This Is My Affair

...from 20th Century Fox and director William A. Seiter. US President William McKinley assigns naval lieutenant Richard Perry (Robert Taylor) to go undercover in order to find and stop a bank robbery ring in Minnesota. The job is so sensitive that no one is aware of Perry's true identity and mission other than McKinley himself. Once in Minnesota, Perry connects the gang to a casino run by Batiste Duryea (Brian Donlevy) and his right-hand man Jock Ramsey (Victor McLaglen). Perry tries to gain entry to the gang while also romancing Batiste's stepsister singer Lil Duryea (Barbara Stanwyck), who had been Jock's girl. This is all leads to confrontations, double-crosses, and...well, any history buff can probably guess what happens. Also featuring Frank Conroy as William McKinley.

This silly circumstances of the plot lead to a decent undercover cop story with a lot of interesting actors. Stanwyck and Taylor's real life romance helped their on-screen chemistry, although it didn't help Stanwyck's singing voice. Sidney Blackmer makes for what may be the screen's worst Teddy Roosevelt.

Years before Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck were married, they made a couple of films together: His Brother's Wife and This Is My Affair. If you're looking for cute chemistry, rent the 1937 movie, because the first film they made together isn't particularly romantic.

In this one, Robert Taylor gets sent on a secret undercover mission by President McKinley to help catch bank robbers. It sounds like an extremely lame plot, and while no one would ever accuse this movie of turning into a classic, if you want to see an acting couple who eventually got married, you can rent it. Bob goes undercover, with only a secret symbol to write on his letters as proof that the president is on his side, and along the way falls in love with nightclub singer Barbara Stanwyck.

One of the fun parts of the movie, besides seeing the lovebirds together, is Sidney Blackmer's Theodore Roosevelt impression. He's very entertaining, and the script includes several of the President's famous quotes to make audiences chuckle.

A pair of nuns escort a group of schoolgirls through Arlington National Cemetery, where they stop at the grave of Richard L. Perry, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. When the nuns are unable to answer a girl's query as to why Perry is buried therein, the film flashes back to 1901. The young Perry, played by Robert Taylor, is at a White House reception, where he is called into conference with President William McKinley. The President asks Perry to pursue a gang of bank robbers, who evidently have inside information from a high government source. Fearful that information sensitive to national security may also be at risk, the President tells Perry to drop out of the Navy without giving any reason, change his identity and break contact with friends, and only report by secretly coded letter to the President personally. This far-fetched premise sends Perry, without any apparent funds, to St. Paul, for no given reason, where he begins his quest for the robbers and the government leaker.

Viewers who can swallow the credibility-stretching plot conceived by Allen Rivkin and Lamar Trotti may find a few nuggets of silver among the gravel that constitutes "This is My Affair." Even the generic title, which offers no clue about the film's subject matter, is forgettable. Directed by William A. Seiter and filmed in black and white by Robert Planck, the movie is barely passable entertainment largely for fans of the stars. Robert Taylor in his youth was always too pretty for tough-guy roles, and he plays Perry without the necessary grit to convincingly stand up to his tough co-stars. Always a fascinating actress even in undemanding roles such as this, Barbara Stanwyck is Lil, a club singer and unwilling gangster moll. Lil performs, clumsily at times, in a club operated by Jock. Splendidly played by Victor McLaglen, Jock is a boorish childish jokester in love with Lil. When Taylor pursues an initially reluctant Stanwyck, the expected conflict with McLaglen arises, which, like everything else in this tired script, is a clichéd retread from dozens of other movies. Brian Donlevy as Batiste, the brains behind McLaglen, and John Carradine offer convincing support. However, Sydney Blackmer's corny impersonation of President Theodore Roosevelt is embarrassing; listening to him say "Speak softly and carry a big stick" over and over will make audiences cringe.

Although "This is My Affair" is somewhat vague as to what "affair" the title refers, the flimsy contrived plot offers little beyond a gangster story wrapped up in early 20th-century period costumes. Like the unnecessary prolog in Arlington Cemetery, the intrusive musical numbers that regularly interrupt the film only serve to extend the running time. Stanwyck was not noted for her singing or her dancing, and even her skill as an actress fails to convince that she is a great stage presence. While Taylor is handsome and Stanwyck is worth watching, McLaglen gives the film's best performance as Jock, the big overgrown kid, who always has a new joke or trick to play. However, other than McLaglen, Stanwyck, and Donlevy, "This is My Affair" could be re-titled "This is a Dull Affair."

