![\"tf-watching-movie\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-watching-movie.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen I started this challenge, I had a few things in mind that I hoped for – I hoped people would give me stuff I needed to see but hadn’t gotten around to, stuff that I wouldn’t have sought out on my own, stuff I thought I would dislike and end up loving, and stuff I’d never heard of, with a particular hope that I’d get some classic-era stuff I hadn’t heard of, which can be a difficult feat. Well, this week did it, and I’m very glad it did.<\/p>\n
Despite having a stellar pedigree – directed by William Wyler, written by Preston Sturges, starring a luminous Margaret Sullavan and a great supporting cast – this film seems to have gone under the radar quite a bit. Sullavan is Luisa Ginglebusher (a Sturges last name if ever I heard one), a girl who’s grown up in an orphanage her whole life, but leaves to take a job as an usherette at a theatre…but all that’s by the by. Once she’s out in the world, it doesn’t take long for her to be surrounded by men. She keeps the advice of orphanage director Beulah Bondi to be careful in her “dealings with the male gender,” but is also led by her admonition to do a good deed every day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Well, after she tells would-be paramour Konrad (Frank Morgan) that she’s married to try to stop his advances, he makes a fairly bizarre series of mental logic and decides that if he can’t spend his fortune on her directly, he’ll make her husband rich so HE can shower her with gifts. Bestowing a fortune on a random poor guy she finds in the phone book seems like a good deed, but as I wrote in my notes at this point, “this is all going to go terribly wrong…and then probably turn out terribly right.” True on both counts, but crazy plot developments are one of my favorite things about this era of film.<\/p>\n
The film also fares well on many of other favorite things about 1930s film – glamour (check out the gorgeous repeating mirror as Luisa is trying on a “genuine foxine” stole), witty dialogue, great short bits from wonderful character actors (drunk Eric Blore vs. stairs is a real standout), expressive closeups, people who fall in love at the drop of a hat, etc. I also loved the glimpse, however brief and exaggerated, of moviegoing in the 1930s – the film within a film is a delightful joke of a melodrama.<\/p>\n
![\"tf-The_Good_Fairy__1935__mp4\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-The_Good_Fairy__1935__mp4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Morgan’s character was perhaps a bit too much of a creep to be treated as humorously as he is, and the opening at the orphanage is basically just a setup for Luisa’s innocence, but that aside perhaps the only major thing that would’ve given me a better time with this is if had been a Pre-Code – it has hints of the kind of dialogue it might’ve had. But as it is, it tows a relatively fine line with Luisa’s innocence and the men surrounding her, which may have been harder to manage if the content restrictions had been looser.<\/p>\n
1935, USA<\/em> I’m ranking all my Challenge films on Flickchart (as I do all the films I see), a movie-ranking website that asks you to choose your favorite between two movies until it builds a ranked list of your favorites. Just for fun, I will average out the rankings and keep a running tally of whose recommendations rank the highest. When you add a film to Flickchart, it pits it against films already on your chart to see where it should fall. Here’s how The Good Fairy<\/em> entered my chart:<\/p>\n The Good Fairy<\/b> beats Outrage Final ranking #565 out of 3591 films on my chart (84th percentile)<\/p>\n It is now my #4 William Wyler film, my #1 Margaret Sullavan film, my #3 Herbert Marshall film, and my #6 film of 1935.<\/p>\n The Good Fairy<\/em> was recommended by Matthew Price, a friend from Row Three and cohost of the fabulous Mamo! podcast.<\/p>\n Dr. Schultz:<\/b> If I let you go into the outside world, would you still do your good deed every day?<\/p>\n Dr. Schultz:<\/b> You cannot be too careful in dealings with the male gender.<\/p>\n Boy at the movies:<\/b> [Dad starts taking his family from theatre] This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t where we came in! Joe:<\/b> [trying to pick up girls outside theatre] Looking for a gentlemen? The Waiter:<\/b> I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t recognize you without your pants.<\/p>\n Dr. Metz:<\/b> [drunk and about to attempt stairs] Unhand me, varlet, lest I cleave thee with a brisket. Alone, I will negotiate yon precipice.<\/p>\n Dr. Metz:<\/b> Perfectly preposterous. They put steps just where you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see them in a spot where everybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bound to fall over them. What are they for, anyway? I just finished coming down a whole lot over there with the greatest difficult, and here we are faced with a whole lot more to go up. You know, I believe these blasted architects only do it just to complicate existence.<\/p>\n Konrad:<\/b> Far from being a waiter, I am NOT a waiter.<\/p>\n Konrad:<\/b> The air is full of revolution…and romance.<\/p>\n Konrad:<\/b> I can use one honest lawyer, but don’t overdo it.<\/p>\n Luisa:<\/b> You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take a beard like that in a black car, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll frighten the children.<\/p>\n Dr. Max Sporum:<\/b> Never let it be said that a Sporum ever refused the request of a Ginglebusher.<\/p>\n Luisa:<\/b> He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to keep his pencil sharpener! Luisa:<\/b> Think of me kindly…almost as if…I loved you.<\/p>\n Max<\/b>: You are the good fairy. You flew into my life and changed everything. When I started this challenge, I had a few things in mind that I hoped for – I hoped people would give me stuff I needed to see but hadn’t gotten around to, stuff that I wouldn’t have sought out on my own, stuff I thought I would dislike and end up loving, and stuff […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3027],"tags":[2629,3066,3065,1482],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-feat-The-Good-Fairy-1935.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36386,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/challenge-week-39-little-man-what-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":35546,"position":0},"title":"Challenge Week 39: Little Man, What Now?","author":"Jandy","date":"October 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I love that people have dug deep in this challenge and brought me some classic-era films that I not only hadn't seen, but hadn't even heard of! I've see a few Frank Borzage films but never really gotten the hype, so I was glad to get another chance to check\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/tf-feat-little-man.