The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955)

The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing is the true story of Evelyn Nesbit Shaw, a beautiful showgirl caught in a love triangle with elderly architect Stanford White and eccentric young millionaire Harry K. Thaw.

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Walter Reisch, Charles Brackett

Stars:

Ray Milland, Joan Collins, Farley Granger

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ray Milland	...	Stanford White
Joan Collins	...	Evelyn Nesbit
Farley Granger	...	Harry K. Thaw
Luther Adler	...	Delphin Delmas
Cornelia Otis Skinner	...	Mrs. Thaw
Glenda Farrell	...	Mrs. Nesbit
Frances Fuller	...	Elizabeth White
Phillip Reed	...	Robert Collier (as Philip Reed)
Gale Robbins	...	Gwen Arden
James Lorimer	...	McCaleb
John Hoyt	...	William Jerome
Robert F. Simon	...	Stage Manager (as Robert Simon)
Harvey Stephens	...	Dr. Hollingshead
Emile Meyer	...	Hunchbacher

Storyline

It's the early twentieth century New York City. There exists a high level of animosity by Harry Thaw, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman, toward renowned architect Stanford White for Harry feeling those dealing with the New York social set giving Stanford many of the perks that should rightfully have gone to him. While Stanford is mature and refined, Harry is brash, impetuous and volatile. That animosity is ratcheted up a notch when they both meet Evelyn Nesbit, a beautiful but poor model with who they are both infatuated, she appearing in the chorus of her first Broadway musical revue. After getting to know Evelyn, married Stanford, who still loves his wife and thus will not divorce her, wants nonetheless to provide Evelyn with the comforts and breeding of those within his social circle. His infatuation with her is also despite he being old enough to be her father. Harry, who is more age appropriate, takes a more direct approach in his pursuit of Evelyn, he doing whatever to convince ...

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Plot Keywords:

love triangle | swing | showgirl | millionaire | architect | 

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

1 October 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Mädchen auf der Samtschaukel

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 104 min (FMC Library Print)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording) (magnetic prints) Mono (optical prints)

Color:

Color (Color by Deluxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before being put on suspension, Marilyn Monroe was 20th Century-Fox's original choice for the role of Evelyn Nesbit. She turned down this film and a forthcoming remake of Wabash Avenue (1950) titled 'The Girl in Pink Tights' (which was to co-star Dan Dailey and 'Mitzi Gaynor') and was put on suspension. Sheree North was then announced as her replacement for both films until Joan Collins was eventually cast as Nesbit. 'Girl in Pink Tights' was eventually abandoned.

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Goofs

In a restaurant scene near the beginning of the film, architect Stanford White castigates a magazine editor for not including in an article about him the Boston Public Library, which he calls "the best thing I ever did." White's partner, Charles Follen McKim designed the Boston Public Library, not White.

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Quotes

Mrs. Nesbit: I've seen more tears run down the pretty faces than the plain ones.

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Connections

Referenced in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996)

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Soundtracks

Liebestraum nach dem Balle, Intermezzo Op.356
(uncredited)
Written by Alphons Czibulka

User Reviews

Engaging and interesting with good character development and performances

In a magazine with some of his work in it, wealthy and influential Stanford White comments on the model on the cover. When he sees her in the flesh he asks that she be brought to his house. Meeting her there he talks to her and the two quickly kiss. He asks her mother not to bring her back but he cannot help himself and soon falls into an affair with her as she falls in love with him. The young and innocent Evelyn Nesbit also attracts the attention of the newly rich but arrogant Harry Thaw, who charms her despite herself. With the attentions of two so wealthy men, it is no wonder that Evelyn is affected by it and the two men are brought into conflict, neither particularly caring for the other anyway.

The title made me think this film would be a light romantic comedy from the 1950's that would be distracting but not that interesting. Watching it proved to me why I should never turn away a film on the grounds of such sweeping judgements because I found it much more interesting, engaging and morally darker than I expected it to be. The plot is supposedly a true story and, not knowing the total truth of this I can only assume that it takes liberties in the way that any "true" film does – regardless though, it only adds to the value that it is based on a real case. It sees a sweet young girl be torn between two men who are both far beyond the level in society that she could have expected. The text after the titles give away that this story is leading up to a court case of some sort but the development is still good and I found the basic facts to be interesting and made all the better by the subtexts and character development that the script brought out. The character dynamics worked well but also the way the characters (specifically Stanford and Evelyn) grew and changed across the film.

Responding to this the cast were surprisingly impressive. Well, perhaps that is unfair to paint them all with this brush because the person that surprised and impressed me was Joan Collins. Maybe it is because I am the "Dynasty" generation but I never really rated her as an actress, so here I was quite taken by her range, her subtlety and her awareness of her character. It is not a perfect performance but she is a big part of the material working at more than just the narrative level. Milland is not as good because his character isn't as good but he is still convincing and seems bought into his character. Granger is betrayed by the character and falters as a result – the script puts him in one place at the start and leaves him there with little to do – he is the "conclusion" to the story but other than that he is of little interest. Support is solid enough but the film belongs to Collins and, to a lesser degree, Milland, and both do well with it.

Overall an engaging and interesting film that is a lot more morally complex that I expected from the period. The basic facts of the story are good but it is the character development that makes the film interesting and the main two actors respond well to it to produce a solid film that I found interesting, a bit melodramatic but well worth a look.