Home » Film & TV » Classic Actresses » The Grand Ladies

The Grand Ladies

© K Cruver

Since it first became the land of film, Hollywood has been the domain of the young and gorgeous. Movie stars were created to fuel the fantasies of their public and the audience has always responded to sex appeal. However, in early Hollywood there was also a strong following for great character actors. Comedies in particular had roles galore for eccentric folks who were no longer young and beautiful. Among these great performers are the grand ladies--women who were no longer starlets, past their child-rearing years, and who were still sparkling, amusing and full of charm. Josephine Hull and May Robson were two such women; they both worked late into their lives and they turned in some of their most memorable performances at the height of their maturity. Here are of two of their best efforts.

Harvey (1950)
Starring: James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Charles Drake, Peggy Dow, Cecil Kellaway, Victoria Horne, Jesse White
Directed by: Henry Koster

What's a big sister to do when her brother spends all day drinking in a tavern with a six-foot tall invisible rabbit? This is the dilemma that Josephine Hull faces in Harvey. Eventually, she reluctantly decides she must commit brother Elwood (Stewart) to a mental hospital before his conversations with Harvey frighten the town ladies away from their house for good. Her partner in crime is her exasperated daughter, who only wants to be introduced into society and find a husband.

Harvey was adapted from a Pulitzer prize winning stage play in which Hull had already had a successful four year Broadway run. By the time Harvey made it to the screen in 1950, she had found success in another stage to screen classic Arsenic and Old Lace(1944). Though she is wonderfully comic with Jean Adair in Arsenic, she really steals the show in Harvey.

A lot of the humor in Hull's role arises from the fact that she sometimes seems to believe in Harvey herself. She constantly catches herself referring to him as if he exists, and the contradiction between what she wants to believe and what she suspects keep her in a constant state of agony. Her frantic facial expressions alone are enough to make you laugh, but she seals the deal with little details, such as the way she doesn't seem to notice that her coat is hanging halfway off of her as she paces around, fretting over her dilemma. Hull won the supporting actress Academy Award her brilliant performance.

The copyright of the article The Grand Ladies in Classic Actresses is owned by . Permission to republish The Grand Ladies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.