No Man of Her Own... and Giveaway Drawing Coming Soon!

I just watched No Man of Her Own (1950) the other night for the first time. What a terrific film!



Basically, Barbara Stanwyck plays an eight-months pregnant woman whose unfaithful boyfriend hands her a train ticket back to where she came from. When the train wrecks, she is mistaken for another pregnant woman on the train whose husband is also killed in the wreck. The husband's parents and brother accept her and her baby as their daughter-in-law and grandchild. But, this deception is in danger of being exposed when... oh well, maybe you'd better just see the movie.

I found it interesting that, while the movie has all the elements of a typical film noir, Barbara Stanwyck plays the lead character, rather than a femme fatale (as in Double Indemnity). Of course, she was smashing as a desperate average woman helplessly pulled into desperate circumstances. If there isn't a "chick noir" subcategory within film noir, maybe there ought to be...

As is so often the case, Edith Head did the gowns for Barbara Stanwyck. She did a great job costuming Barbara as an average woman. It seems to me I read somewhere once that Barbara Stanwyck was rather long-waisted, which had to be compensated for in costumes designed for her. Anyone else ever hear that little tidbit?

I loved the interesting shots and scene changes in the film, and the way the train wreck is presented completely from the inside of the train. Mitchell Leisen directed this movie. I think the only other of his films I've seen is The Mating Game (one of my favorite movies). Daniel L. Fapp was Director of Photography (he was DP on West Side Story).

The only criticism I have is that the title doesn't seem to fit the film though. The title of the Cornell Woolrich story that this movie was adapted from is I Married a Dead Man... now, that's a film noir title!

Here's the first 10 minutes of the movie to tempt you...






Now, contrary to what you might think, I haven't forgotten about drawing a winner for the Mahalo to My Followers Giveaway. I plan to take care of all that in next week's post... can you handle the suspense? ;)

Tune in next week when Miss CherryBubbles chooses a winner!