Barbara Stanwyck - Film Career

Film Career

Stanwyck's first sound film was The Locked Door (1929), followed by Mexicali Rose released in the same year. Neither film was successful; nonetheless, Frank Capra chose Stanwyck for his Ladies of Leisure (1930). Numerous prominent roles followed, among them the children's nurse who saves two little girls from being gradually starved to death by a vicious Clark Gable in Night Nurse (1931), "Shopworn" 1932, "the ambitious woman from "the wrong side of the tracks" in Baby Face (1933), the self-sacrificing title character in Stella Dallas (1937), Molly Monahan in Union Pacific (1939) with Joel McCrea, the con artist who falls for her would-be victim (played by Henry Fonda) in The Lady Eve (1941), a nightclub performer who gives a professor (played by Gary Cooper) understanding of "modern English" in the comedy "Ball of Fire" (1941); the woman who talks an infatuated insurance salesman (Fred McMurray) into killing her husband in Double Indemnity (1944), the columnist caught up in white lies and Christmas romance in Christmas in Connecticut (1945) and the doomed wife in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). Stanwyck was reportedly one of the many actresses considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind (1939), although she did not receive a screen test. In 1944, Stanwyck was the highest-paid woman in the United States.

Pauline Kael described Stanwyck's acting, " seems to have an intuitive understanding of the fluid physical movements that work best on camera" and in reference to her early 1930s film work, "early talkies sentimentality ... only emphasizes Stanwyck's remarkable modernism".

Many of her roles involved strong characters and in Double Indemnity, Stanwyck brought out the cruel nature of the "grim, unflinching murderess", marking her as the "most notorious femme" in the film noir genre. Yet Stanwyck was known for her accessibility and kindness to the backstage crew on any film set. She knew the names of their wives and children, and asked after them by name. Frank Capra said she was "destined to be beloved by all directors, actors, crews and extras. In a Hollywood popularity contest she would win first prize hands down."

William Holden and Stanwyck were friends of long standing. When Stanwyck and Holden were presenting the Best Sound Oscar, Holden paused to pay a special tribute to her for saving his career when Holden was cast in the lead for Golden Boy (1939). After a series of unsteady daily performances, he was about to be fired, but Stanwyck staunchly defended him, successfully standing up to the film producers. Shortly after Holden's death, Stanwyck recalled the moment when receiving her honorary Oscar: "A few years ago I stood on this stage with William Holden as a presenter. I loved him very much, and I miss him. He always wished that I would get an Oscar. And so tonight, my golden boy, you got your wish".