Scandal: The Trial of Mary Astor

The fascinating story of the child custody trial that Mary Astor and her second husband went through in 1936, played out in the press while the star was making the film 'Dodsworth.' Any publicity like this was highly sensitive in Hollywood at the time, and Astor standing up to a gang of studio execs to prioritize her child over possible damage to her career was truly admirable. The story had a scandalous backdrop in both Astor and her husband having had affairs, as well as her having recorded her most intimate moments in her diaries over the years, which were stolen by him.

As documentaries go, though, it's pretty average, which is a shame given how interesting the subject matter is. It suffers from the summaries by the people interviewed, who weren't well polished and often repetitive (film critic Leonard Maltin is an exception). The visual sparkles added around old still photos (and transparently shimmering through them) were a distraction and a poor choice. The storytelling is mediocre as well, not all that well fleshed out in places, defocused in others, and certainly not coming across an unbiased, comprehensive account. I liked hearing the basic story and seeing some of the old photos and film clips, so it wasn't a waste of an hour though.

Wow, some people know how to take the fun out of everything. This would be okay if you are using it as a starting point and have Holmesian deductive reasoning so you can sense where you are being lead away from the true story. Pick up a copy of Hollywood Babylon for a better understanding of why this was such a huge scandal. Whitewash.

Somewhat interesting showbiz documentary that like most entries in this genre claims more weight for its subject than the evidence will bear. Writer/ director Alexa Foreman would have you believe that Ms. Astor was a great actress, good mother and liberated woman. I would amend that to good actress, ok mom (not big on parents who fight for custody of their kids only to pack 'em off to boarding school) and gutsy gal (standing up to Hollywood's moguls in the 30s was hard even for strong leading men, let alone ladies who were third billed). I also wearied of the constant talking head triple play combo of Haskell to Maltin to Bass (with an occasional assist by Young Weyler and some therapist whose name I forget and am too lazy to look up). And as an unwelcome corollary of this I missed the subject's own voice. Not only did the documentary feature merely one film clip (which kinda goes against Foreman's contention that Astor was a "great" thesp) but there were no interviews of her, either. Did Astor never grant a filmed interview? I doubt it. And if that was true wouldn't it be worthy of mention? In any case there is a strange silence emanating from the cacophony of other voices that is actually rather irritating.

However, there are some points of interest that partially redeem the otherwise overblown proceedings. Nice to know that Ruth Chatterton was, in real life, the opposite of the characters she played on screen. I also enjoyed the Didionesque intersection of Hollywood and California politics (the judge at the custody trial was a future Republican governor) as well as the unflattering portrayals of figures usually regarded as sacrosanct such as Thalberg and George Kaufman.

Give it a C plus.

Very good documentary on the struggle film star MaryAstor had after her husband got hold of her notorious diaries, and the two fought for custody of their daughter, Marylyn.

The daughter in question, Marylyn Roh, talks about her mother, as do Leonard Maltin, Molly Haskell, and others.

What emerges is the story of a strong woman under tremendous pressure, making a very big film at the same time she is supposed to appear at a trial to get custody of her daughter, and her willingness to give up her career if it meant, she could have her daughter back with her.

At one point, she goes to a department store and asks if she were looking for a job, would they hire her? They said they would be thrilled to hire her and would make them their European buyer. She then knew that she could continue the fight and have a way to take care of her child.

Asked by the top studio executives to settle the case, as they were sick of all the Hollywood scandals, she said no, it would have to play out, as she was in the fight for her child.

The beginning of Astor's life was very sad. She was a big star as a teenager, kept a virtual prisoner by her parents, and paid a very tiny allowance while they built a lavish home and lived a huge lifestyle. Her diary was the only outlet she had for her feelings.

I especially liked the description of the time, the 1930s, the novelty of a court case as compared to today, and how Mary's diaries and case knocked the Olympics off the front page of the newspapers.

As Haskell explained, people were not used to movie stars speaking as themselves. Everything they said in public was scripted. This made the diaries and the trial all the more interesting to the public.

Highly recommended. A fascinating woman, and if you aren't familiar with her films, you will want to become familiar after you see this documentary.

In 1936, Mary Astor was working a full day at the studio, shooting DODSWORTH. At night, she was in court in a custody battle for her daughter. Her diaries, which recounted her affairs, were in the possession of her ex-husband, and he was prepared to use them in court and the press. It reached the point where, after the shooting on DODSWORTH had wrapped, she was led into Goldwyn's office, where industry leaders asked her to settle the matter quietly, rather than triggering another "Sinful Hollywood" boycott. She told the men who could crush her career no and walked out.

This is not an unbiased documentary, nor does it pretend to be. Of course any finite collection of facts must inevitably tilt one way or another; this one takes Miss Astor's side and makes no bones about it, with narration by Lee Grant, on-screen commentary by Molly Haskell and Leonard Maltin, and the daughter at the center of the fight showing up to talk about her relationship with her mother, and to read excerpts from the diaries.

It's not a very deep or insightful documentary, but it does seem to get its facts unapologetically straight.