Here’s part of reader Dan’s comment (June 10) regarding the 1947 cast of Nora Prentiss, a solid film noir if there ever was one.
I love ‘Nora Prentiss.’ Kent Smith was the perfect schlub. All he wanted was a little happiness.
I don’t have time today but I really want to talk a bit about one of the most horrifying characters in movie history, the doctor’s wife in ‘Nora Prentiss,’ played to utter perfection by Rosemary DeCamp.
The character makes ‘Harriet Craig’ seem like a cuddly pussycat. No wonder the doctor (Smith) wanted out, and to just disappear.
Nicely put. DeCamp’s interpretation of the chilly, upper-middle-class wife who values her possessions more than her kindly, beleaguered husband makes for chilling viewing. (There she is above lording it over her suffering spouse.)
What makes her performance all the more noteworthy is that DeCamp spent most of her nearly half century movie and tv career playing cheery, self-effacing friends, mothers and spouses. It was the maternal role she fulfilled offscreen as well.
DeCamp is best remembered today for her many tv appearances. Let’s see how much you remember about this quietly accomplished actress. As usual, questions today and answers tomorrow. Here we go:
1) Question: Rosemary DeCamp was indeed noted for playing the mothers of famous stars, who in reality were sometimes younger than she was. Which one of the following did NOT portray a DeCamp son or daughter? a) James Cagney; b) Marlo Thomas; c) Doris Day; or d) Dwayne Hickman.
2) Question: As a budding movie actress, DeCamp had a somewhat unusual connection to Howard Hughes. Why? a) They were lovers; b) He produced some of her pictures and made her miserable; c) Hughes crashed an airplane he was piloting into the roof of her Beverly Hills home; or d) None of the above.
3) Question: In 1949 to 1950, DeCamp costarred with this actor in the early tv sitcom, The Life of Riley. Who is he? a) William Bendix; b) Lew Parker; c) Jackie Gleason; or d) Red Skelton.
4) Question: DeCamp is probably best remembered for playing Robert Cummings’ aunt in The Bob Cummings Show on tv. a) True; or b) False?
5) Question: DeCamp did a ton of television later in her career. Which of the following programs did she NOT appear in? a) Rawhide; b) The Partridge Family; c) Death Valley Days or d) The Memoirs of a Fairy Godmother.
Thanks so much for today’s quiz, gentlemen.
1. She played the mom to all of them.
2. Although I don’t think she was home, Hughes clipped the roof of Rosemary’s house in the flats of Beverly Hills, causing a nasty mess. Beautifully filmed in “The Aviator.”
3. While Marjorie Reynolds and William Bendix will forever be Peg and Chester Riley, some RKO contractual issue (Hughes again!), meant that Jackie Gleason and Rosemary played the couple for one season.
4. False. Rosemary played Bob’s sister.
5. I think this is a rare Joe and Frank quiz in that the answer to TWO questions is “all the above.”
Rosemary DeCamp was one of those actors who had early success and moved through a steady performing career for decades. Lived in the South Bay area of Los Angeles for many years, away from Tinseltown but (in those days) a fairly easy commute to the studios. Others who lived in the same general area were Charles Laughton, Buddy Ebsen and even Roseanne Barr.
OK, so Lucy Talbot may not be worth a whole blog post, but she certainly gave Ms. DeCamp the opportunity to show the dark flip side of her normally sunny, solid self.
And “Nora Prentiss” is a great example of the solid bench of character actors at the studios’ disposal. Bruce Bennett (Bert from Mildred Pierce), John Ridgeley (Eddie Mars from The Big Sleep), and good old Harry Shannon (Kane’s hapless father in Citizen Kane, Mr. Tesander in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, and the farmer in The Farmer’s Daughter) were among the many players in Nora Prentiss. They were but a few of the wonderful journeymen (and women) that showed up a lot from the late 1930s until many of them migrated to television in the 50’s and 60’s. Hollywood was like a great big repertory company for decades.
Finally, in small parts as the Talbot children in Nora Prentiss, Wanda Hendrix and Robert Arthur. Amazing.
Thanks again.
Thanks Dan.
And thanks to Graham Hill as well, who still can’t get thru, but sent this:
Rosemary DeCamp — 1 trick question. DeCamp played that kind of role with all of them
2–C
3–A
4–A
5. Yet another Joe and Frank Trick question. DeCamp appeared in all those TV shows.
Thanks Graham….