linda darnell as virgin mary - The Song of Bernadette Discussion

I think she played roles of a dubious nature.

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[–] peakfizeak2000 18 years ago

maybe it is because linda darnell (during filming) was pregnant.

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Nah, it's because she was producer Darryl Zanuck's mistress while filming her role as the Virgin Mary. She went on to an A-list [if short-lived] career, including lead roles in FOREVER AMBER and A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (her best work). She was an amazingly beautiful creature with some real talent but not, apparently, much ambition. Her death was truly tragic--she died as a result of complications from being in a fire.

"Thank you, thank you--you're most kind. In fact you're every kind."

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[–] jrware 18 years ago

Let is also be noted that she was watching one of her own movies when she died.

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[–] momlovesannie1998 18 years ago

Is there a biography about her?

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[–] LuciaJoyce 16 years ago

Linda Darnell was Zanuck's mistress? Where was Jennifer Jones during all this? :)

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I should warn you -- he's a Fourierist.

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[–] nycruise-1 12 years ago

Where was Jennifer Jones?

I'll tell you:

She was busy cheating on her husband with David O'Selznick, who was so taken with her that he decided to forge her a career in Hollywood, transforming her from "Phyllis Isley - Hick Actress" to "Jennifer Jones - Movie Star."

Her husband of the time, Robert Walker, also under contract to MGM, couldn't deal with this betrayal. He subsequently had a lot of problems with addiction and substance abuse, dying at an early age.

So much for "St. Bernadette of the Movies."

"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"

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[–] coxm-1 16 years ago

"maybe it is because linda darnell (during filming) was pregnant."

Well! So was the Virgin Mary!!!

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[–] snsurone 12 years ago

Linda Darnell was NEVER pregnant--she was physically barren.

She and her second husband adopted a baby girl they named Charlotte (nicknamed Lola).

Lola was at her mother's bedside when Linda died.

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[–] libby2130 12 years ago

you are right, she had an adopted daughter. here is info on why people were outraged. They thought someone wholesome should play the virgin mary(see below)

she had some really racy roles and then:

Notorious for her unstable personal life, Darnell was incapable of dealing with Hollywood, and landed in a downward spiral of alcoholism, unsuccessful marriages and highly publicized or scandalous affairs.[1] She failed to receive recognition from the industry and its critics, and disappeared from the screen in the 1950s. Darnell died from burns sustained in a house fire.

she died a horrible totally unecessary death. She was watching one of her old films when there was a fire at her residence. She totoally got out and was fine.

She thought her daughter was still in the house and she ran back in, she didn't last a few days

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[–] hobnob53 8 years ago

Your account of how Linda Darnell died isn't accurate, libby2130:

she died a horrible totally unecessary death. She was watching one of her old films when there was a fire at her residence. She totoally got out and was fine.

She thought her daughter was still in the house and she ran back in, she didn't last a few days

Her daughter was not with her, the fire was not at her residence, and she did not get out safely then run back in.

She was visiting her former secretary at her home in Glenview, Illinois, in 1965, and the two stayed up late to watch one of Darnell's earliest films, Star Dust, on TV. (Contrary to what some posters have said, she and her secretary were not still watching the movie when the fire started -- they had gone to bed.)

When the fire started at 5 AM the secretary's 16-year-old daughter woke her mother and Linda. The three were trapped on the second floor but the women got the girl to jump to safety. The secretary stood on the ledge but as firemen came to rescue her insisted they look for Darnell, who had left the room. The secretary got out but Linda didn't want to jump out the window and tried getting out through the main door, even though the first floor was engulfed in flames. She was burned over 90% of her body. Her daughter flew to Chicago the next day where her mother told her "I'm going to beat this," but Linda was too badly injured to survive and died later that day -- she didn't last even a few days, which was probably merciful.

The terrible irony is that Linda was terrified of fire all her life, yet chose to try to run through the flames instead of jumping to safety. She had been petrified just filming fire sequences in two of her movies, Anna and the King of Siam and Forever Amber.

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[–] Helpfan65 12 years ago

Well she did play some pretty innocent Catholic girls in Mark of Zorro and Blood and Sand, so for those not in the know about her actual lifestyle, I can see how her casting would be okay.
________________________________________
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[–] snicewanger 11 years ago

It was Loretta Young who was doing all the yelling. She was furious that she was not cast in the title role. Then to be overlooked in the casting of the Virgin Mary, well that was just too much. She was the one questioning Darnell's reputation.

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[–] reggietaco 9 years ago

I read your comment about Loretta Young and question why so many people were against her

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[–] winonaforever2 17 years ago

It sounds funny Linda Darnell playing Virgin Mary, she used to play characters of different nature as the other poster said, she was sexy and hot and that's not associated with holyness and catholicism, maybe that was the uproar.
I only wished they had filmed a shot of her face in detail. You almost can't tell it is her. And she's uncredited. She was really beautiful, and it's so sad she died so tragically.

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[–] Molly-31 12 years ago

You can tell it's her in the final scene. Just look at that smile.

You've got me?! Who's got you?!

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[–] Molly-31 17 years ago

Her sexy, sultry reputation preceded her. She'd apparently had some racy publicity photos taken, some of which (the way I understand it) were "in blue", which in those days meant semi-nude. Werfel found out about it and his head exploded.

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[–] BoomerMovieFan 16 years ago

If you're interested, try reading Harold Robbins' THE CARPETBAGGERS. Robbins' characters, like Somerset Maugham's, were always supposed to be based on real people. Part of the fun in reading them was guessing who he was really writing about.

In this case, there's a minor character in THE CARPETBAGGERS who causes an "uproar" at the movie studio because she has the reputation of a nymphomaniac and is supposed to play the role of a saint in the studio's next movie.

