August Happiness Challenge: Day 13

Rizz loves new old movies 

On Day 13, I'm happy for Turner Classic Movies.  Every August, we classic movie fans celebrate Summer Under the Stars. TCM devotes 24 hours to a single star. And every year I discover a gem I've never seen before.

Back on Day 8, the star of the day was Franchot Tone. A typical Hollywood leading man of his day, handsome but bland, he was often paired with the biggest female stars: Hepburn, Crawford (to whom he was once married) and Davis.

And it's his movie with Davis that I DVR'd on the 8th and watched today: Dangerous (1935). He's torn between two lovers: the sweet, funny brunette Gail and Joyce, played by Davis. Joyce is a tempestuous blonde with a secret.

It's soapy and dramatic, but at times, a glossy soap opera really hits the spot. Davis is a bit of a ham hock, and her performance often goes over the top. But she has some genuinely effecting moments, especially at the beginning, when she's beaten down and doesn't think life has anything to offer her anymore. 

This movie is legendary for a couple reasons. 1) It won Davis her first Oscar and 2) she was rumored to have enjoyed an on-set romance with Franchot Tone. Even though he was engaged to Joan Crawford. Dangerous might have fueled the epic Crawford-Davis feud.

And today, I'm glad I finally saw it.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.