RECENT VIEWINGS: Kim Stanley, Powell + Pressburger, Deanna Durbin + Charles Laughton

The Goddess (John Cromwell, 1958): Sadly unavailable on DVD, this Paddy Chayefsky-penned cautionary tale is a tremendous vehicle for lead actress Kim Stanley. The story follows the trajectory of an emotionally wounded woman from small town matinée daydreaming through lonely stardom. Parallels between moviestar worship and religious fanaticism as mechanisms for escape are acute. The screenplay is uneven in structure, but the bravura performance of Stanley (who, against type manages to accurately convince as a teenager and later blonde bombshell) is compelling. Thank God this role did not fall into the hands of fellow Actors Studio thesp Geraldine Page!

49th Parallel (Michael Powell + Emeric Pressburger, 1941): Filmed prior to the United States entry into World War II, the film is complete propaganda. Stars Laurence Olivier (rather lousy as a French-Canadian trapper), Leslie Howard, Anton Walbrook and Raymond Massey fend off a rapidly dwindling group of Nazis across Canada. Powell and Pressburger bring the threat direct to America's doorstep in this variation of an Agatha Christie story and the thriller elements are solid. The Nazi regiment is even treated with a degree of humanity, even though all characters are thin stereotypes.

It Started with Eve (Henry Koster, 1941): Deanna Durbin eases nicely into an adult role as a coat check girl with singing aspirations. She avoids the vestiges of child star mugging that followed her contemporaries into mature film work (I'm grimacing at you, Judy Garland). Durbin has comedic finesse and a lovely soft sell of comic delivery. Nevertheless, Charles Laughton walks away with the film. The stalwart character actor (given to his own brand of mugging, absent here) delivers a compassionate, ornery and funny take on an old, millionaire baron of industry awakened from illness through a charade perpetuated by son (amiable Robert Cummings) and Durbin. Light and fluffy, the film interjects small screwball elements but never pretends to be anything other than a charming diversion.