The Bride Wore Red

When I looked into movies that Dorothy Arzner had directed and were available to watch, I was excited to read the synopsis for The Bride Wore Red. It had all the sounds of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw or My Fair Lady (Cukor 1964). Bored Count Armalia (George Zucco) promises he could take a common person and convince the aristocracy she was one of their own. He gives himself two weeks for the joke, as it aligns with a pre-wedding celebration he had been invited to.

Enter our complicated main character, Anni (Joan Crawford). Anni had been a barmaid but the Count transforms her into Anne Vivaldi, the fictional daughter of a fictional naval officer. Her new last name is claimed off a poster in the bar the Count found her in. It is amazing how easily Anni does make a go of being aristocracy. With the aid of a hotel maid from Anni’s past, Maria (Mary Philips), and an unusually helpful waiter, Nobili (Paul Porcasi), she makes a decent go of it. Deciding that she enjoys this life very much, Anni decides that the rich life is for her, and she starts a hunt for a husband.

The rest of the movie works on the juxtapositions that Anni finds herself in. She is in a new location seeing sights that she could’ve never dreamed of before. She is both giddy with the newness and constantly trying to react more like Maddelena (Lynne Carver), and Contessa di Meina (Billie Burke) do. To further complicate her moods and reactions Anni enjoys time spent with the local postman, Giulio, played by Joan Crawford’s then-husband, Franchot Tone. Giulio does complicate her marriage game of hoping to snag a wealthy husband, often showing up at inconvenient times.

I will leave the rest of the movie a mystery for you in case you want to watch it yourselves. The biggest difference I found in watching this movie and my expectations were that Count Armalia is only involved at the very beginning and the very end of the film and is only seen in person at the beginning. The way that Anni’s moods change are enough to give you whiplash. I honestly find her a difficult character to enjoy.

Arzner is known for being the only female director to successfully transition from silent movie to talkies. In addition to Joan Crawford and Billie Burke Arzner worked with Hollywood greats; Katharine Hepburn, Rosalind Russell, and Lucille Ball. She made 27 films and was involved with many others. She was the first editor/cutter of any gender to be recognized in the end credits for her work on Old Ironsides (Valentino 1926). She was the woman who designed the boom mic, hooking a mic up to a fishing pole and following around the actors in the scene. Arzner worked nearly every field you could at Paramount before being offered a chance to direct by Columbia Pictures. Not willing to risk a great relationship with Paramount Arzner took the offer to them and said she would only stay on if she was given the chance to direct an A film. After some negotiating, they gave her Fashions for Women (1927) for her directorial debut.