In light of the awards attention Todd Haynes’ May December has been getting, Douglas Sirk‘s films have been back in the spotlight again (or at least name-dropped a lot as one of Haynes’ inspirations). Of Sirk’s films, his melodramas with Rock Hudson are usually the most celebrated, or at least three of them are. They’re the ones Criterion’s released: All That Heaven Allows, Magnificent Obsession, and Written on the Wind. They’re not, however, the only films they made together. The question is whether their other collaborations are lesser known for a reason or waiting to be discovered. In the case of The Tarnished Angels (which has almost the same cast as Written on the Wind and is available from Kino Lorber), the answer is waiting to be discovered. In the case of Has Anybody Seen My Gal, the answer might be for a reason…
This comedy from Universal is also categorized on Kino Lorber’s website as a musical, but that’s a recipe to get viewers hopes up. None of the songs in the film are original and they’re not exactly big, choreographed numbers.
Hudson and Piper Laurie are credited as the stars but, much like he did in The Devil and Miss Jones, where Jean Arthur is allegedly the lead but it’s really about him, the whole film centers around Charles Coburn’s character, Sam. He is a rich hypochondriac who thinks his days are numbered and is determined to leave his immense fortune to the daughter (Lynn Bari) of the woman he loved but who didn’t feel the same way. When his lawyer (Frank Ferguson) suggests he meet the woman’s family first, he decides to take him up on the idea by posing as one of them to post an ad in the local paper saying they’re looking for a boarder and then showing up at their house, asking for the room.
It’s really creepy behavior and kind of sets the tone for this movie, where people are going to act like jerks and make bad decisions, like when Hudson (who plays Laurie’s love interest) decides he can’t marry her because he isn’t wealthy enough and then won’t let her decide for herself that she’d rather marry for love.
Basically, Sam decides to give the family a taste of being rich early by having a mysterious benefactor step in and leave them some cash, but the effect is catastrophic – especially on the mother, who was born to be a snob. Gigi Perreau adds some spunk as the youngest member of the family (in his commentary, film historian Lee Gambin compares her performance to Margaret O’Brien’s in Meet Me In St. Louis and that feels accurate). It’s clear the film knew what it was doing, in pairing up Perreau and Coburn. The scenes where they’re dancing the Charleston together are especially sweet.
If Has Anybody Seen My Gal and Joseph Hoffman’s screenplay are more frustrating than entertaining, the bonus features on Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray are must-listen. Gambin is joined for the commentary by Laurie (who passed away in October last year). It must have been recorded shortly before her death and it’s existence is a real gift to her fans. Laurie tells the story of how she auditioned for Universal and shares how she could’ve signed with Kirk Douglas instead. She’s also very honest about her role in this movie not being creatively satisfying (as it sounds like many of her roles at Universal weren’t). The second bonus feature was filmed in 2008 and has Laurie and Perreau on-camera. I didn’t know Perreau’s siblings were child actors, too, and it’s interesting to hear Laurie talk about Sirk in this featurette, because she’s much more candid about Sirk being a bully in the commentary.
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