OVP: Kind Lady (1951)

Film: Kind Lady (1951)
Stars: Ethel Barrymore, Maurice Evans, Angela Lansbury, Keenan Wynn, Betsy Blair
Director: John Sturges
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Costume)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

The thing that I was thinking while I was watching Kind Lady was how odd that it hadn't been re-made in the years since.  While this particular version, starring the great theater actress Ethel Barrymore, was in fact a remake of a 1935 film with Aline MacMahon, the film hasn't been touched since, and I think that's a shame considering Maggie Smith or Judi Dench or Vanessa Redgrave all are still working voraciously and this would make an excellent BBC TV movie or spring art house picture.  It's a pity, because the story is quite good even if it's a bit simple, and because I think that a modern interpretation would have breathed a bit more life into it than the dignified but dull work that Ethel Barrymore brought to the movie.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is about a wealthy, kindly old woman named Mary Herries (Barrymore) who collects art and general bric-a-brac.  She is taken in by a con man called Elcott (Evans) who initially seduces her with his sad life story and his talents as a painter, but then she soon learns that he has taken over her household, and begins to lie about her mental status to the police and to well-wishers.  After all, whom will they trust-the man who claims to be her nephew, or a dotty old woman saying that this man is an imposter?  It's a clever ruse, and one that doesn't have an obvious set of ways out for our heroine (it also seems sadly still possible, looking at something like the case of Brooke Astor, for example).  The film continues to unfold with Mrs. Herries foiled at every turn until Elcott's wife (Betsy Blair, who would be blacklisted for four years after this film for her political views), who is essentially being blackmailed to help him, helps stage Mrs. Herries' faked death, causing Elcott and his cronies to be found out.

The film is extremely short, which is good because it's pretty much a staged play and would have worn out its welcome without a bit more color between the characters.  Barrymore, always very strong and reserved, is perfectly fit for the role, but doesn't seem to want to give it any sort of fire.  Her Mrs. Herries is lovely and kind (just like the title of the film indicates), but there's so much solemnity and not enough theatricality in what she's doing that I found her pretty boring in the role.  Angela Lansbury (who would, admittedly, also be a fine choice for the title character if they remade the film) is much better in a side role.  Lansbury was always so great in character pieces and starred alongside some of the finest actors of the era even if she never became a proper headliner in cinema like one would have expected considering her later stature on Broadway and in television.  Here she's constantly playing a bawdy woman, knowing full-well that she's over her head, but disguised by a bit of fear and initially a whole lot of greed (though that subsides in a way that Evans never does).  It's a fun side performance from an actress that made a career out of them.

The film received one Oscar nomination in 1951, for Best Costume, but I don't really understand that.  The costumes, what little we see of them, are largely fine, but they're relatively minimal-Barrymore seems to be wearing the same frock in every single scene, as does Lansbury, and this seems like a throwaway nomination for a period flick, which frequently becomes the case for the Costume category.  A better investment would have been an Art Direction nomination, as the actual set becomes a key part of the film, and is a subject piece for the plot.

Those are my thoughts on this short British film-have any of you seen it?  If not (and I'm guessing that's a lot of you-it's a pretty obscure picture), what are your thoughts on Barrymore and Lansbury as performers?  And considering the plot, whom would you like to see tackle a remake?  Share in the comments!