Primrose Path (1940)

"Primrose Path" is a 1940 melodrama from RKO that stars Ginger Rogers as a girl who must choose between true love with good, upright Joel McCrea, or living the high life as a party gal like her mother.  Ginger makes her entrance as Ellie Mae in pigtails and a sweatshirt, and she's obviously too old for the girlish part.  She lives with her dysfunctional family on the wrong side of town, and the household includes a mean-mouthed Granny (Queenie Vassar), an alcoholic father (Miles Mander), and sassy baby sister Honeybell (Joan Carroll).  

Bold and brassy, yet warm and loving, Marjorie Rambeau was nominated as Best Supporting Actress as Ginger's "shady lady" mother, Mamie.  Mamie might run around with and take money from men for her time, but she is also genuinely caring and loving towards her family, especially her alcoholic husband, who is a failed scholar.  There are two very nice scenes between Rambeau and Rogers, one before Ellie May's big date with Ed that shows how good a mother Mamie is, in her unique way, and another later on in the picture when Mamie reveals some hard truths about life to Ellie. 

As believeable as Rambeau is in her performance, Rogers is entirely too worldly-wise to be believable as a naive girl.  The characer Ellie May is supposed to be wise beyond her years, but in Rogers' case, her years are quickly approaching middle-age.  The credibility of the story is also stretched when Ellie's so undone by a single kiss from Ed Wallace that she's ready to run off and marry him.  She lies, telling him that her family won't let her come home because she's in love with him.  Rogers is much better and more believable later on in the film, as a gum-snapping, wisecracking waitress (in other words, Rogers' usual film character), and as a would-be hooker. 

Married life is fine until the day Mamie shows up at the gas station/restaurant where the couple work, and causes a lark in the parking lot, and another customer points out who or rather what Mamie is.  Ellie May finally confesses the truth about her family to Ed, and they makes plans to meet her family for the first time.  Despite Mamie's valiant efforts, the evening is a disaster when Homer shows up drunk and Granny spills the beans about Ellie's departure from the house, which she lied to him about earlier.  Ed sends her away, and Ellie returns to her family's home after there's been an unfortunate incident between Mamie and Homer.  Ed tries to patch things up, but is thwarted by a lie from Granny, whose actions and words have become crueller as the story has progressed.  With the family in crisis, Granny goads Ellie into following in Mamie's footsteps to provide needed money.  However, typically of films of the period, there was the required "happy ending".
     
The stretch and range of the role is a little beyond Rogers' abilities, but this film was made the same year she won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "Kitty Foyle".  Overall it's a fairly dull stew; with all the salty spice provided by Vassar, and the peppery warmth courtesy of Rambeau in their flashy supporting roles.  Also worth a mention is noted character actor Henry Travers as Ed's friendly Gramps.