It been suggested that Robbins was referring to Linda Darnell and the "uproar" over her role as the Virgin Mary.

Although, as someone once famously said, "A man will describe any woman who likes sex a little bit more than he does as 'a raving nymphomaniac'."

If the CARPETBAGGERS character was based on Linda Darnell, she was in pretty good company. The other characters were based on Howard Hughes, Jean Harlow and Edith Head.

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[–] pjglynndoora 12 years ago

And she was younger than Jennifer Jones

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[–] ladygreyheart 9 years ago

What I always find interesting about "holier than thou, super good Catholic girl" Loretta Young, is that she had a RAGING love affair with Clark Gable that resulted in an illegitimate daughter being born. Young took some time off from making movies & came back to Hollywood with her "adopted" daughter. Everyone knew the little girl was Gable's daughter but the truth didn't come out for decades.

Age doesn't matter when playing the Virgin Mary. It isn't as if she was a real person.

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[–] JosephASpadaro 9 years ago

Of course, age matters.

The film needs to appeal to the viewers' sense of realism.

There has been a certain "image" of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has been perpetuated throughout the ages in art, film, etc.

As a general rule, viewers would expect this film - or any film - to comport with these "generally accepted" images. These images, of course, involve the depiction of age, on some level or another.

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[–] hobnob53 9 years ago

So, what age should the Virgin Mary have appeared to be at Lourdes? What age would have been "realistic"?

To the thread question, I don't see why anyone could object to Linda Darnell playing the "Lady". No, she didn't lead a life of chastity or nothing but good works. So who in Hollywood did? (The previous poster made an excellent point about holier-than-thou Loretta Young and her rampant hypocrisies. Give me a normal person who didn't claim to be "better than" or morally superior to others.)

Besides, in 1943 most of the personal problems that befell Linda lay in the future.

And as long as we're talking about casting, what about Jennifer Jones as Bernadette? This was a woman who divorced her first husband (Robert Walker) for a rich man who could help her career (David O. Selznick); got him to divorce his wife and in the meantime -- four years -- lived with him "without benefit of clergy"; so devastated Walker's fragile emotional state that he was driven to drink and died (from the ill-advised administration of a sedative) at 32; married a rich third husband (Norton Simon) after Selznick's death and made sure she was wealthy and comfortable while being estranged from her children, one of whom committed suicide.

Much "worse" than anything Linda Darnell ever did. But not a word of negative comment about Jennifer Jones.

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[–] Molly-31 7 years ago

Bernadette said the lady she saw was about her own age (fourteen) and very small (like herself), a "petito damizelo" in her language. For some reason Werfel in his book says she appears to be more like sixteen or seventeen. Possibly because folklore says that's how old Mary was when she had Jesus. Linda looked a lot more mature than that in the film. Thank goodness they didn't cast Loretta Young as the Lady. I had no idea she'd wanted to play Bernadette. Ye gods! Now, Empress Eugenie... I think she could have played that role to a faretheewell.

You're an ATHEIST, Louis!!
That's the most stupid thing a sovereign could be.

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[–] hobnob53 7 years ago

Of course, we have to remember that, as I've said elsewhere, this is a movie, so whatever one's opinion of the truth of Bernadette's alleged visions, the film of necessity takes dramatic license. Much if it is historically inaccurate or at the least altered for dramatic purposes, and a great deal of it is just outright invention; and of course, it's based on a novel, not a strict history. There's nothing wrong with this, since it's standard practice in all historical dramas. But lots of people still take what they see in a movie as the real story of whatever a film's subject matter may be.

I don't think Linda Darnell's actual age was at all relevant, although the fact that she was barely 20 when she appeared in the film seems to be in keeping with what Bernadette saw -- a bit older, perhaps, but in the ballpark. At 24, Jones was way too old to play Bernadette in terms of historical realism, but she was sort of able to pass for a teenager, with some indulgence (not to bring up an old Church tradition) and considerable suspension of disbelief.

Loretta Young (who was 30 when the film came out, far too old for the role, other considerations aside) would have been terrible, affected and simply too well-known to pull it off with any conviction. The part required an unknown, which Jennifer Jones was...though not for long.

Now, Empress Eugenie... I think she could have played that role to a faretheewell.

But, Molly-31 -- did you know, or were you just making a good guess, that Young had indeed played Empress Eugenie? In the 1938 film Suez, opposite Tyrone Power. With the usual historical liberties, of course.

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[–] texastreasure517 7 years ago

Elizabeth Taylor would have been 10 years old at the time of filming, but could have passed for 14. Jane Withers would have been 16. Shirley Temple would have been exactly 14.

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[–] hobnob53 7 years ago

Elizabeth Taylor would have been 10 years old at the time of filming, but could have passed for 14. Jane Withers would have been 16. Shirley Temple would have been exactly 14.

Your point being...?

And I hope to God you're not suggesting Shirley Temple should have played either the Virgin Mary or Bernadette. The movie would have been laughed out of the theaters.

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[–] Molly-31 7 years ago

I had no idea, I was just guessing! Ha, now I'll have to see that!

Well, the city's being built and I'm winning this game. So don't interrupt us with trifles.

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[–] hobnob53 7 years ago

Good golly, Miss Molly, then that was a really good guess!

Suez is only a so-so movie, one of Fox's weaker historical epics, but it was a big deal at the time. The heirs of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who "built" the canal, sued 20th Century-Fox for defamation because the way he was depicted in the movie bore little resemblance to the real life man, and they specifically cited the casting of Tyrone Power in the lead. The French courts threw the suit out, but imagine someone complaining that their ancestor had been portrayed by Tyrone Power!

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