For quite some time, today's movie (a
beautiful, sudsy confection) was out of circulation with only a
much-sought-after VHS release the only way to get one's hands on it.
(I have one and idiotically chose not to sell it when they were going
for well over $100 on eBay!) Now at last on DVD, the colorful
splendor of Connecticut (and Troy Donahue) can be viewed by a wider
audience.
Parrish (1961) was based on a 1958
novel concerning a young fellow named Parrish McLean who makes his
way in the challenging, sometimes cutthroat, tobacco farming
industry. As he grows into a man, he enjoys relationships with three
highly-varied girls while also witnessing his mother's growing
romance with a fat cat in the industry.
Joshua Logan became interested in
filming the story and wanted to cast Clark Gable as the tobacco
kingpin alongside his famed Gone with the Wind costar Vivien Leigh as
Parrish's mother, but along the way these plans fell apart and Delmer
Daves (who'd helmed the sensational hit A Summer Place, 1959) came in
to write, produce and direct the picture.
Troy Donahue, whose career had received
a boost from Daves' A Summer Place (and would continue to benefit
from Daves direction in Rome Adventure, 1962) was cast in the lead.
Claudette Colbert, who'd been absent from the big screen for six
years, portrayed his mother and Karl Malden (quite a switch from
Clark “The King” Gable!) won the role of the tobacco czar.
The film begins with Donahue and
Colbert arriving at a ferry boat which is taking them part of the way
to their destination of Connecticut where they intend to start life
anew. Donahue, who'd been a deckhand on the ferry, bids farewell to
its captain (who is played by John McGovern, memorable as the postal
worker who gives Tippi Hedren directions to Rod Taylor's home in The
Birds, 1963.)
This is the first glimpse audiences got
of Ms. Colbert in the film and a rare one of hers to be presented in
color. Colbert had done the Technicolor Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
for John Ford, but generally preferred to be filmed in black and
white (and always, ALWAYS photographed from her left side except for
the most fleeting moments here and there!)
Following an airplane flight, Donahue
and Colbert are escorted by tobacco field hand Dub Taylor (whose
accent is so authentically low-rent it can be difficult to understand
him at times!) to their new home.
Sadly for Donahue, Colbert has
neglected to mention to her new employer Dean Jagger that she not
only has a teenaged son, but has brought him along to live with her.
He tells her in no uncertain terms that the boy cannot live under the
same roof as her on his property. As she has been hired to tutor and
groom his teenaged daughter who's due home from school, the presence
of a boy on the grounds just won't do!
While Colbert unsuccessfully tries to
wear Jagger down on the subject, Donahue takes a walk and winds up
in a tobacco field where several ladies are planting. First the
subject of catcalls, he next stands patiently as veteran field hand
Hope Summers explains to him how a tobacco plant is just like a baby
and has to be carefully nurtured.
Meanwhile, fifteen year-old (in the
storyline) Connie Stevens manages to glimpse beyond her heap of curls
to see the tall young man before her and is immediately smitten.
Before he even knows what's next, he's been hired on to work the
fields (which are owned by Jagger) that very day, dress clothes and
all, and is all set to move in with Taylor's sizable family!
Stevens takes him on a tour of the
ramshackle house, being sure to point out “the john,” which has
no lock, and where her own room is situated before taking him up to
the attic where he'll be living (in marked contrast to the
beautifully-appointed apartment that Colbert has been given.) Stevens
is what Dorothy Zbornak would call “faster than Marcus Allen,”
wasting no time in letting Donahue know how much she likes him.
She later takes Donahue to the tobacco
barn where she informs him that when it's very hot at night, she
comes there to sleep. “Raw.” Next, she gets the kiss of a
lifetime from Donahue, but isn't able to take things any further
because her date has arrived to take her out and this mystery man is
someone she can't say no to. Afterwards, however, she comes home (the
top of her dress not fully fastened) to find that Donahue has come
down with tobacco poisoning. This requires a sensuous blotting of
calamine lotion to ease the burning itch.
If you'll note the way Donahue is lit
and photographed here, it's the sort of glorious, soft-focus,
star-making cinematography that any young actor or actress would kill
for. Parrish's cinematographer was Harry Stradling Jr., who was hired
four times to photograph Barbra Streisand on film, which ought to
tell you everything you need to know about his skill in that arena!
(Stradling won two Oscars, for The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1945, and
My Fair Lady, 1964, and was nominated a dozen other times.)
Meanwhile, Colbert's young charge has
arrived home and is clearly going to be a bit of a handful. Diane
McBain, a stunningly attractive young lady, is given the same
awe-inspiring lighting as Donahue. She makes Colbert aware that she
has a mind of her own and has no intention of living under the thumb
of either her or her father Jagger.
