Double Feature: Margaret Sullavan

It is her second time costarring with friend Jimmy Stewart, who would also work with her in perhaps her best remembered film, The Shop Around the Corner (1940). He is Bill Pettigrew, a soldier waiting to be shipped out to fight in World War I. Daisy nearly runs over him in her car and somehow this accident ends in her agreeing to pose as his girlfriend in front of his army buddies.

Daisy is touched by Bill's innocence, but she does not share his growing love. To complicate manners, she is in a hazily defined relationship with occasional boyfriend Sam Bailey (Pidgeon). Sam doesn't object to Daisy spending time with Bill, until he realizes that Bill is serious about her.

It's good to see Sullavan cut loose. Without her usual hesitant manner, she seems stronger and more glamorous. She maintains that toughness throughout the film, even in emotional moments, and this keeps things from getting too maudlin.

To Read:
Haywire, by Brooke Hayward
A devastating, but fascinating book, written by Sullavan's daughter, about their famous family and the series of events that led to their destruction.

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