Customer Reviews

My Reputation

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"My Reputation" is another one of those treasures that are not well known. The story line was very good and the acting was great too! Plus it was a Christmas movie--so how can you go wrong! Some of the topics covered were very serious--false accusations, an overbearing mother, empty nest syndrome and making the correct choices that are unselfish and not just for the thrill of today but mindful of future consequences of our actions. Barbara Stanwyck did it again--she can make you cry because she is so believable in her parts. Another one of her tear-jerkers is "Stella Dallas" which also deals with a mother making unselfish choices for the benefit of her child. Although "My Reputation" is a serious movie, and might not hold everyone's attention, there is nothing inapproriate for family viewing. (Don't be misled by her sultry pose on the cover--she plays a classy character.)

Any film graced by the presence of Hollywood great Barbara Stanwyck is worth a look, and although My Reputation is a study of the more strait jacketed morals of the forties, the fine performance of Barbara Stanwyck, stops this movie just short of becoming an over emotional, pius mess.
Stanwyck plays the role of a recently widowed woman with two pre-teen sons both away at school. Her mother - played by the screens most dominant matriarch, the laudable Lucille Watson - is horrified when her daughter refuses to don the black garb of mourning, as she herself has worn continually for many years since the passing of her husband.
Stanwyck is restless, doesn't believe her life at thirty is over, and accepts an invitation from her friend (Eve Arden) to join her and her husband ski-ing.
It is here she meets the always pleasant George Brent - who made a career out of playing what were essentially support roles to the great women stars of the thirties and forties. He made 12 movies with Bette Davis, who adored him, plus others with Myrna Loy, Greta Garbo, Jean Arthur, Claudette Colbert,Anne Sheridan, and a host of others.
Sparks fly when Brent meets Stanwyck and although she makes it plain she doesn't have casual affairs, she falls for him and begins dating him.
The gossip mongers are horrified, and there is a scene where Stanwyck takes Brent to a party so she can introduce him to her friends and quell their speculation, which has by now reached her sons ears.
The dialogue is snappy and to the point, and Stanwyck, combined with Eve Arden at her sarcastic best, keep the picture from becoming turgid, weighed down with the drama.
Stanwyck was one of the giants of the Golden Age of movies and she proves her worth here as she gives her best efforts yet again.

I first found this small treasure on Turner Classic Movies. Deals with a woman (Stanwyck) who is widowed at an early age with two early teen boys in the upper-class Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, IL. She's expected, not only by society but her socialite mother (played to perfection by Lucille Watson), to follow a path of strict decorum that many widows were expected to follow back in those days. However, Stanwyck decides to throw away alot of those old practices and pave the way for herself and stumbles upon a brash, handsome and suitable Army officer (George Brent)for frindship and romance. Needless to say all does not settle well with mother (Watson) or her social community. Thank God best friend Eve Arden is their for support. Good script, solid acting by all

When the name Barbara Stanwyck is mentioned many people familiar with classic films will almost automatically produce images in their mind of the perrenial "tough woman" best remembered out shooting cowboys in the wild west or matching wits in some tense noir melodrama. Stanwyck however had a far wider range as an actress and during her long career she took roles in many genres and played all types of characters in both comedies and drama. Here we have her in one of my all time favourite Stanwyck vehicles 1946's "My Reputation". At first glance the storyline of a young widow who begins "seeing" another man a bit too soon after the death of her husband, (according to her "friends" and the stuffy local community) causing all kinds of gossip might sound like a fairly run of the mill soaper. However Barbara Stanwyck turns the story into a strong woman's role and her character of Jessica Drummond ends up being far from the victim she might have appeared to be at the film's opening dominated as she is by her very proper and straightlaced mother. Barbara manages to make her character appealing, feminine and yet with a strong backbone that carries the story. "My Reputation" boasts a wonderful cast including gifted Canadian character actress Lucile Watson playing Barbara's suffocating mother, George Brent in one of his typical leading man roles, the always magical Eve Arden playing one of her typical "best friend" roles that she did so well, and gifted child actor Scotty Beckett who appears as one of Barbara's sons who suffers due to the "scandal" of his mother's supposedly improper behaviour. While this film may not be as well remembered today as other Stanwyck films such as the tear jerker "Stella Dallas" or her Noir classic "Double Indemnity" it is well worth including in any collection of her films as it displays Stanwyck in a slight change of pace which she handles with her usual aplomb delivering a fine multi-layered performance in a very handsome looking film.

if you want to see a very good movie this is it and made by the top company warners and the acting is wonderful and a lovely music score by the top compaoser for any movie yes the name is MAX Steiner, the movie is worth watching for the music alone and it as a great story. I cant fins any fault with it all I can say well worth buying its just wonderful and Barbara Stanwyck at her best, I hope Warners will put out more like this onto dvd. almost forgot the sound is also ver good, and I always think that sound / print and story is the one thing we should always give the customer for his money, this is a 5 star movie

Awesome Movie! Barbara Stanwyck as always shines in this role of compliant wife, mother and daughter and evolves to a strong woman within the role, as she receives support from friend Eve Arden (always a joy to watch!) and new found friend George Brent.

Barbara Stanwyck, what an amazing actress, George Brent, I feel is a great actor that was one of the greatest leading men and wasnt recognized for his work in my opinion.I put him up there with Clark Gable and Henry Fonda. This is a very good movie and as a classic movie collector I would recommend this movie.

"My Reputation" (1943/46, dir.: Curtis Bernhardt): Barbara Stanwyck in a typical Bette Davis melodrama. She is a young, wealthy widow with two children getting acquainted to an officer (George Brent), but society does not want to have her happy so early after her first husband's death... Stanwyck gives a beautiful, touching performance, proving that she can not only be the tough lady. The rest of the picture is quite well, but not outstanding. The end is much too moral-driven, because it is never clear why we shall accept that some of the old conventions do make sense. This film suffers from the fact that is risks comparison with the earlier "Now, Voyager" (starring Bette Davis), e.g. by the appearance of Gladys Cooper in a similar role. I think the not-so-happy end in "Now, Voyager" is more convincing, because in "My Reputation", there is really no reason why our couple should not come together. Therefore, the script needs to invent what was natural and logical in "Now, Voyager".

I found this one of the dullest of Stanwyck's movies....... Boring, boring plot so even good direction, acting, and photography can't save it.

For a much better Stanwyck soaper, see Eastside Westside!