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35561,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/challenge-week-7-come-and-get-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":35546,"position":1},"title":"Challenge Week 7: Come and Get It","author":"Jandy","date":"February 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"My knowledge of this one going in was limited to the fact that Walter Brennan won the very first Best Supporting Actor Oscar for it - thank you, high school-era Oscar obsession! When I realized it was based on an Edna Ferber novel, I had a bit more idea what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-feat-come-and-get-it.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36495,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/challenge-week-43-the-collector\/","url_meta":{"origin":35546,"position":2},"title":"Challenge Week 43: The Collector","author":"Jandy","date":"November 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The week before I watched this, its recommender Steve tried to scare me, warning me that it was pretty rough and that it surprising it got past the censors and whatnot. I knew it was about a man who kidnaps women, and that kind of storyline CAN go very wrong\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tf-feat-collector.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":473,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2007\/06\/afis-100-years100-movies-2007-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":35546,"position":3},"title":"AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies — 2007 Edition","author":"Jandy","date":"June 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The American Film Institute released an updated version of their 100 Years...100 Movies list of greatest American movies. Apparently they're going to do that every ten years. I only saw the tail end of the special last night--did any one else catch it? I think I saw the top fifteen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36129,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/challenge-week-28-i-confess\/","url_meta":{"origin":35546,"position":4},"title":"Challenge Week 28: I Confess","author":"Jandy","date":"July 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It's pretty well-known among my friends and acquaintances that I'm a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan, so assigning me a Hitchcock film I hadn't seen was a kind of a gimme. This, I believe, was one of two American Hitchcock films I hadn't seen (now the only remaining American one is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/tf-feat3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35682,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/challenge-week-11-the-dance-of-reality\/","url_meta":{"origin":35546,"position":5},"title":"Challenge Week 11: The Dance of Reality","author":"Jandy","date":"March 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When I made my preview post listing how excited I was about various films I'd be watching for this challenge, I put two films under \"I'm Terrified\" - notable so-bad-it's-good movie Birdemic: Shock and Terror and this Alejandro Jodorowsky film. I was terrified because my husband had watched it for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/tf-feat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35546"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\ndirected by William Wyler, written by Preston Sturges<\/em>
\nstarring Margaret Sullavan, Herbert Marshall, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Eric Blore, Beulah Bondi, Alan Hale, Cesar Romero<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe Good Fairy<\/b> beats Umberto D
\nThe Good Fairy loses to Rooty Toot Toot<\/b>
\nThe Good Fairy<\/b> beats Robin Hood (1922)
\nThe Good Fairy loses to Born to Kill<\/b>
\nThe Good Fairy<\/b> beats Little Children
\nThe Good Fairy<\/b> beats Rashomon
\nThe Good Fairy<\/b> beats Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
\nThe Good Fairy<\/b> beats The Elephant Man
\nThe Good Fairy<\/b> beats The Secret in Their Eyes
\nThe Good Fairy loses to Shall We Dance<\/b> (1937)<\/p>\nA few quotes…<\/h3>\n
\nDad at the movies:<\/b> It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where we go out just the same.<\/p>\n
\nPassing woman:<\/b> Yeah, you know where I can find one?<\/p>\n
\nThe Waiter:<\/b> The trouble with you is you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been thinking again!
\nLuisa:<\/b> Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be silly. If you start off to be a good fairy, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop in the middle.<\/p>\n
\nLuisa<\/b>: No, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the good fairy who changed my life.
\nThe Waiter<\/b>: No, no, no, as a matter of fact I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m entirely responsible…
\nKonrad<\/b>: If you say it was you, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll punch you right in the eye! If there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s any good fairy around here, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s me!<\/p>\nA few more screenshots…<\/h3>\n
![\"tf-thegoodfairy\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-thegoodfairy.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"tf-Good-Fairy-table\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-Good-Fairy-table.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"tf-thegoodfairy-beard2\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-thegoodfairy-beard2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"tf-thegoodfairy-beard\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-thegoodfairy-beard.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"tf-The_Good_Fairy-foxine\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-The_Good_Fairy-foxine.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"tf-good-fairy---sullavan--tears-well\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-good-fairy-sullavan-tears-well.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"tf-good-fairy-shaved\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-good-fairy-shaved.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"tf-good-fairy---wedding-close-up\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-good-fairy-wedding-close-up.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"