Scandal at Scourie

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.

This was the sort of film my parents could confidently send me off to see, knowing that there would be nothing scandalous about it. I saw it just after we'd moved to a southern California suburb from a town near Boston, Massachusetts, and I recall being envious of young Donna Corcoran (who was also billed as Noreen, and whose sibling, Kevin, aka: "Moochie," also enjoyed a career as a child actor, mostly at Disney) getting to emote with such charming people as the leads, Greer Garson and Walter Pigeon, one of M-G-M's favorite pairings, once again playing a loving married couple. (By the way, no matter how I try, IMDb keeps deleting the "d" in Walter's last name in this comment when I try to post it. What's going on?!?)

I haven't seen it since but I do remember that I was aware then that it was an example of Hollywood's backlot artistry, something which, were it to be remade today for TV, for example, might benefit from some location shooting in the actual locale of the story. It's a gentle film made with the care one would expect from the professionals listed in its credits, one of those relics unlikely to be made available on video, and that's really a loss that many of us do regret, however mildly. Turner Classic Movies unearths it from their treasure trove occasionally. Worth keeping an eye out for.

"Scandal at Scourie" is the eighth and final pairing of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Up until this film, this pairing pretty much guaranteed the film would be a success as they were very popular together. However, the film lost money...and I assume at least some of this is due to the atypically nasty character played by Pidgeon...who usually played decent guys.

The story begins in French Quebec. An orphanage has burned down and the nuns are forced to find homes for the kids throughout the neighboring provinces. At Scourie*, in Ontario, a childless mother (Greer Garson) meets one of these children when their train stops in the town. Victoria McChesney (Garson) is so taken with Patsy (Donna Corcoran) that she insists on adopting the girl...even though the child has been raised Catholic and the McChesneys are Protestants. In order to convince the nuns to allow Patsy to remain with them, she promises to raise the child Catholic...while she and her husband remain Protestants. Now today, this all would be no big deal. But in late 19th century Canada, this must have been a big scandal...raising a child of a different faith. What is to become of all this? See the film.

While enjoyed the movie and felt that Garson and Corcoran were wonderful in the story, I was very surprised that MGM would make Pidgeon such an unlikable jerk during much of the film. He plays Garson's husband and seems more concerned about folks' opinions than anything else. And, as a result, the film lacks the likability of the other Garson/Pidgeon pairings. It's a shame, as otherwise I liked the film...though the sound effects they used for the goldfish were strange and alien...which made little sense.

*I looked and there is no city in Ontario by the name of Scourie and assume it was just made up for the movie.

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.