Colbert good-naturedly attempts to
establish herself as merely a friend, but McBain's having none of it,
preferring to dart off on a date with one of her wealthy beaus than
to even have dinner with her father on her first night back home.
Over at the tobacco field, trouble is
brewing thanks to the presence of wire worms, which are destroying
the freshly-planted crop. Most of the workers are reluctant to stay
and work overtime through the night, but Donahue is willing, inspired
by his employer Jagger's own integrity and work ethic.
Stumbling to his mother's apartment in
the dark of night rather than heading to Taylor's shack, which is
further away, Donahue is nearly run down by a car careening up the
driveway. It is driven by McBain, just now arriving home from a late
date.
She gets her first good look at Donahue
and, like most other females in the movie, is instantly attracted to
him. She suggests that they finish off some of the champagne that she
has leftover in her car, but he begs off after such a staggeringly
grueling night in the field. Again, both of these performers are
given lustrous close-ups during the scene.
Now feeling some stirrings for McBain,
Donahue is beginning to become torn and his canoodling partner
Stevens can sense it. She confronts him about it at the filed, but he
remains evasive. (I love the color of this sky blue jacket against
the green of the foliage, the gold of his hair and the orange of his
face. Ha!)
Colbert sagely warns her son about
getting his heart broken one way or another, though he isn't apt to
listen to her too closely regardless of their obvious affection for
one another.
Repeated challenges at the field result
in a total replanting, which depletes Jagger's supply of starter
beds. As Donahue is finishing up one day, he is accosted by a young
lady on a bicycle (Sharon Hugueny) who takes an interest in what's
going on.
We later find out that she is the
daughter of nearby tobacco king Karl Malden, who lives in a
splendiferous mansion and owns very nearly all of the surrounding
territory. (I'm a sucker for anything grand and stately like this,
probably thanks to being raised in a one-bedroom house!)
Malden has three children and rules
them with an iron fist. The two sons (one of who is married) and
daughter Hugueny are all expected to live by his rules and report to
him anything and everything they see regarding the local tobacco
industry. Should they fail to do so, they are reprimanded and
humiliated by him.
Malden finally drags it out of his kids
that Jagger is facing potential ruin over the loss of his crop and
promptly buys up the only available starter plants, offering then to
“bail out” Jagger – at a price. Jagger informs Malden that he
would gladly go belly up than to accept anything at all from him.
Prior to this terse meeting and
directly after it, Malden has met and become intrigued by Colbert.
Her attractive, ladylike ways and attempts to smooth over all the bad
blood between the men pique his interest and he decides it would be
nice to see her socially. She, as a practically penniless widow with
a wayward son, isn't exactly against the idea of dating a wealthy
tycoon either.
Stevens is having an increasingly hard
time getting through to Donahue and the two find themselves arguing
when she suggests that his mother is dallying with the area's biggest
hot shot Malden. Donahue is incensed at her implications, and,
confused by his own feelings when it comes to romance, blows up at
her.
Trouble is, Stevens is grappling with
her own set of issues. She's going to have a baby! Naïve Donahue,
who's only been in the area a little while, wonders if it is his
though Stevens is five months along. She easily could have duped him
into claiming responsibility, but she gamely opts to inform him that
he's clear of any burden.
Now things are beginning to heat up a
bit between Malden and Colbert. With both he and his children
vacationing at the same oceanside resort as McBain, he arranges for a
romantic evening on his yacht. However, Colbert deftly informs him
that she isn't about to be his resident squeeze. It's got to be
marriage or nothing.
McBain has to head back to school, but
has made plans for Donahue to sneak onto the train with her for most
of the way. She erupts, however, when she discovers that he has
agreed to escort the knocked-up Stevens to an annual dance out of the
goodness of his heart. When he refuses to back down from his promise,
we see a McBain's snarly side as she announces that she hates him
more than she has ever hated anyone or anything!
Malden agrees to marry Colbert and they
enjoy a colorful ceremony followed by an extended honeymoon. Once
back home, it is decided that Donahue will move into the big house in
order to get to know his new step-family.
Hugueny is delighted with Colbert, but
alcohol-loving son David Knapp, along with elder son Hampton Fancher
and his wife Saundra Edwards, make it clear that they aren't exactly
in love with this new wrinkle in the family canvas. Fancher, in
particular, makes his displeasure known when he won't even shake
Colbert's hand.
Fancher lets Donahue know that he has
no intention of standing for Donahue's association with a “tramp”
like Stevens and cockily asserts his position to him privately.
However, Donahue stands up for himself, adding that Fancher had
better learn how to treat Colbert with more respect.
