TMS Muse of the Week: Myrna Loy
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Continuing the ‘perfect wife’ theme from two weeks ago we started with Donna Reed, let’s now focus on the woman who began the trend herself: Myrna Loy. MGM leading lady, screwball star, versatile thespian, Hollywood beauty and progressive activist. Though her name might not ring as loudly as fellow studio actresses like Donna, Judy Garland or Greta Garbo to modern viewers, Myrna was a big movie star back in her day; consistently landing on lists like ‘favorite female star,’ and even being crowned Queen of Hollywood alongside Clark Gable who was crowned King in 1935. Even before she was one of the most popular faces during the golden age of celluloid, Myrna knew she was interested in entertainment and arts at a young age, taking dance classes and modeling jobs in between performing in local plays in southern California as a teenager. By the time she was 20 and had a gig as a chorus girl around LA, Myrna was officially discovered by silent film superstar Rudolph Valentino in 1925, which led to her becoming friends with another future MGM starlet, Joan Crawford. Despite her wholesome legacy, Myrna was initially cast as vamps and femme fatale types because of her dark and alluring features.
Hailing from Montana within a Methodist family, one might be surprised Myrna was a very forward-thinking woman of her era. Like was common in old Hollywood, a lot of actors sometimes didn’t have the freedom to choose their own roles, especially if they were bit players and supporting actors. Because Myrna was originally deemed exotic looking, she was occasionally put in ‘yellowface’ and even blackface in the early silents and talkies on her resume. But once the studio system collapsed by the 1960s and her own career was winding down, Myrna didn’t waste time disowning her early parts and referring to the whitewashing as shameful. Fortunately for the film star, her crossover to romcoms and screwball flicks was actually pretty swift. While starring in a string of costume dramas, Myrna appeared as the second female leads in both Rouben Mamoulian’s romantic musical Love Me Tonight (1932) and Harry Beaumont’s comedy When Ladies Meet (1933), which were probably the first steps into her transformation of leading lady. Only a year later, Myrna was cast in W.S. van Dyke’s Manhattan Melodrama (1934) and The Thin Man (1934), and the rest as they say is history. The director and actress had previously worked together, but these two films would also be the first of a whopping 14 collaborations between Myrna and co-star William Powell. While Manhattan Melodrama was a typical star-studded drama also starring Clark Gable, The Thin Man was a comedic murder-mystery which relied on chemistry and timing from married protagonists Nick & Nora Charles. Not everyone was completely sold Myrna could go from steamy siren to wisecracking sidekick of her detective husband; including studio head Louis B. Mayer, whom Woody van Dyke had to insist Myrna wasn’t miscast to, and that she had the range for brains, looks and wit for the character.
(via tcm.com)
The Thin Man was not only a hit with critics and audiences, but led to a whole series of sequels from 1936 to 1947; as well as seven other movies pairing Bill and Myrna together, such as Robert Z. Leonard’s The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and Jack Conway’s Libeled Lady (1936). Away from Bill, Myrna was one of MGM’s most in demand stars in hits like Clarence Brown’s Wife vs. Secretary (1936) and Victor Fleming’s Test Pilot (1938), both opposite Clark again. While the glamorous dark haired lady was happy to leave the seductresses behind and embrace being everyone’s favorite movie wife, there were some drawbacks to this new image as well. One was that while she was the most sought-after romantic comedy actress of the decade, this also meant that she wasn’t being thought of for juicy, award friendly dramas and epics like peers Joan, Bette Davis and Greer Garson. Even the rare time she did turn down a romcom—Frank Capra’s classic It Happened One Night (1934)—her replacement, Claudette Colbert, ended up with a surprise Best Actress win at the Oscars. Another issue was the old cliché of movie fans forgetting actors aren’t really their characters in real life, and that Myrna was not actually involved with Bill or Clark off screen. “The ‘perfect wife’ is a role no one could live up to, really…Labels limit you, because they limit your possibilities,” she once pondered later in life. And the irony was not lost on the star that her personal life was the complete opposite of her movie persona, with four divorces and no children.
After her tenure with MGM, Myrna landed one more iconic wife role in William Wyler’s acclaimed WWII ensemble drama The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and was paired with Cary Grant in two popular comedies, Irving Reiss’ The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) and Henry C. Potter’s Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948). One of her last hits before retiring from film was Walter Lang’s original family romp Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), once again as the mom of the house. In her later years, Myrna was publicly active with politics and social issues, which included being a member of UNESCO, co-chairman of The National Committee Against Discrimination of Housing and endorsing presidential candidates such as John F. Kennedy. She passed in 1993 at age 88 while living in Manhattan, two years after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award.
Myrna was a one-of-a-kind entertainment legend. She was sophisticated, but not snooty. Classy, but not demeaning. Funny, but not obnoxious. Pretty, but attainable. No one could make Nora Charles casually lush and sassy like Myrna could; or express the patience and care of Mrs. Milly Stephenson in Best Years. Classic film fans are aware The Thin Man and After the Thin Man (1936) each regularly get airtime on Turner Classic Movies during December, since the former is set on Christmas and the latter on New Year’s. So here’s to Myrna, beloved cinematic partner, and keep an eye out for her on TV or streaming these last days of 2023 for a seasonally appropriate classic to boot.