Deck the Halls December: Susan Slept Here (1954)

It's the holiday season and we are watching movies. Why not join us?

RODNEY BOWCOCK: What we have here is a story of a 35-year-old screenwriter trying to forge a new path into more serious work who inexplicably has a 17-year-old “delinquent” thrust upon him on Christmas Eve as the police department felt that her spending the holiday with him would make for good research for a screenplay. As happens in these sorts of films, initial distrust soon turns into genuine friendship and love over the course of 48 hours among the unlikely pair.

SAMANTHA GLASSER: If you can get past the fact that this is a romance with an underage girl, Susan Slept Here is a sparkling movie only made better by its Christmastime setting.

RB: As I’ve learned while researching this film, many reviewers disagree with me, but I think what keeps this film from being completely icky is the innocent tone that the film plays, while essentially being a production code skirting sex comedy.

SG: Debbie Reynolds is supremely beautiful in this movie. She wears 50s style high-waisted jeans and a raincoat in the beginning, which is meant to make her look young and sloppy. She transitions into an ice cream bride, frosty and delicate in her fluffy tulle ankle-length strapless gown that I wish I could have duplicated for my wedding. Her spunk and earnestness will surely win you over if you have a beating heart. Photoplay agreed, saying, "Never before has Debbie Reynolds’ natural sparkle come across so entrancingly." Reynolds was on loan out to RKO who paid $8,000 per week for her services; MGM paid her $750 per week.

RB: MGM kept Reynolds busy. Many studios wanted her, but they were usually turned down. In this case, the influence of Howard Hughes may have had something to do with MGM relenting and loaning her out. Of course, the big payday didn’t hurt things. My personal favorite scene featuring her is when she describes all of the things that would make her a desirable wife, ranging from playing sports (golf, especially poorly) to mixing assorted drinks and nothing in between.

SG: Glenda Farrell is Mark's hard-drinking secretary, a welcome addition to the film which reminds us of the pair's days at Warner Brothers where Farrell and Powell's ex-wife Joan Blondell made many films together.

RB: I completely agree that it’s fun to see them together again, and Farrell plays a critical role in this movie by taking over as an older mother figure for Susan, and eventually in a very off the wall side plot, finds love of her own.

SG: Anne Francis plays the rival, and because of her role in this movie, I thought of her as someone I didn't like. She is a delightful, spunky and beautiful actress who plays an icy gold digger. "Isabella is a natural blonde; she told me." Lines like this gave the film an "adults only" rating in Chicago, which producer Harriet Parsons-- yes, Louella's girl-- protested. Harriet traveled extensively to promote the film and encouraged exhibitors to take advantage of celebrity appearances to sell Susan Slept Here. “Their presence adds an aura of glamour which is always helpful for selling tickets,” she said.

RB: Anne Francis is ALWAYS gorgeous and Frank Tashlin’s direction portrays her in a cartoonish sexiness, not unlike what you’d find in a Tex Avery cartoon, not to mention one of Tashlin’s own classic Warner Brothers cartoons.

SG: Motion Picture Exhibitor wrote, "Extremely lightweight, this will fill the bill where people seek pleasant entertainment. Powell seems a bit old for the part in contrast to the bounce and youthful vivacity of Reynolds, but the power on the marquee will make the difference." The joke that Dick's character is only 35 is hilarious to me because he was 50, but I don't think the line was meant to be a joke. The role wasn't intended for Dick Powell, though it wound up being his last film. He had transitioned behind the camera, directing Split Second and working with Howard Hughes to take on a leadership role at RKO, which ultimately never materialized. His next project was meant to be directing The Long Wire starring John Wayne, which was never made. He would go on to become a television mogul heading Four Star Productions before his death in 1963. Dick liked toys, loved to sail and learned to fly a plane, and the roadster he drives in the movie is his. One of the things I love about him is his sense of humor which was genuine and was often captured on the screen. In Susan Slept Here, Mark mouths the lines he wrote for the movie that won him an Oscar, and the dialogue is melodramatic garbage; Dick imitates it completely with phony tears and it is a great laugh.

