Teresa Wright ca. 1945.
Teresa Wright movies on TCM: The Little Foxes, The Pride of the Yankees
Pretty, talented Teresa Wright made a relatively small number of movies: 28 in all, over the course of more than half a century. Most of her films have already been shown on Turner Classic Movies, so it’s more than a little disappointing that TCM will not be presenting Teresa Wright rarities such as The Imperfect Lady and The Trouble with Women – two 1947 releases costarring Ray Milland – on Aug. 4, a “Summer Under the Stars” day dedicated to the only performer to date to have been shortlisted for Academy Awards for their first three film roles.
TCM’s Teresa Wright day would also have benefited from a presentation of The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956), an unusual entry – parapsychology, reincarnation – in the Wright movie canon and/or Roseland (1977), a little-remembered entry in James Ivory’s canon. But rest assured that Mrs. Miniver will be on once again… (See TCM’s Teresa Wright movie schedule further below.)
In case you’re awake in the early hours of the morning, I’d suggest checking out:
- Andrew L. Stone’s thriller The Steel Trap (1952), which reunited Wright with her Shadow of a Doubt leading man, Joseph Cotten.
- George Cukor’s The Actress (1953), with Wright – age 34 – playing the mother of Jean Simmons – age 24 – in this perfectly watchable biopic about actress-playwright-screenwriter and future Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby, 1968).
The Little Foxes & The Pride of the Yankees
In the evening, TCM is showing two of Teresa Wright’s biggest hits: William Wyler’s The Little Foxes and Sam Wood’s The Pride of the Yankees.
The former, an adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s play about greed and corruption in the American South of the early 20th century, is one of the greatest films of the 1940s, showcasing Bette Davis at her very best. In fact, The Little Foxes’ cast, including Wright as Davis’ deceptively demure daughter, is uniformly excellent.
The latter film is an immensely successful – and highly sentimental – biopic about baseball player Lou Gehrig, who succumbed to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 37 in 1941. Gary Cooper, who reportedly knew nothing about baseball, plays Gehrig. Wright is his wife.
Shadow of a Doubt
Set in a small, all-American California town, Shadow of a Doubt is supposed to be Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite among his films. Much like her character in The Little Foxes and The Pride of the Yankees, Teresa Wright plays an all-American girl (named Charlie) who, propelled by disillusionment, gets to display unsuspected resilience, determination, and fearlessness that had been lying hidden under a façade of gee-whiz sweetness and light.
Joseph Cotten, for his part, is Wright’s visiting, big city Uncle Charlie, who just happens to be an all-American sociopathic murderer.
One of the Shadow of a Doubt screenwriters was none other than Thornton Wilder – the same man responsible for Our Town. (Sam Wood’s bowdlerized, sentimentalized version starring William Holden and Martha Scott had been nominated for the 1940 Best Picture Oscar.)
The Happy Ending & Count the Hours
The Happy Ending (1969), with Richard Brooks directing wife Jean Simmons, is a waste of just about everybody’s talent – even though Simmons somehow managed to get a Best Actress Oscar nomination. (She lost to Maggie Smith for Ronald Neame’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.)
Jean Simmons, who capably handled more complex roles elsewhere, plays a middle-aged woman who, stuck in an unfulfilling marriage, goes looking for a bit of self-realization. Moralizing dialogue and cliched characterizations ensue. Once again cast as Simmons’ Mom, Wright is misused in what amounts to a non-role.
Directed by Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Clint Eastwood thriller Dirty Harry), Count the Hours (1953) sounds more intriguing. A socially conscious crime drama, the film revolves around a migrant farm worker (John Craven) accused of murder. Wright is his wife, who convinces defense attorney Macdonald Carey (a fellow Shadow of a Doubt player) to look for the real culprit.
Teresa Wright Oscar nominations
For the record, Teresa Wright’s Oscar nominations were for the following:
- Best Supporting Actress for William Wyler’s The Little Foxes (1941).
Winner: Mary Astor for The Great Lie. - Best Actress for Sam Wood’s The Pride of the Yankees (1942).
Winner: Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver. - Best Supporting Actress for William Wyler’s Mrs. Miniver (1942).
Wright took home the award.
I should also note that Teresa Wright remained the youngest three-time Oscar nominee until Jennifer Lawrence was shortlisted for David O. Russell’s American Hustle in early 2014.
Lawrence’s previous Oscar nods had been for Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone (2010) and Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook (2012). She took home the Best Actress Oscar for the latter film.
Teresa Wright articles
See also:
- Hitchcock Heroine: Teresa Wright in Shadow of a Doubt.
- Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Ugly Falling Out.
- Actress Goes from Marlon Brando to Matt Damon & The Rainmaker.
- Teresa Wright was earliest surviving Best Supporting Actress Oscar Winner.
Teresa Wright movies: TCM schedule
3:00 AM CALIFORNIA CONQUEST (1952)
Director: Lew Landers.
Cast: Cornel Wilde, Teresa Wright, Alfonso Bedoya.
79m4:30 AM ESCAPADE IN JAPAN (1957)
Director: Arthur Lubin.
Cast: Teresa Wright, Cameron Mitchell, Jon Provost, Roger Nakagawa, Philip Ober, Clint Eastwood.
93m6:15 AM THE STEEL TRAP (1952)
Director: Andrew Stone.
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, Jonathan Hale.
85m7:45 AM THE ACTRESS (1953)
Director: George Cukor.
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, Teresa Wright, Anthony Perkins, Ian Wolfe, Kay Williams, Mary Wickes.
91m9:30 AM CASANOVA BROWN (1944)
Director: Sam Wood.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Frank Morgan, Anita Louise, Patricia Collinge.
91m11:30 AM MRS. MINIVER (1942)
Director: William Wyler.
Cast: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Henry Wilcoxon, Richard Ney, Henry Travers, Helmut Dantine, Peter Lawford.
134m2:00 PM THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
Director: William Wyler.
Cast: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Teresa Wright, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O’Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael, Gladys George, Harold Russell, Ray Collins, Steve Cochran.
170m5:00 PM THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)
Director: William Wyler.
Cast: Bette Davis. Herbert Marshall. Teresa Wright. Richard Carlson. Charles Dingle. Carl Benton Reid. Patricia Collinge. Dan Duryea.
116m7:15 PM SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
Cast: Teresa Wright. Joseph Cotten. Macdonald Carey. Patricia Collinge. Henry Travers. Wallace Ford. Hume Cronyn.
108m9:15 PM THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942)
Director: Sam Wood.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth, Walter Brennan, Dan Duryea, Elsa Janssen, Ludwig Stössel, Virginia Gilmore, Bill Dickey, Hardie Albright.
129m11:30 PM THE HAPPY ENDING (1969)
Director: Richard Brooks.
Cast: Jean Simmons, John Forsythe, Bobby Darin, Shirley Jones, Teresa Wright, Lloyd Bridges, Dick Shawn, Nanette Fabray, Tina Louise, Kathy Fields, Karen Steele, Eve Brent.
112m1:30 AM COUNT THE HOURS! (1953)
Director: Don Siegel.
Cast: Teresa Wright, Macdonald Carey, John Craven, Dolores Moran, Edgar Barrier, Jack Elam, Adele Mara.
75m
notes
Teresa Wright movie schedule via the TCM website.
Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright Shadow of a Doubt image: Universal Pictures.
Dana Andrews and Teresa Wright The Best Years of Our Lives image: Samuel Goldwyn.