"Primrose Path," directed by a famous drunkard, is the tale of a family made dysfunctional by a drunkard. Director Gregory LaCava knew his subject down to his fingertips; in her memoirs Ginger Rogers, star of the film, describes LaCava on the set, holding an ever-present tea cup filled with gin. Here he embarks on a profound meditation of relationships, and of evil, and of good. This 1940 production has been largely dismissed by critics. They are nearly unanimous in their gross failure to grasp La Cava's stroke of genius.
The characters circle each other and swirl together and apart to paint a vignette of a thoroughly wrecked family, finely brushed by actors compelled by LaCava to perform at a very high level.
Miles Mander, as Homer Adams, gives a masterful performance as an intellectual lost to the bottle. His jerky movements reveal a bandy-legged drunkard who spends his life in his bedroom scribbling about Ancient Greece or prostrate upon his bed in a stupor, muscles atrophied and willpower shattered. He has abdicated his role as head of the family to his mother-in-law and bitterly resents his own weakness.
In what is surely one of the most vile creatures ever committed to film, Queenie Vassar portrays this de facto matriarch, a scathing, baleful old prostitute who works relentlessly towards her goal; to corrupt her daughter and her grand-daughters into depravity - to follow her down the Primrose Path.
Her daughter Mamie, played by Marjorie Rambeau, trapped in a hopeless marriage to a drunkard, has succumbed to Grandma's demands and provides for the family the only way she can. She looks at the world with weary, defeated eyes, and with a wisdom that can be obtained in no other way. The wide difference in ages between Mamie's two daughters suggests a scandal. Homer's outrage at his wife's behavior only fuels his alcoholism. Mamie is a classic enabler. She provides the money for the drink he uses to put out the fires of his scalding shame, by cavorting with other men. All the while Grandma looms, a harpy stooping to gnaw and rip at the prostrate institution of the family.
Grandma's deceit and lies pervade the atmosphere of the hovel and the granddaughters both learn at her knee how to lie and to deceive. The younger girl, knowing only the toxic culture of her family, is raised in Grandma's image and there seems little hope in her future. The older granddaughter, Ellie May Adams played by Ginger Rogers, has had a sadly neglected upbringing. Yet she clearly has a strong character and a knowledge of another kind of household - perhaps reflecting the Adams' life before they descended into depravity.
But Ellie May is not immune to the effects of her dysfunctional family. When she escapes Primrose Hill for the coast on an expedition to gather clams, she meets Ed Wallace, played by Joel McCrea. Ed is something new in Ellie's little circle. He isn't rich, but he's clearly honorable and hard working. There is an air of confidence and life about him, of hope. Ellie May promptly shows that she has learned a great deal from Grandma in the ways of lying and deceit. She has considerable abilities for manipulation and co-dependence, but at the same time we see a haunting hunger in her, for human warmth and honesty. The way she manipulates Ed while at the same time showing a sensitive and simple and honest love for him and his Uncle draws the viewer into her personality and her world.
The dialect heard in this film is all but extinct today, but it is a perfect example of the pot pourri of languages of the Dust Bowl Midwest, South, and West all driven together in the vanished California of the Great Depression. To hear this dialect, listen to interviews of Woody Guthrie, or to very early Merle Haggard. Rogers knew all those regions, had lived in them, and breathed in these dialects during her years in vaudeville. Ginger's portrayal of Ellie May Adams reveals one of the most complex characters in film.
There is a deep understanding of character in the performances of Ginger Rogers. Watch the unsure, hesitant, naive Ellie May bravely entering the Blue Bell to clumsily strut for Joel McCrea, and compare her to the sheer rock star charisma of Ginger Rogers working the burlesque catwalk as Lilly Linda in "Upperworld," or again with the elegant and stylish women of "Top Hat" or "Gay Divorcee".
Yet there is more here to tell than simply to describe the masterpiece of a gin-soaked genius, or one of the greatest performances of one of the greatest actresses.
With this film, Ginger Rogers - and her studio, putting it all on the line for her - took the biggest career risk of any major actor in the entire Golden Era of Hollywood. No other actor at the peak of their stardom ever took on such a role, and no other top actor moved so far out of their established screen persona. Certainly no studio in the era of block-booking ever put their greatest star in a role like Ellie May Adams. This was truly risk-taking for stakes and believing in your star.
