I cringed throughout the whole movie listening to her blue collar, whiney, mealy mouth. If this was the only Barbara Stanwyck movie you ever saw, you wouldn't think much of her because she does have this amazing, husky voice and uses it to her advantage in many of her films. This is a sentimental film to be sure but in my opinion it is nothing more than soap opera from start to finish.
Is it just me or did the whiny, god-awful voice get turned up as the movie progressed? In any event, I love BS in this film and just went through half a box of tissues watching it on AMC!
shareYou're right----as the movie (and time) went on, "that voice" did get more and more shrill and raspy, probably from cigarettes and liquor. Certainly not like the sniffy way-upper-class voice used by Laurel's dad, stepmother, the old ladies at "the club", and the Ivy League school boys!
share"that voice" did get more and more shrill and raspy, probably from cigarettes and liquor.
Quaaludes didn't exist yet in 1937. It would be another 20 years before they were synthesized in India and not introduced into America until the 1960s.
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I think the writer was being facetious, marvelass----he's right, though; Stella didn't drink (she just acted drunk, IMO!), seemed to always be pushing sarsaparilla, or something like that, on people. I thought she had been drinking when Stephen came home unexpectedly from NYC, and caught Ed Munn messing around the baby with a lit cigar---and no manners whatsoever. The character of Ed Munn was one of the most disagreeable jerks on film---but that's just me. Actually, I guess he was pathetic, more like it. But Stella did get coarse over the years, and so did her voice.
shareIsn't it the proof that Barbara was a great versatile actress? If you think she should have used her usual husky voice you kind of missed the point of the movie. She knew exactly what she was doing.
Oh and I think it's good soap opera!
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I didn't miss any point of this movie (if you're talking to me); I think Barbara is amazing as Stell and her voice was what it was supposed to be. I even liked the little purring noises she'd make! She was a truly wonderful actress and there's no one who can compare to here in Hollywood nowadays. I love listening to the "upper class" accents that Hollywood producers used to make the actors learn from voice coaches. Joan Crawford said it was the hardest work she'd ever done, trying to develop that voice (which I don't think anyone in real life ever used, truthfully)! Great move---great cast.
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