, she admits she's "proud as punch!"

Malvina calls and invites her to a party to celebrate her success:

"No, no doctors will be invited, just some of the...um...'literati' ".

(she's up to something, I swear)

Ann, meanwhile, checks up on a new prisoner (with the hilarious name Kitty Cognac), who turns out to be one of the people who betrayed her previously.

"Well, if it isn't my old school mate from Copperhead!"

Turns out Judge Dolphin sent her there, which she attributes to Ann's influence, although actually, Ms. Vickers doesn't know him personally.

"He said you were the one person on Earth who could make a decent citizen out of me!"

Ann wastes no time, and takes her out of solitary.

"We'll have to get you off the 'snow' cold-turkey" (does that mean what I think it does?)

"Oh, go to blazes, will ya?!"

But Ann refuses to give up hope for this deplorable creature.

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Later on, at Malvina's party, she laughingly tells an aquaintance: "Show some respect--I'm a PH.D.!" His drunk response?

"I'm an SOB!" (again, did he really say that in a 1933 movie???)

"Who's that man over there?"

"That is Judge Bernard Dolphin. He's said to be a tremendous success with all the ladies--except his wife!"

As she finds out, his wife is always "over in Europe" chasing gigolos, so apparently they have 'an understanding' (at this point my head is spinning, trying to follow all the rules of logic demanded by censorship of the time) but anyway, he's an okay guy.

"Thank you."

"May I ?"

They chat/flirt a bit and there's some real chemistry there (he may not be as attractive as she, but intellectually they're a good match, plus they make each other laugh!). They leave the party together and go for a drive:

"Would you like to see my place out in the country? I've got some cold turkey in the icebox."

Getting to know one another better, he confides that he's facing some legal difficulties of his own but Ann's certain he'll come out alright.

Since it's late, he offers her a ride home or his guest room ("The door locks") as she spots a portrait of his wife.

"I'm in favor of divorce, but Mona isn't, as yet...Ann, do you really like me?"

"Yes."

Unsurprisingly, they begin seeing each other, though they have to be discreet. One of the cutest moments in the movie is when he pays a surprise "official" visit to her office, only to embrace her as soon as the secretary walks out the door! And later, when he's leaving, he formally says "Goodbye, Miss Vickers", with a wink

and she stoically replies "Goodbye, Judge Dolphin".

As time passes, they begin to realize how much they love each other and one night, he announces:

"Ann, I've decided to ask my wife for a divorce...and if she doesn't agree, let's just 'git'! I've got enough money for two families."

Ann is hesitant about leaving her career, which she loves (and which she is clearly shown to be very capable at). But there's more...

"Have I ever told you that I've always wanted a daughter?"

( this is genuinely touching, as she's obviously thinking of her lost daughter, Pride).

He's happy with the idea of having children and tells her so, and she has a surprise for him...

He's as thrilled with the news as she is, laughing:

"Say, if we'd a met ten years ago, we'd have six of 'em, all hellions!" Cut to:

"Are you sorry he wasn't a girl?" and she happily responds, "Nonsense, I've always wanted a boy."

Back at work, Ann is looking through the classifieds for a house for her new family when she spots this:

It seems he's been accused of insider trading. As her chatty secretary relates: "He's probably the kind of man you've spent your career fighting!"

Ann shows up for the trial (though she sits at the back)



and suddenly, during a break in the proceedings, Barnie's wife appears!

"I hope you don't expect me to show up in that awful court, she says haughtily, adding that if he's convicted, "I shall be disgraced!"

Ironically, now she seems a lot more willing to dump him, since he no longer will be the pillar of society she married. Back in the courtroom, the verdict is...

GUILTY!

6 years in Fielding Penitentiary at hard labor.

And it just gets worse from then on. Based on her appearance at the trial, Ann is accused of immorality and her job is jeopardized.

You must understand, Miss Vickers, that the board has no criticism of your job performance."

"You don't understand, Miss Vickers, that the head of a woman's reformatory must be above reproach!"

"How can you consistently preach morality?"

"I'm afraid consistency has never been one of my virtues."

And with that, she resigns. But later she goes to visit an old boyfriend (himself now a judge) and the two catch up, he admitting he's now divorced and wishing he'd married her,

but Ann sets him straight:

"Friends we were and friends we always will be, but not lovers." She asks him an important favor.

"I want to get a pardon for Judge Bernard Dolphin!"He refuses, lecturing her about her "lapsed ethics":

"...something I shouldn't have to remind you of!"

"The trouble with you is--you've never been red-blooded enough to be tempted by anything!" She leaves.

She visits her imprisoned lover, and after getting reacquainted,

he asks her how their son is doing. Little Matt is doing well, and she's doing ok herself, making a living writing exposes of prison life for magazines.

He tells her his wife Mona is finally giving him a divorce.

(this guy looks so much like Abraham Lincoln to me!)

Her response:

"We'll be waiting for you."

He's led away, back to his prison cell...

Now living in a hell-hole in a crummy neighborhood, Ann continues to write magazine articles for a living during the next three years, when she has an surprising visitor...

"The governor pardoned me today."

"You're out of prison now--we're both out of prison now!"

Whereupon Matt toddles out of his room and asks Barnie:

"Who are you?"

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Well, it's about time--finally I've seen Ann Vickers! I've been reading about it forever (at least 10 years) and the consensus seems to be it's a flawed but fascinating film. I'd add that it knocked me silly (well, until the last 5 minutes or so, when suddenly it turns conventional) and it's one of the most daring Old-School Hollywood films I've seen in a long time. Maybe 'audacious' is a better word. Although obviously censorship (a necessary evil of the time) required changes in the script, for the most part the film remains true to the spirit of the original book. In the movie, as in the original novel, Ann mourns the rest of her life for her aborted daughter Pride, even while realizing there was no other route she could take. As blisteringly honest as some of the themes in Ann Vickers are, never does one feel 'clobbered' over the head with politics or viewpoints. This is the story of one woman, and all of her decisions are organic to her own character and germane to the story being told.

Walter Huston is terrific here as the judge (I always think of him as Reverend Davidson tormenting poor little Joan Crawford in Rain) but the acting honors belong to Irene.

She makes it clear that, although Ann loves her work and is passionate about it, her self-respect and compassion come from inside her, that they're not dependent on what she does for a living. Dunne is radiant here, lit from within (and she gets to look pretty terrific too, with some very 'Adrian-ey' outfits!)

This is the second of my Christmas present DVD's I've had a chance to watch (the first was my beloved Della!) and frankly, I'm in love with this movie. It will never be my favorite Irene Dunne film (that honor goes to I Remember Mama, one of the few autobiographical films I've ever seen that completely lives up to the book it's based upon), but Ann Vickers gently, thoughtfully points out that we all have to make choices in life, and that fighting the good fight is always the way to go.

Incidentally, there's a cute anecdote  over on The Irene Dunne Project about this film. Early on there's an adorably nerdy looking guy at the dance, a hopeless wallflower who can't get up the nerve to ask Ann to dance. All he can do is stare at her longingly...

It's the director, John Cromwell!