MovieChat Forums > The Blue Veil (1951) Discussion > Blue Veil Fan Club

Blue Veil Fan Club

posted 17 years ago by edwagreen
4 replies | jump to latest

I just got a DVD copy from pinball wizard [email protected]
This movie is absolutely fabulous. Jane Wyman gave a tour de force performance here. Sorry, Nancy Davis, you may have been First Lady but Jane had you beat every step of the way as an actress.
It's time for those of us who appreciate good old-fashioned films to start a "Blue Veil" fan club. When you see this treasure of a movie, you can understand why many of today's movies are absolute trash. All you have is boy meet girl and jump into bed immediately along with violence. Could you imagine if they made "Blue Veil" today? Lulu would be made out to be a woman losing her husband and child who resorts to prostitution while caring for other children as a sideline. While this is disgusting, it is unfortunately most true.While we saw Anne Baxter, as the tragic Sophie, go downhill after she lost her husband and child in a car accident, Sophie died in the film.(Razor's Edge-1946)
Jane Wyman was absolutely mesmerizing here. Her performance pulled out every emotional stop and even Ronnie must have shed a tear. Can't get over how good Charles Laughton was here in a supporting role. This was a much different role for one who could express such bluster in films. I know that I'm in the minority, but I truly believe that Wyman was just as good here if not better than her Oscar winning performance in "Johnny Belinda." The Golden Globe gave Wyman their award for best actress in a drama. Imagine, she beat out Vivien Leigh for "A Streetcar Named Desire, Shelley Winters for "A Place in the Sun," Eleanor Parker, "Caged," and Katharine Hepburn,"The African Queen." Wow!

[–] tcvll 16 years ago

I know I am alittle late...but how was the quality of the film you got?? I bought a copy on Ebay a few years ago for I think $20 and it is hardly viewable. It was taped off a TV station in Los Angeles, and is so blurry and dark I could barely make out Jane Wyman's face. There also seemed to be chunks of the movie missing as it jumps from one household to the next with no explanation how LuLu got there.
Would really love to see a good copy of this film!

[–] logandarko 16 years ago

That's pretty wrong. Wyman won the GG only over Vivien Leigh and Shelley Winters and it's not a big success if we stop to think how many people were in th GG association in 1951... I doubt than more than 30...

[–] afsnowbird 15 years ago

I really like the idea of a "Blue Veil" fan club. I'll never forget the first time I saw this movie in the 1970's. It was on the "Late Late Show", and I couldn't go to sleep until I saw how it ended, even if I was up till almost 4AM!

(Spoiler Space)

Not long after, it was repeated on an afternoon movie, and my brother watched it with me. He said about the ending, "This reminds me of 'This is Your Life'!"

I haven't seen this movie since then, and have been hoping it would show up on TCM, (the most likely place, it would seem). It's alwyas good to see other fans of this beautiful film.

[–] edwagreen 14 years ago

Over 2 years later and I'm replying. The Golden Globe is made up of the foreign press and for them to deny the award to British Vivien Leigh was remarkable, especially since Leigh won the Oscar and NYC film critics award that year. Even with 30 people, that had to come as a big surprise.
In my opinion, "Blue Veil" represented Jane Wyman's best performance throughout her career. I used Parker and Hepburn as further examples as they were Oscar nominees as well that year. Amazing they weren't considered for Golden Globe Award. Thanks for telling me that.