There are four actresses of the 1930's whom I consider the all-time legends, those whose careers have withstood the test of time and who somehow even seemed a bit ahead of their time or have had their careers as film actresses strengthened with time. Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Barbara Stanwyck, all working very hard to achieve success, all coming from different backgrounds, and all fondly remembered decades after their greatest achievements. Of the four, Stanwyck is perhaps the most difficult to pin down to one particular genre. She had the independence of Hepburn, the drive of Davis, the determination to rise above her station of Crawford. But of them, she is only one not to win a competitive Oscar (although that would hardly have been her mission in her 60+ year career), and the number of all-time classics ranks lower than the other three. Perhaps she seems like somebody you might know from next door, unlike the theatrical Hepburn, the powerful Davis and the glamour girl with the past Crawford.
But of the four, Stanwyck remains my favorite, so when she got an honorary Oscar in 1981 and later the AFI award, I was on hand to cheer a woman I had admired on screen ever since I was a kid watching her in "The Big Valley". Biographies of Stanwyck reveal her penchant for coming to the aide of crew members in need, paying medical bills they couldn't afford or making sure that those in need of a job were hired on one of her set. Like the good Samaritan, she did it without publicity, and only through those who received her help was this kind gesture revealed. Here, Stanwyck reveals how rewarding that part of her life was to her, and you can see in that still beautiful face the kindness inside the eyes that glows when flattered by the people paying tribute to her. Hostess Jane Fonda seems to pay her reverence, having known her since she was a child, and jokingly claims that no clips from "Walk on the Wild Side" (their only movie made together) will not be shown.
Slight tears soften Stanwyck's 80 year old face when former "Big Valley" and "Dynasty" co-star Linda Evans reminds her of when "Missy" (as she was known) declared herself Evan's new mother when her mom passed away. Ann-Margret nervously reveals how touched she was when Emmy winner Stanwyck singled her performance out in a TV movie while accepting her award. John Huston raises a toast to the woman he never met but admired from afar, recalling how his father, Walter Huston, praised Stanwyck as a truly great lady. Others she never worked with declare how she influenced them, from Shirley MacLaine as a young dancer revealing how former "keep cool cutie" Ruby Stevens (Barbara's real name) kept her going just through the knowledge that hard work and drive could bring success.
And then there's the on-screen bad girl; Walter Matthau hysterically recounts how a line towards the rather bland Wendell Corey revealed to him the truth behind the soul of the murderous Thelma Jordan. Eve Arden, who co-starred in one movie with Stanwyck, slyly praises her as having been fun to work with, but watching her kill all those men made her decide to change her speech. TV brother Charleton Heston gets past rumors of how he and Stanwyck clashed on "The Colbys" by calling her the consummate professional, and John Forsythe recalls how he got over his nervousness of a scene with her by several dirty jokes she told that had him laughing and made him remember exactly what he was supposed to do.
"Honestly, I do not walk on water", Stanwyck says here, and this, her last public appearance, does indeed put a slight halo around her. Minimal plastic surgery has kept her youthful, even with that glorious mane of white hair, and that voice that Richard Chamberlain once declared "a million dollar case of laryngitis", is thrilling and even sexy. Of the four legends, Stanwyck did indeed remain the sexiest into her later years, and on screen, the heat rises more for her with the likes of William Holden, Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Joel McCrea, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and yes, even Ronald Reagan. I was disappointed her run on "The Colby's" was only a season and hoped she'd at least get one more TV spot or movie, but seeing her here, I somehow knew this would be the last time she'd be on any kind of media screen. But those movies, out on home video, played over and over on TCM and now sitting preciously in my own Barbara Stanwyck section, are there for me forever, and as John Huston said, "I drink to that!"
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