RB: Ah! You brought up my biggest complaint for this film, and that’s that I laughed out loud when Powell’s character revealed his age to be 35. The poor guy; it’s ludicrous. But it’s Powell, and as you know better than anyone else I know, he’s almost always great in everything he does and this is no exception. It’s kind of a laid back role that he does so well.

SG: The man was a heavy smoker. He did not look 35.

Parsons praised Tashlin, saying, "He has a sense of composition and design, which is very important to a director. He knows how to compose a picture. He also is expert at handling people and communicating to an actor what he wants.”

RB: Tashlin has developed something of a cult following in recent years and this movie is a good example of why. The bright, garish technicolor and themes that seem specifically designed to piss off the production code folks are on full display here. Not to mention a healthy dose of slapstick (Suan sticking her head in the freezer as she gets heated overhearing a record by her favorite singer is a good example), but all done in a more adult manner (except for his Martin & Lewis movies, of course).

SG: I love this movie and have watched it many times. I have a one sheet, insert, window card and lobby card set from it too, my first set thanks to my friend Al Bielski who used to look out for Dick Powell posters for me. I even have Don Cornell's record "Hold My Hand," and Dick's recording of the same with "Susan Slept Here." Oddly, four of the eight lobby cards feature images from the elaborate dream sequence, which suggests the studio felt it was a big selling point, but I consider it to be the weakest part of the movie. It is colorful and visually stunning but feels out of place in the overall movie. We don't need Susan's dream to tell us how she feels about Isabella and Mark. It is a fun moment if you're a Dick Powell fan to see him do a very small amount of dancing which he wasn't known for at all in spite of all the musicals he made.

RB: I don't enjoy dream sequences, and this was no exception.

SG: I wrote a letter to Debbie Reynolds asking about this movie and whether she was actually eating strawberries and pickles in the scene or whether they gave her something brightly colored to resemble it. She didn't respond directly, but she did talk about Dick and his wife June Allyson in her last book. She admired Dick and the way he treated colleagues and she disclosed that June had alcohol hidden in various places around their house that she'd sneak into when no one was looking.

RB: This was so early in her career, do you suppose that she may have just forgotten specifics about it? The plot point around the strawberries and pickles was hilarious, by the way.

SG: The idea of eating something like that sounded revolting when I first saw the movie, but in these days of creative slaws, maybe it isn't such an odd combination.

The Victoria Theatre held a preview screening party for fifty celebrities the evening prior to the official premiere in San Francisco on July 14th.

Motion Picture Daily wrote, "Susan Slept Here, a fast and flippant comedy which should rock a theatre's foundations repeatedly from invoked laughter. Alex Gottlieb's slick and tricky script, taken from his own and Steve Fisher's stage play about Hollywood, is a moving story which never lets down and is tip-top in all respects, from production to direction."

Screenland's reviewer said, "Story frolics along at a pleasant pace, neatly gliding over any script improbabilities. The results are a film with gilt, glamour and ample humor."

The Independent Film Journal wrote, "Sex rears its sophisticated head fairly frequently, but the picture does not exceed the bounds of good taste."

RB: I read that reviews weren’t very good at the release of the film, but I couldn’t find anything overly negative at the neighborhood theaters.

“Give this picture your best playing time. It sure is worth it. More like this one and our worries would be over. A very good comedy drama with everything you could ask for. Did average business on it — too much rental” James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind.

“Certainly was well received, as it so justly deserved” J. C. Balkcom, Gray Theatre, Gray, Ga

I thought the film was great fun and wasn’t nearly as scandalous as I expected it to me. Eye popping color, fantastic sets and a charismatic cast. What’s not to like? Four stars.

SG: Four stars for me too!