In a recent biography of Barbara Stanwyck, I learned that Darryl Zanuck was keen on teaming Stanwyck with her soon to be husband Robert Taylor. Stanwyck freelanced and was currently owing 20th Century Fox a picture, so Zanuck must have worked something out with Louis B. Mayer at MGM to get his favorite star over to Fox.

The year before the Taylor/Stanwyck team starred in His Brother's Wife which I'm sure did good business, but wasn't exactly memorable. Neither would This Is My Affair if it hadn't been for the fact that it starred a couple that were a hot gossip column item.

What Zanuck did was give Bob and Barbara a vehicle that must have at some time been intended for Tyrone Power and Alice Faye. It's a period piece set at the turn of the last century. Barbara is even given a couple of songs by Alice's own songwriting team of Harry Revel and Mack Gordon to do as well as some period public domain music. Apparently she does them herself because I see no credit for voice dubbing. They would have been better had Alice Faye done them however.

Taylor is a Navy Lieutenant on detached assignment to work a job for President William McKinley personally. McKinley is worried about a successful gang of bank-robbers operating in the Midwest who seem to have inside information about vault combinations and even have keys to let themselves in at night so no break-in is required. He has Taylor go under deep cover and report only to him if needed.

It takes months, but Taylor does find the gang which is headed by Brian Donlevy and Victor McLaglen. He also finds Donlevy's stepsister Barbara Stanwyck with whom he falls for. But still his duty is clear.

The notion that a President of the United States is taking such a personal interest in apprehending a gang of robbers is interesting. William McKinley's administration was one that had a lot foreign and domestic concerns. I can't believe that particular president could have involved himself in this crime investigation. But also the banking system was not so tightly regulated that one man could have had all that inside information. It's not even that tightly regulated now, even with the creation of the Federal Reserve which was a dozen or so years in the future.

In fact McKinley's own assassination nearly cooks Taylor's goose. Frank Conroy looked very much like William McKinley and his character portrayal was accurate right down to the cigars McKinley enjoyed, the only vice this most Christian of presidents was known to have. Sidney Blackmer played Theodore Roosevelt many times on screen and really does make you think you're watching TR himself. He was much better at it than John Alexander from Arsenic And Old Lace.

The two stars who soon married never did another project together while they were husband and wife. Taylor and Stanwyck did do The Night Walker after their divorce almost thirty years later. None of the three films is at the top drawer of credits for either star.

1937's "This is My Affair" could have been better but as it is, barely gets by. Robert Taylor stars as a Navy lieutenant who is asked by President McKinley to get the name of the men robbing banks all over the country, and his mission is to be kept secret between the two of them. Taylor infiltrates the gang by becoming a criminal himself. He meets the dumb, big practical joker (Victor McLaglen) and the brains (Brian Donlevy) - but there's a head name, whose name he can't get. McLaglen has it bad for Donlevy's half-sister, a saloon singer (Stanwyck) with whom Taylor falls in love.

The premise isn't bad if you can suspend your imagination, and the end is fairly tense, but "This is My Affair" just isn't a well-made or well-thought out film. First of all, Stanwyck was one of the most versatile and multi-talented actresses in Hollywood, but singing wasn't her greatest talent. In fact, she couldn't sing, with the exception of "Take it Off the E String (Play it on the G String) in "Lady of Burlesque" and a little number in "Banjo on my Knee" that can't count as singing. Her outfits were from the Mae West School of Design and overpowered her tiny frame.

Then there is the awful scene with Theodore Roosevelt where he invents the phrase, "Speak softly but carry a big stick" - embarrassing. Taylor slugs through it professionally, but why did makeup people always slather so much pancake and eye shadow on him? This is a 20th Century Fox film, by the way, not MGM, Taylor's usual studio, but MGM did it too. Fox never made Tyrone Power up like that with the exception of "Lloyds of London." Taylor was a handsome, rugged man. I guess they couldn't leave his face alone. Victor McLaglen isn't very good, but Donlevy, in a usual-type role for him, does a good job.

It is a chance to see the two married stars work together.