Donahue pays a visit to his old pals at
the tobacco shack and finds that Stevens' baby has been born and, not
coincident-ally, the entire family has new clothing and the rathole of
a house they live in has all new furniture, a television and a
spanking new refrigerator, stocked to the hilt. It seems that
Stevens' baby was fathered by someone with plenty of (hush) money.
Malden holds a reception in order to
introduce his new bride to the people of the area (and I do adore
these sorts of cinematic soirees, also to be found in movies like
Madame X, 1966, and later to inspire prime-time soaps like Dallas and
Dynasty.) Among the invitees are Hayden Rorke, known to many for his
work on I Dream of Jeanne from 1965-1970 and a frequent player in
films directed by director Daves. It's beginning to become clear to
Donahue that his newfound stepsister Hugueny is turning into a young
lady.
Also present at the party is Poseidon's
Underworld's favorite extra Leoda Richards who, in this sequence
anyway, is given closer, front and center proximity to the camera
than lead actress Colbert!
Now that he's ensconced in Malden's
family, Donahue is offered a position with the expansive family
business. Malden demonstrates, via a massive relief map in his
office, how he owns all but a few parcels of tobacco farmland in the
region. He grants Donahue the key position of a checker, who goes
around to each field and takes note of anything and everything that
is occurring on site.
Malden's office is enormous and
contains little besides that big map and an imposing desk. Note the
wallpaper done in golden tobacco leaves! He impresses upon Donahue
that he will work long and hard, but the reward will be worth it.
After a controversial series of events,
first a raging fire at a competitor's field and then a bout with blue
mold, Donahue and Malden can no longer see eye-to-eye and Donahue
departs to join the U.S. Navy. (This farewell kiss between McBain and
Donahue is not present in the finished cut of the movie.)
McBain, devastated that nothing is
going her way with Donahue, agrees to marry Malden's son Knapp,
resulting in yet another defection from Jagger's household to the
dreaded enemy.
While Donahue is away on a submarine,
Hugueny is growing up and becoming more and more ladylike with each
passing day. Finally, she turns eighteen (an event punctuated by a
hilarious scene in which most of the cast gathers in a semicircle and
sings “Paige has a birthday, Paige has a birthday!” followed by a
hokey countdown from numbers 1 to 18!)
All along, Hugueny corresponds back and
forth with Donahue until her father gets wind of it and throws one of
his customary fits. Hugueny has now begun, however, to stand up for
herself and face him down a bit more than she once did.
In the bowels of his submarine, Donahue
receives letters and, in one instance, a boxed cake from Hugueny and
whiles away his evenings dreaming of her. Her photos are tacked up in
his bunk, yet in a hysterical on-screen moment, he rolls over and
lies down only to reveal a hovering 8x10 glossy of Colbert,
imposingly situated right next to his face!!
Once sprung from the navy, Donahue
comes back home and is reunited with his mother and with now-curvy
Hugueny. He also witnesses a domestic meltdown between McBain and her
unhappy husband Knapp.
Settling on a career plan, he decides
to work the recently dormant land of Jagger rather than deal with
Malden. The two work out a deal that has Donahue almost
singlehandedly planting and raising a tobacco crop of his own. (In
one humiliating shot, shown below, Donahue is shown with his old
sailor cap down around his ears as he pilots a tractor up and down
the rows and into the barn.)
Before the movie has ended, Donahue has
watched one girl become trapped in a personal hell, another girl come
to terms with the life she has brought upon herself and another girl
rises to his side in order to help him become his own man. It oughtn't
to be hard to figure out which is which.
He also sees his mother finally put her
foot down about the man she's married to and settles the score with
arch-enemy Fancher who, by this time, has managed to disgust even his
own father Malden.
Winding up, I give you an alternate
cover of the movie tie-in paperback novel...
...and its back side, which features
photos and an amusingly “steamy” description of the story.
A later reissue of the book distanced
itself from Troy and Connie and featured a highly sensual anonymous
couple in the midst of a clinch! (I love this sort of artwork
nonetheless.)
Look at this (Spanish or Mexican?) poster that has each of the gals (as themselves, not in character) hanging on the phone in wait for Donahue's call!
Then there was this ad which promised
the prize of a Hollywood contract to the winner of a contest and
which featured the four young stars of Parrish.
Finally, if you know of my affection
for oddball trading cards of movies and stars, then first take a look
at this publicity photo from the movie (already strangely awkward
thanks to Donahue's loony expression and McBain's sensuous one.)
Then check out this reprint of it for a
foreign market trading card! The heavy ink on it gives the actors a
cartoony appearance as it appears someone traced over the picture in
order to draw the subjects?
