Her scene on the stairs as she gives her son Bogart the blow off is brutal. She has no use for him at all. He's a disgrace and such a huge disappointment to her that she can't even deal with him.
I have not seen this film in years, yet this is the scene that stands out for me.
Anyone who thinks of Ms. Main only as "Ma Kettle" and her comedy roles needs to see this!
I just watched the movie and her scene really was a standout.
Not just her dialogue, but her movement up the staircase, as though she could
barely make it; really excellent!
It's exceptionally well done. Bogart has ruined and disgraced his mother's very existence. Her shame overwhelms her and then she sees the source of that shame in front of her. Once the child she loved and nurtured, now a cold blooded killer. She just wants this to end. "Just die."
MM did a fantastic job here.
Here she is at the 1:00 second mark- brutal!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19NHKNmAAmo
Hey - here's an obscure MM film she did over at Monogram, of all places.
Complete!
Under the Big Top (1938)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwOg2n4_SAk
Happy viewing!
Main, to Bogart:
"You dog.
You dirty yellow dog, you."
That scene is haunting.
Brutal!!
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That's just me being polite.
Had Marjorie cracked that whip like she did on her kids in Murder He Says (1945) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037931/reference maybe he would have straightened out just a little.
I believe she didn't care so much about the people he killed, but the devastating effect his being a known murderer had on her and the rest of her kids because of the 'media'. IMO.
Short Cut, Draw Blood
That was really harsh. I know he was a gangster, but wow--rejected like that by your own mother. I got the impression she wasn't ever much of a mother in the first place.
Innsmouth Free Press http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com
Claire Trevor received an Oscar nomination for one very short scene, but Marjorie Main deserved it more for her unforgettable scene. She doesn't look like an actress acting, but as if a woman in those straits were cast in the role.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.
Good points!
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That's just me being polite.
And Bogart did a great job setting up the scene. That sincere childlike glee in his face the moment his character sees his mother for the first time in years, was there anywhere else in the film where we see him look sincerely happy? Only to be shot down in mere seconds.
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