Arguably Rogers reached the summit of her career with this astonishing tone poem of deceit, despair, and the redemption of love.
The characters circle each other and swirl together and apart to paint a vignette of a thoroughly wrecked family, finely brushed by actors compelled by LaCava to perform at a very high level.
Miles Mander, as Homer Adams, gives a masterful performance as an intellectual lost to the bottle. His jerky movements reveal a bandy-legged drunkard who spends his life in his bedroom scribbling about Ancient Greece or prostrate upon his bed in a stupor, muscles atrophied and willpower shattered. He has abdicated his role as head of the family to his mother-in-law and bitterly resents his own weakness.
In what is surely one of the most vile creatures ever committed to film, Queenie Vassar portrays this de facto matriarch, a scathing, baleful old prostitute who works relentlessly towards her goal; to corrupt her daughter and her grand-daughters into depravity - to follow her down the Primrose Path.
Her daughter Mamie, played by Marjorie Rambeau, trapped in a hopeless marriage to a drunkard, has succumbed to Grandma's demands and provides for the family the only way she can. She looks at the world with weary, defeated eyes, and with a wisdom that can be obtained in no other way. The wide difference in ages between Mamie's two daughters suggests a scandal. Homer's outrage at his wife's behavior only fuels his alcoholism. Mamie is a classic enabler. She provides the money for the drink he uses to put out the fires of his scalding shame, by cavorting with other men. All the while Grandma looms, a harpy stooping to gnaw and rip at the prostrate institution of the family.
Grandma's deceit and lies pervade the atmosphere of the hovel and the granddaughters both learn at her knee how to lie and to deceive. The younger girl, knowing only the toxic culture of her family, is raised in Grandma's image and there seems little hope in her future. The older granddaughter, Ellie May Adams played by Ginger Rogers, has had a sadly neglected upbringing. Yet she clearly has a strong character and a knowledge of another kind of household - perhaps reflecting the Adams' life before they descended into depravity.
But Ellie May is not immune to the effects of her dysfunctional family. When she escapes Primrose Hill for the coast on an expedition to gather clams, she meets Ed Wallace, played by Joel McCrea. Ed is something new in Ellie's little circle. He isn't rich, but he's clearly honorable and hard working. There is an air of confidence and life about him, of hope. Ellie May promptly shows that she has learned a great deal from Grandma in the ways of lying and deceit. She has considerable abilities for manipulation and co-dependence, but at the same time we see a haunting hunger in her, for human warmth and honesty. The way she manipulates Ed while at the same time showing a sensitive and simple and honest love for him and his Uncle draws the viewer into her personality and her world.
The dialect heard in this film is all but extinct today, but it is a perfect example of the pot pourri of languages of the Dust Bowl Midwest, South, and West all driven together in the vanished California of the Great Depression. To hear this dialect, listen to interviews of Woody Guthrie, or to very early Merle Haggard. Rogers knew all those regions, had lived in them, and breathed in these dialects during her years in vaudeville. Ginger's portrayal of Ellie May Adams reveals one of the most complex characters in film.
There is a deep understanding of character in the performances of Ginger Rogers. Watch the unsure, hesitant, naive Ellie May bravely entering the Blue Bell to clumsily strut for Joel McCrea, and compare her to the sheer rock star charisma of Ginger Rogers working the burlesque catwalk as Lilly Linda in "Upperworld," or again with the elegant and stylish women of "Top Hat" or "Gay Divorcee".
Yet there is more here to tell than simply to describe the masterpiece of a gin-soaked genius, or one of the greatest performances of one of the greatest actresses.
With this film, Ginger Rogers - and her studio, putting it all on the line for her - took the biggest career risk of any major actor in the entire Golden Era of Hollywood. No other actor at the peak of their stardom ever took on such a role, and no other top actor moved so far out of their established screen persona. Certainly no studio in the era of block-booking ever put their greatest star in a role like Ellie May Adams. This was truly risk-taking for stakes and believing in your star.
Arguably Rogers reached the summit of her career with this astonishing tone poem of deceit, despair, and the redemption of love.