Shirley Booth Lands a Golden Come Back Film Debut

 

            Among the most moving and involving stage-to-screen translations, 1952’s Come Back, Little Sheba maintains the dramatic heft of the 1950 Broadway success, offering film audiences more mature subject matter than normal, with seemingly few compromises made in adapting the William Inge drama (Come Back must be one of the first times the word “slut” is used in a Production Code era Hollywood film, for example) and allowing Shirley Booth to capture her legendary performance as the kind, friendly-yet-melancholic Lola Delaney, a middle-aged housewife yearning for her little dog Sheba, who was an integral part of her and her trouble husband Doc’s past. Wisely opting to not alter the material or “open up” the settings to a major extent, director Danial Mann, in the fine screenplay adaptation by Ketti Frings, chooses to focus on the conflicts at home between Doc and Lola after an attractive young collegian, Marie, becomes a boarder in their modest home, while allowing the excellent cast to fully explore their meaty roles with impactful skill and insight. Mood-enhancing B&W cinematography by James Wong Howe and music by Franz Waxman help embellish the suburban setting wherein most of the action unfolds and lend support to the top-flight performances that provide the film’s most compelling value for a viewer.

          Daniel Mann’s early start as a child actor, with additional training under Sanford Meisner, marked him as an exceptional choice to make his directional film debut helming a project strongly emphasizing the characters in the piece and the challenging thespian know-how required to bring them to life onscreen. Mann allows all the players room to bring their best to the roles, often using close-ups and simple blocking to ensure nothing distracts the audience from the fine front-and-center emoting at hand, resulting in sage, convincing and emotional impactful acting that holds up over seventy years later. Following this notable debut, Mann would go on to oversee many other top productions featuring plenty of rich performances, including a reunion with Booth for 1954’s About Mrs. Leslie, The Rose Tattoo, I’ll Cry Tomorrow, The Teahouse of the August Moon, Butterfield 8, scoring a success in the 1960’s spy genre with Our Man Flint and gaining another big hit with 1971’s suspenseful Willard, before passing in 1991 at age 79.

        The versatile Shirley Booth spent years honing her craft on Broadway (via a 1925 debut) and radio via comedy, drama and musical work, including appearances in The Philadelphia Story, My Sister Eileen, and Tonys for Goodbye My Fancy and Sheba, before being picked to recreate her greatest role onscreen. It’s amazing to watch how Booth, with no prior experience in film, instinctively modulates her work as Lola to fit the needs of the camera, allowing the performance a skill, spontaneity and heart that brings the character to life with incredible conviction in a manner not often seen, specifically from an artist recreating a role previously performed hundreds of times. Booth appears completely immersed in the role and clearly cares about depicting every aspect of Lola’s childlike nature, including her sweetness, vulnerability, pitifulness and forlorn mindset as the despondent Lola yearns for the past. In scenes such as Lola’s distressed phone call to her mother or one on her porch wherein, voice quavering, she cries out for Sheba to come back (cue the title), Booth is so unforgettable believable and touching a viewer may recall images of the fragile Lola years after viewing the movie. 

         Booth also adroitly interacts with her costars, bringing a lovely, beguiling warmth to her scenes with Lancaster and Moore, in particular illustrating the loyalty towards and dependency on Doc Lola harbors, regardless of any strife that threatens to destroy their union. After this singular triumph, Booth would return to Broadway and immediately win another Tony for The Time of the Cuckoo, appear sporadically in films (Hot Spell, The Matchmaker) before gaining her biggest fame on television in the hit sitcom Hazel, for which Booth added two Emmy awards to her already impressive roster of critical hosannas. Booth continued on television and the stage until 1974, with her last t.v. credit a notable one as the voice of Mrs. Claus in The Year Without a Santa Claus, then enjoyed a peaceful retirement until her passing in 1992 at age 94, with her complex, powerful work in Sheba looming large among her most accomplished career achievements.

        By 1952 Burt Lancaster was firmly established as a top action hero, with charisma, looks and virility to spare, when he opted to do a complete turnabout in regards to his screen image with his impactful dramatic work as the noble but tormented Doc, just after galivanting around the screen with dashing glee and vitality in one of his most endearing adventures as The Crimson Pirate, introducing the formation of Hecht-Lancaster Productions, which would gain Oscar glory in short order with 1955’s Marty. A star from his forceful film debut in 1946’s classic noir The Killers, Lancaster had built a solid filmography consisting largely of a series of top film noirs including Brute Force, Desert Fury, Criss Cross and Sorry, Wrong Number, but also including opportunities to showcase the acrobat skills he had honed prior to his film career, working opposite circus partner Nick Cravat in The Flame and the Arrow and Crimson to massively entertaining effect. During this period, 1951’s biopic Jim Thorpe- All American allowed Lancaster a chance to flex his acting acumen, but the complex role of Doc tested his thespian talents to a degree hitherto untried. 

