Tonight I watched Debbie Reynolds in "Tammy and the Bachelor" (1957), and it was almost like a case of "cinematic deja vu" because of the similarities to last night's "Cluny Brown" with Jennifer Jones. Like Cluny, Reynolds as "Tammy" lives with an elder male relative who acts as her guardian. For Tammy it is her grandpa, played by Walter Brennan (pronounced Wuaul-tuh Brinnin in a halting and slightly wizened tone of voice). Also like Cluny, Tammy is an innocent with no formal education who comes from a lower economic background, and in Tammy's case she is downright poor. She lives with Grandpa Brennan in a cabin by a swamp in rural Mississippi. He does the best he can for Tammy, but is soon jailed for making corn whiskey at an illegal still. He intended the money to go towards Tammy's college education, but really - does she need one?
Again, like Cluny Brown, Tammy seems both childlike and wise beyond her years. She spouts mile a minute cornpone insight that can transfix any listener, and she also has an unshakable faith in God.
As the movie begins, Grandpa and Tammy come to the rescue of a man (Leslie Nielsen) who has crashed his small plane into the swamp. They take him in at the cabin and nurse him back to health, and in the process Tammy falls for him because, like Charles Boyer in "Cluny Brown", Nielsen is handsome and a gentleman. With Grandpa Brennan soon to go to jail, he arranges for Tammy to stay with Nielsen at his aunt's antebellum mansion. This is once again akin to the plot in "Cluny Brown", in which Cluny is sent away by her Uncle to work at a resort manor.
And, just like in "Cluny Brown", when Tammy arrives at the mansion - which is used by Lesie Nielsen's relatives to stage plantation-era reenactments - she immediately offends the "propah" (proper) mores of the wealthy folks with her countrified motor mouth and overeager demeanor.
The storyline between these two films is almost interchangable, except that there is no Charles Boyer figure in "Tammy and the Bachelor" to act as matchmaker and all around go-between. One of the aunts, played by Mildred Natwick, is a Bohemian, however, and she takes to Tammy in spite of the strong disapproval of her stand-offish sister, played by Fay Wray in a rare, unsympathetic role.
Wray is Leslie Nielsen's mother (again, the overbearing mother figure, like in "Cluny Brown"), who wants him to marry the beautiful debutante Barbara, who comes from an approved family. It would merely be a marriage of convenience, though, because Nielsen doesn't love Barbara nor she him.
Tammy is in love with Nielsen, but for most of the movie he treats her like a kid.
How do you think it will turn out?
One thing must be said for certain, and I was already beginning to come to this conclusion after watching a few of her other early films after she passed away in December 2016 : I think Debbie Reynolds was as talented as they come, maybe even on the level of Judy Garland. I know that's saying a lot, but when you see her carry a movie as she does here, and you hear her sing, and see her hold her own while dancing with Gene Kelly in "Singin' In The Rain", and observe her incredible onscreen charisma and the energy of her performances, you can't help but think that, as an all-around star, an overall performer in the cinema, she was one of the greats.
I loved "Tammy and the Bachelor". It is a good deal more sentimental than "Cluny Brown", which was played almost entirely for laughs, and you may need to get your hanky out once or twice, but mostly you will have fun enjoying Tammy's company, as all the characters in the movie come to do as well.
Two Big Thumbs Up, then, for "Tammy". Watch it as a double feature with "Cluny Brown" or on successive nights as I did. They are two peas in a pod, those gals, and are certain to brighten your day.
It's me again, gearing up for this afternoon's game between the Dodgers and the Nationals. I am gonna predict that the Boys In Blue will wrap it up tonight, to avoid having to come back home and face Stephen Strasburg in a Game Five do-or-die situation. That would, er, not be too good.
So, go Dodgers!
I am gonna go, too, first to the Libe and then back to Pearl's. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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