L'orfana senza sorriso

One of the many films with greer garson and walter pidgeon. Pidgeon was always an authority figure, with his louder than loud, stilted booming voice, like a minister preaching to his flock. Garson was usually the sweet, understanding wife or mother, trying to convince someone of the right thing to do. Here, when the protestant couple adopts a catholic child in canada, it's a big deal. So many misunderstandings. Threats. Maybe ruined careers. A very plain and simple story. Doing the right thing in spite of the odds and challenges. Almost a children's story. But of course, the lessons apply to adults as well. It's pretty good. I've always liked greer and pidgeon, in spite of their predictable performances. Directed by jean negulesco. He was nominatd for johnny belinda. He also directed some pretty well known films... three coins, humoresque. But the best one was probably how to marry a millionaire!

Scandal At Scourie is the eighth and last film starring Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson and Pidgeon was for once playing a Canadian which was his native country. The two are a married couple and Pidgeon runs a mercantile and is active in local politics. Some of the party bosses are eying him for bigger things.

The two are childless and make a decision to adopt a little girl and you would think such matters would be divorced from politics on both sides of the 49th parallel. But little Donna Corcoran is a Catholic and the Garson and Pidgeon are Protestants. In fact Pidgeon is a deacon in their church. But they promise to continue raising her in the Catholic faith.

The orphanage where Corcoran came from was burned down and another kid adopted from the same orphanage starts spreading the rumor she did the deed. Pidgeon's bottom feeding opponent editor Philip Ober says that he only did this to curry favor with Catholic voters. And then some incidents happen and the film does make you wonder about whether Corcoran is a budding Patty McCormack.

The film's best asset is the matchless chemistry that Greer and Walter enjoyed on the screen. In a couple of years both would be gone from MGM as they and other big studios were getting shed of their big contract stars. Their scenes with each other and Greer's with Corcoran hold the film together.

What is really undefined and weakly resolved is the character of Tony Taylor who plays the other orphan. He confesses to at least one of the other bad acts and there's evidence that he could be a bad seed. But as this is a film aimed at family audiences that's all badly papered over by the script.

Scandal At Scourie does not come up to the standards of Mrs. Miniver or Madame Curie, that's Pidgeon and Garson at their best. But it still is a decent family film and today's audience would still enjoy this tale of turn of the last century Canada.

Garson/Pidgeon made a film in 1941 called "Blossoms in the Dust," about Edna Gladney, who was a social worker who championed "baby rights." Principally, that film is about stopping the use of the word "illegitimate" on a baby's birth certificate, which cruelly branded a person for life.

This film deals with religious bigotry, and does so effectively. Both films demonstrate that when people take a respectful, but firm stand for something, they can achieve a worthy result. It is a moral picture as one has mentioned, and is well done. People have paid a price to effect vital change. That's a worthy theme.

I have wondered in each case, whether Greer Garson had an interest in the cause. She would have had more choices of films during these periods, I would think. In any event, as usual, she did a good job.

The only time I thought she was actually bad in something (a couple of her films themselves were weak) was in her depiction of Eleanor Roosevelt in "Sunrise at Campobello" with Ralph Bellamy as FDR. The accent and manner were pretty awful -- no, really awful.

But this is a good film. TCM shows it fairly regularly, as part of a Walter Pidgeon birthday salute or for Greer Garson, etc.

Made in 1953, Scandal At Scourie is a pleasant attempt by a major studio to make the sort of film that ten or fifteen years earlier was commonplace. Alas, this movie came out at about the same time as From Here To Eternity and The Wild One, and it was an anachronism even in its day. Anachronisms, however, have their virtues, and this movie has kindness and wisdom to spare. The story concerns the problems faced by a straitlaced middle-aged Irish-Protestant Canadian couple when they decide to take a little girl into their home who just happens to be of the Roman Catholic faith. That their village is overwhelmingly Protestant complicates matters; nor does it help that the husband also happens to be a minister. The conflicts in the film are genuine and credibly presented, and the various characters behave realistically but always with great civility, which in turn gives urgency to the child's plight, as one is forced to ponder the issues that the film puts forth, chief among them the problem of how to deal with unwanted children who are rejected by others in tones so courteous as to make the slightest objection seem like a major offense.

Book yourself a dentist appointment before you watch Scandal at Scourie, because it'll most likely give you a cavity. This Disney-esque family flick is very corny, but if you like movies like Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, you might like it. It's the last of the eight movies Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon made together, so it might be worth a viewing just to support the lovely couple.

They're a childless couple who enjoy a prominent position in a small Canadian town. When a group of orphans arrive by train, the nuns in charge try to pawn them off - sorry, find the children homes. Greer falls in love with a sweet little girl, Donna Corcoran, and against Pidge's wishes, she brings Donna home and arranges adoption proceedings. It was a very tricky move on her part, but her husband's reluctance is the least of her worries. Donna is a Catholic, and nearly the entire town (including Greer and Pidge) are Protestants. As part of the adoption, Greer vows to honor Donna's religion and raise her as a Catholic. All of a sudden, she's serving fish for Friday dinner, and she's walking into the wrong church on Sunday! That certainly is a scandal.

Personally, I like Blossoms in the Dust. But that's a very heavy drama, and it's not one you can watch on a Saturday afternoon and enjoy yourself. If you like the idea of Greer and Pidge helping orphans, but you'd rather skip the tragedy, you can try this "knock-off". But call your dentist.