        Some critics at the time (and later) opined the physically imposing and ultra-handsome star was miscast as the downtrodden Doc, but with Lancaster in the role a viewer senses the promise Doc had for a great life far above the modest success he attained. Lancaster, playing largely in introverted, reflective mode, brings a wealth of dignity and emotional depth to the role, fully illustrating Doc’s turmoil as he tries to keep his affairs in order and maintain a sense of harmony with Lola. In the big dramatic confrontations between the two characters during the second half of the film, Lancaster’s commitment to the part and overwhelming physical presence is frighteningly effective, making one fearful of and sympathetic to the haunted Doc. Lancaster would follow up Sheba with an incredible list of credits, including Oscar nominations for the following year’s blockbuster, From Here to Eternity, Birdman of Alcatraz, a late-career resurgence with Atlantic City, and his Oscar win as the magnetic Elmer Gantry, as well as impressive work in a slew of other top entertainments, including the smash Trapeze, mesmerizing as The Rainmaker, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral opposite frequent screen partner Kirk Douglas, Sweet Smell of Success as the villainous and powerful J.J. Hunsecker, a career highlight with The Leopard, the offbeat, now cult status offering The Swimmer, another blockbuster with Airport, which Lancaster did not hold in high regard, and a fitting end to a legendary film career via 1989’s hit Field of Dreams, before his passing in 1994 at 80.

          Terry Moore, already a veteran of films at 23 after making a 1940 movie debut and working mainly in bits with a first credit using her real name, Helen Koford in 1945’s Son of Lassie, until a late-1940s breakthrough to lead roles via The Return of October and Mighty Joe Young marked her an ingenue to watch, Moore would start the new decade in programmers such as 1950’s The Great Rupert opposite Jimmy Durante until Sheba provided a significant step up in her screen career. As Marie Buckholder, the college student who unwittingly brings about turmoil between her boarders, Moore proves a perfect fit for the role, lending a straightforwardness, freshness, skill and a sometimes-underlining seductiveness to her playing that allows for a nice contrast among the more somber material, while interacting endearingly with Booth and Lancaster. Also, in her major dramatic moment wherein a shaken Marie has to reflect on her relationship options and how far sexually a young coed should go circa 1952 Moore, aided by Howe’s exceptional camera work that frames the shaken Marie in close up at a nighttime window, thoughtfully conveys the many conflicting emotions the character is experiencing as she considers her plight and possible future actions. Following her fine Sheba work, Moore’s enhanced status led to a Life cover for her follow-up film, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (one of the first Cinemascope movies), then work in other notable 1950’s offerings such as Daddy Long Legs, Shack Out on 101, Bernardine, standing out as the sensual Betty Anderson in a huge smash, Peyton Place, then continuing in films and television from the 1960’s on, with appearances on series such as My Three Sons, Batman, Fantasy Island and Wiseguy. Befittingly, Ms. Moore did a cameo in the 1998 Mighty Joe Young remake, and before that garnered much attention via an autobiography and trial concerning her relationship with possible husband Howard Hughes. An enduring figure in films, Moore’s last credited appearance to date came via 2019’s Silent Life, 79 years after her first in Maryland.

          Richard Jaeckel, who debuted in films as a teenager via 1943’s Guadalcanal Diary and became a familiar presence in war-based dramas afterwards, bolstered his film career substantially with his attention-grabbing work as Turk, the sexy athlete whose overtly amorous designs on Marie helped place Sheba in the “adult drama” category circa 1952. The handsome Jaeckel has a confidence, magnetism and natural ease in his portrayal of Turk that allows a viewer to understand his motivations, even with the arrogant, forceful college jock is acting in an untoward and self-centered manner towards Marie. Jaeckel generates nice erotic chemistry with Moore as they depict the flirtatious and sensual nature of Marie and Turk’s relationship, leading to a vivid moment between them that causes the plot to move into starker dramatic territory. Following Sheba, Jaeckel would maintain his work in combat-driven pictures but also regularly gain roles in film and television via other genres, with a highlight coming via Oscar-nominated work in 1971’s Sometimes a Great Notion opposite Paul Newman. Among other cast members, Philip Ober as Ed Anderson, a supportive friend of the Delaneys and Lisa Golm as a critical but concerned neighbor also make nice impressions.

Upon release in December of 1952, Come Back, Little Sheba gained reviews to place it among the year’s most highly regarded dramas as well as healthy box-office returns, with rentals of $3,500,000 landing Sheba on the list of 1953’s top 20 hits, according to Variety. Critically, the film merited placement among the top ten movies of the year on both Time magazine and The New York Times lists, while gaining nominations for Best Picture from the British Academy and Golden Globes, and for Ketti Frings and Daniel Mann from the Writers Guild and Directors Guild, respectively. As a showcase for the thespian mastery of Shirley Booth the film came through in spades, with Booth winning Best Actress prizes from The National Board of Review, The New York Film Critics Awards, the Golden Globes and the Cannes Film Festival, where the film also won a special prize for “Award of Dramatic Film.” Come Oscar time, Booth’s frontrunner status held firm as she again captured Best Actress, while editor Warren Low gained a nomination, along with Terry Moore for Best Supporting Actress. With airings on television and frequent releases on physical media, including a recent Blu-ray from Kino Lorber providing an excellent print of the classic, Sheba has maintained its reputation as a moving, thought-provoking drama featuring one of the Hallmark performances in Oscar history via the enduring, heartrending work of its uncannily gifted star, Shirley Booth.