THE FAN (1949)

Short on aptitude for the task, Otto Preminger was all thumbs on the three Ernst Lubitsch projects he inherited @ 20th/Fox.  But perhaps because this Oscar Wilde play, in spite of the cascading aphorisms that made it such an improbable silent success under Lubitsch (LINK: https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2013/10/lady-windermeres-fan-1925.html), tilts to drama, it’s the best of the Lubitsch/Preminger trio.*   Structured in needless flashback from present day London, the eponymous fan belonged at the turn-of-the-last-century to young wife Jeanne Crain, under terrific social strain as husband Richard Greene appears to be ‘supporting’ wicked adventurous Madeleine Carroll, just as bachelor pal George Sanders starts pitching woo.  (Carroll, only 43, in her last film role.)  Using a bit of blackmail to leverage her way back into proper society, Carroll’s past will catch up to her, and ‘mother-love’ ennoble her via sacrifice & renunciation.  Cherry-picking Wildean witticisms and bon mots (mostly divided between Wilde surrogates John Sutton as Cecil Graham & Martita Hunt’s Duchess of Berwick), the script zips thru the story in record time.  (Barely an hour left between all those flashbacks.)  But as it’s Wilde at his most barefaced melodramatic, Preminger’s lack of finesse is a reasonable good fit.

DOUBLE-BILL: 1949 was Jeanne Crain’s big year: PINKY (her Oscar-nom, and more hidden paternity); then LETTER TO THREE WIVES.  That's Preminger, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Elia Kazan and, briefly John Ford (who started, then left PINKY), directing in a single year.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE YEAR: *By studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck’s reasoning: Preminger & Lubitsch were both German Jews; both Ex-Pats; both theatrical proteges of Euro-titan Max Reinhardt.  True enough, but also chalk & cheese.  The other two films were A ROYAL SCANDAL/’45, with Preminger taking over and taking credit after Lubitsch had a heart attack (it's a remake of minor Lubitsch silent masterpiece FORBIDDEN PARADISE/’24); then taking no credit for finishing THAT LADY IN ERMINE/’48 after Lubitsch died mid-production.  According to star Douglas Fairbanks Jr., pointlessly reshooting half of what Lubitsch had completed, making everything worse.  While no great success, it’s loaded with too many delightful things to ignore.  (Leading lady Betty Grable, alas, not one of them.)