A pair of 50’s rarities: “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” (1954) and “The Blue Veil” (1951)

Daniel O'Herlihy in his Oscar nominated performance from "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" (1954)

I have no idea whatever possessed me to pair these two films together, except that I watched them back-to-back recently, and, unbeknownst to me, actor Dan O’Herlihy who starred in the first picture, has a small supporting role in the second. That seems to be the only connection between the two films, besides the fact that they each earned acting Oscar nominations, and are little-known at all today. The first is a beautifully filmed, full-color adventure film, based on a literary classic and stylishly directed by Luis Bunuel; the second is a standard issue blacn and white melodrama; a tearjerker or weepie, if you will, about the life of a devoted nursemaid.

Daniel O’Herlihy plays the title role in ‘Crusoe’, and as such, the majority of the film relies on his ability to keep the audience interested in what is an already overly familiar story. Having most of the dialogue in the first half of the film delivered as voice-over narration doesn’t help much, however. Also, having never read the original story, I cannot say how little or how much the screenplay differs from it, but I can tell you that the scenery is very pretty to look at, and O’Herlihy (who got a Best Actor nomination) is quite competent in the role, but somehow seems to lack the heroic spark that might bring about more enthusiasm on the part of the viewer. If Bunuel had waited a few more years, Richard Harris or Peter O’Toole might’ve been ideal in the part.

Robinson Crusoe is traveling on a ship in search of slaves when he is washed ashore on a deserted island after a storm. The rest of the crew has disappeared, but he is able to salvage some supplies from the wreckage of the ship before it sinks. He acclimates fairly easily to life on the island, building a shelter, finding food, and making the best of the proverbial bad situation. By the time Crusoe rescues a tribesman from his fellow cannibals, though, I was more than ready to see another actor on the screen, and the story turns to Crusoe’s growing relationship with the man he names “Friday”. His attempts to civilize the native are complicated by his own mistrust of Friday, knowing that he comes from a tribe of savages. It’s an interesting comment on human nature, that after spending so much time alone on the island, Crusoe is desperate for human companionship, and yet when he finds one, is mistrustful of him, and makes himself ‘Master’ to Friday. Only gradually does the relationship between the two begin to resemble actual friendship.

The film ends as Crusoe and Friday assist some stranded sailors who were put off their ship during a mutiny, and the pair are finally going to be heading back to civilization. I’d have been more interested in what happened next, and the degree of difficulty both Crusoe and Friday found dealing with society after their time on the island. Since that is never revealed however, the story remains, for me at least, only half-told.

Lobby card from Jane Wyman's 1951 Ocar-nominated performance in "The Blue Veil"

Jane Wyman had won the 1948 Best Actress Oscar for her role as a deaf-mute farmgirl, rape victim, accused murderess in “Johnny Belinda”, and was nominated again for 1951’s “The Blue Veil”, where she was supported by a host of well-known or at least well-regarded performers, but make no mistake, this is her show all the way. ‘Veil’ wastes no time at all in grabbing for audience sympathy, as Wyman is introduced as Louise “Lulu” Mason, a World War I era widow whose newborn baby has just died. Naturally, this means that an employment agency is going to suggest that she take a job as a nursemaid.

She begins her new career working for Fredric Begley (Charles Laughton), whose own wife died during childbirth, and though Louise says she will only take the job temporarily, she stays long enough for Begley to decide he wants to marry her. Laughton was one of the screen’s great over-actors (he won Best Actor in 1933 as Henry VIII), yet he underplays very nicely, and is quite touching in the scene where Louise turns down his proposal. Instead, Begley decides to marry his secretary Alicia (Vivian Vance), who quickly decides it’s time for Louise to find another job. It is an absolute treat for a pop culture freak like myself to see Vance (beloved tv sidekick Ethel Mertz from “I Love Lucy”) in this movie, dressed to the nines and playing a sweetly nasty role.

Louise moves on to the rich Palfrey family, where she finds a chance at love with a tutor, Gerald Kean (Richard Carlson) who wants to whisk her off to Syria, though they become concerned with doubts about rushing into a marriage; doubts that were planted in the tutor’s mind by snooty Mrs. Palfrey (Agnes Moorehead, in one of her patented rich-bitch roles). Then it’s off to young Stephanie (Natalie Wood), daughter of career-obsessed actress Annie Rawlins (Joan Blondell) When Louise sees that Stephanie is becoming too attached her, she voluntarily leaves, explaining to Annie that she must become a more active part of her daughter’s life before it is too late. Blondell earned a Supporting Actress nomination for this role, which to me is not all that impressive and doesn’t have much impact on the film as a whole. I suspect she got the nod because of her long career and recognition as a top-notch character actress.

As World War II begins, Louise is working for a young couple who go to Europe to become involved in the war effort, leaving their baby with her to raise in the States; of course, she ends up keeping the child for eight years. When the remarried mother and her new husband arrive to take the child, Louise panics and takes off with the boy, then finds herself before a judge charged with kidnapping. The judge returns the child to his mother, and Louise, now, in advancing age, is unable to find another job as a nanny. To be close to children, she becomes a cleaning woman in an elementary school. Her fading eyesight happens to bring her back into contact with one of her charges, now grown and an optometrist. When he arranges a reunion with her ‘children’, and the offer of a job as nursemaid to his own children, there is a music-swelling, tear-filled happy ending for all.

I was first introduced to Wyman’s acting with the 80’s television series “Falcon Crest”, so was used to her older, steely presence, and sometimes not as responsive to her earlier, more sympathetic film roles, but in “The Blue Veil” she is perfectly cast as the loving nursemaid. She represses her own early tragedies and becomes a truly inspirational caregiver to the families she works for. Some of the sweetness of the story is tempered by the salty performance of Cyril Cusack as Louise’s lifelong confidant, Frank Hutchins, a cranky toy store owner. The film just avoids being sappy, though it is a sweet film, and I think Wyman certainly deserved the Oscar nomination she received for her performance.