Adapted from the novel by Stephen Longstreet (the Parisian expatriate author/screenwriter also behind Stallion Road (1947) and Silver River (1948), among others), the story follows the Gaylord heiresses Fiona, Evelyn, and Susanna. After the death of their mother, their father goes to war, issuing Fiona the solemn injunction to "never sell the land." Decades later, that insistence has impoverished the sisters: man-eater Evelyn (Geraldine Fitzgerald), long suffering Susanna (Nancy Coleman) and tough-as-nails Fiona (Barbara Stanwyck) have burned through lawyers and lawsuits making sure real estate developer Charles Barclay (George Brent) won't get his mitts on their mansion (a struggle that parallels the real-life real estate squabbles between the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers over the acreage that eventually became Rockefeller Center.) But Fiona has her own private reasons why she won't let Barclay win -- and, with some clever tiptoeing around Hays office limitations, we learn why there's always a towheaded kid (Larry Simms) following the housekeeper around.
Interestingly, Rapper was London-born, and the cast was packed with other UK expats like fellow Londoner Donald Crisp and Dubliners George Brent and Geraldine Fitzgerald. Rapper was also very taken with a young actor named Byron Barr -- according to Stanwyck biographer Axel Madsen, he felt the actor could be "the next Cary Grant". He cast him in the role of "Gig Young", and his portrayal made such a positive impression on the public that he later took on the fictional character's name as his stage name.
In contrast to her prickly character, Stanwyck's co-stars uniformly enjoyed working with her. Despite being under terrible professional strain (at this point in her career, she shuttled between studios completing a feature about every three months), Rapper said that working with Stanwyck was a pleasure, adding that she was "terribly cooperative and the easiest lady to work with." Nancy Coleman (who, unlike her timid character, had much more backbone) also had kind words for the experience of working with Stanwyck, especially for their big drunk scene that "I still think that may be the best piece of acting I ever did." (Her only regret about forming a close relationship with Stanwyck was that she taught her how to smoke.)
The Gay Sisters received encouraging early notes, with Variety writing that it was "long, dignified, rather weighty, fairly impressive and varyingly entertaining picture." While praising Stanwyck for "a vibrantly believable performance" it took Brent to task for "underplay[ing] to such an extent he might as well be thinking of something else", concluding "more severe editing would not only shorten the picture pleasantly but would give it added cohesion and force." However, it did poorly at the box office and Stanwyck curiously omitted it from her list of professional credits later in life. Stanwyck moved on, honing her knack for tough-minded, unstoppable women in role after role. In two short years all that toil paid off when she landed her ultimate cold-blooded dame role in Double Indemnity (1944.)
Producer: Henry Blanke
Director: Irving Rapper
Screenplay: Lenore Coffee (screenplay); Stephen Longstreet (novel)
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Art Direction: Robert Haas
Music: Max Steiner
Film Editing: Warren Low
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck (Fiona Gaylord), George Brent (Charles Barclay), Geraldine Fitzgerald (Evelyn Gaylord), Donald Crisp (Ralph Pedloch), Byron Barr (Gig Young), Nancy Coleman (Susie Gaylord), Gene Lockhart (Mr. Herschell Gibbon), Larry Simms (Austin), Donald Woods (Penn Sutherland Gaylord), Grant Mitchell (Gilbert Wheeler)
BW-110m.
by Violet LeVoit
References:
Hobe. "The Gay Sisters." Variety, June 3rd, 1942.
Smith, Ella. Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck. Crown Publishers, 1988.
Callahan, Dan. Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman. University Press of Mississippi. 2012
Chandler, Charlotte. The Girl who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis, a Personal Biography. Applause Books, 2007
Madsen, Axel. Stanwyck. Harper Collins, 1994
Bubbeo, Daniel. The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, with Filmographies For Each. Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub, October 2001
