Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Canary Sedan(1958). Cast: Jessica Tandy and Murray Matheson.
Laura Bowlby a psychic, who is has just recovered from an illness, now wants to join her husband in, Hong Kong. After traveling by ship, she is picked up by a chauffeur who takes her to pick out a car to see the sights in. She immediately drawn to a black sedan. Laura tells the chauffeur that she might like the car better if it were a canary yellow. The driver informs her that the the car was once canary yellow, before a recent paint job. Soon, Laura begins to hear a woman voice telling her about a passionate affair that she once had. Laura wishes for passion in her own life because her husband is unromantic and distant. Laura enters a beautiful garden, looking for the grave, of the woman who has been talking to her. She looks at the gravestone and is shocked when she sees the initials carved in the headstone. I loved seeing a younger Jessica Tandy, give a wonderful performance, in this fun/little cheesy film.
Murray Matheson, played The Clown in the 1961 Twilight Zone episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit". Matheson's last performance was in the "Kick the Can" segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1985). His first feature film was a small role in 1945's "The Way to the Stars". Murray also played the captain in the Frank Sinatra film: "Assault on a Queen"(1966).
The Valley of Decision (1945)Cast: Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Lionel Barrymore, Preston Foster, Marsha Hunt, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, Dan Duryea and Jessica Tandy. The movie was adapted by Sonya Levien and John Meehan from the novel (1943) by Marcia Davenport. The film was directed by Tay Garnett.
Mary Rafferty lives in a small house with her wheelchair-bound father Pat and her widowed sister, Kate Shannon, in Pittsburgh known as "The Flats." Mary informs her father that she has taken a job as a live-in maid at the home of steel mill owner William Scott. Her father Pat, lost his legs in an accident at Scott's mill and wants revenge against the family, disapproves. Soon after starting her job, Mary becomes friends with William's wife Clarissa, his daughter Constance, and his three sons. Mary falls head over heals in love with Paul, who has just returned home from London and has plans to modernize the furnace at the Scott mill. A romance soon blooms between Paul and Mary, much to the dismay of Louise Kane, who is determined to marry Paul for his money. The romance between Paul and Mary is endangered when Mary's family and friends, all steel mill workers, go on strike against Paul's father.
I just saw the film The Valley of Decision for the 2nd time. If you love romance, you will love this movie. The cast of characters are wonderful. Although Greer Garson is much older than Gregory Peck. You really do not notice the age difference and their romance is very believable.
Jessica Tandy began her career at the age of 16 in London, opposite Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. She moved to the United States and performed in many supporting roles in Hollywood films. She made her first American film: The Seventh Cross (1944). She also performed in The Valley of Decision (1945), The Green Years (1946, as Cronyn's daughter), Dragonwyck (1946) starring Gene Tierney and Forever Amber (1947). Over the following three decades, her career continued with films: Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds (1963), and a Tony Award-winning performance in The Gin Game in 1977.The beginning of the 1980s she performed in character roles in The World According to Garp, Best Friends, Still of the Night (all 1982) and The Bostonians (1984), and Cocoon (1985) and Cocoon: The Return (1988). Foxfire which won her an Emmy Award . However, it was her performance in Driving Miss Daisy (1989), that earned her an Oscar. She earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), and co-starred in The Story Lady (1991 telefilm, with daughter Tandy Cronyn), Used People (1992, as Shirley MacLaine's mother), To Dance with the White Dog (1993 telefilm, with husband Hume Cronyn), Nobody's Fool (1994), and Camilla . Camilla was to be her last performance, at the age of 84.
