[.ca] The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing

A showcase role for the young (really young) Joan Collins as Evelyn Nesbit:
Like a lot of people I first learned the story of Evelyn Nesbit from the movie version of "Ragtime," because I did not read "Ragtime" the novel. However, when it comes to calling Nesbitt "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing," that is something that I associate with "Ragtime - The Musical." A century later we look back at Nesbit as having been at the heart of what is clearly the first "trial of the century," and can trace a clear line from it through the Scopes Trial, the Lindbergh baby case, the O.J. Simpson trial and a host of others. Nesbit was married to Harry K. Thaw, a rich playboy who had become infamous for such antics as riding a horse up the steps of an exclusive New York club. But Thaw was obsessed by the fact that Evelyn had once had an affair with Stanford White, the most prominent architect in the country. On June 25, 1906, convinced that White was still after Evelyn, Thaw shot White dead in the roof-garden theater at Madison Square Garden. This was the most notorious murder case of that ear with the public eagerly following it in both the "yellow" press and the more reputable newspapers. Nesbit was considered the most beautiful woman in America during the trial and ironically it was a photograph of her that served as the inspiration for Lucy Maud Montgomery's description of her famous literary creation, Anne of Green Gables. Nesbit herself served as a consultant on the 1955 film, "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing," which is probably of more interest today because Nesbit is played by a young Joan Collins. Ray Milland plays Stanford White while Farley Granger plays Harry K. Thaw, and even though she is turning in an extremely restrained and subtle performance Collins stands out because the two male leads are even more constrained, whether by the class considerations of their characters or the limitations of their acting ability is debatable. You understand what White and Thaw see in Evelyn, but beyond their money there is not much to recommend either of them to the young girl and when she allows herself to be seduced by White you cannot help but think that it is happening because historically it is true and because the script says it does. Milland is rather bland, but at least Granger does a good job of convincing us that his character is dangerously deranged, regardless of what any court of law might rule at this trial. The production values of director Richard Fleischer's film are what make it easier to round up on this one in the end what with the art direction, set decoration, and costumes are taking advantage of the upper crust circles in which the characters lived. I also think the glitz allows the film to get away with more direct allusions to sex than you usually see in films from this period (tastefully done off camera, of course). Still, watching this movie is a bit strange because not only is it a quarter-century before "Dynasty" makes Joan Collins a household name, but it is also a decade before her memorable appearing in "The City on the Edge of Forever" on the original "Star Trek." If you did not know this was Joan Collins I do not know if you guess just by looking at her. However, in the end this film fails to provoke a significant response, either emotionally or intellectually, to the sight of Evelyn in the red velvet swing In 1907 Nesbit had appeared as herself in a dramatization of the shooting entitled "The Unwritten Law: A Thrilling Drama Based on the Thaw-White Tragedy," and made several silent films between 1914 and 1922. Decades later Collins had come to the attention of Hollywood in the 1955 Howard Hawks film "Land of the Pharaohs," and instead of making B-movies in England she was signed by Fox to be their studio's answer to Elizabeth Taylor. After "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" she would star in "Sea Wife" (1957) opposite Richard Burton, "Stopover Tokyo" (1957) starring Robert Wagner, "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!" (1958) with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and "Seven Thieves" (1960) with Edward G. Robinson and Rod Steiger. Whether your are talking about Evelyn Nesbit or Joan Collins, the reason for seeing "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" is going to be because of historical interests rather than anything else. But why is she "in" the red velvet swing rather than "on" it? That was my big question at the end of this film.