Jane Wyman Lifts ‘The Blue Veil’ 1951

Jane Wyman is the governess who wears "The Blue Veil" from 1951.

The Blue Veil is a most straightforward melodrama, a tearjerker tale of a life-long governess, of what was once called a "woman's picture." The 1951 film was released through RKO, a moderate hit in its day with mostly positive reviews, but today is mostly forgotten. This is because there’s nary a good copy to be had and is rarely shown. Whether it’s copyright or estate issues—it’s actually a Norman Krasna and Jerry Wald production—The Blue Veil deserves to be restored.

Jane Wyman as Louise Mason wears the traditional governess/nanny "Blue Veil."  With Cyril Cusack as the toy store owner who admires "LouLou."

As The Blue Veil takes place over several decades and still clocks in at the standard one hour and forty five minutes, some of the events and especially reactions seem a bit perfunctory. What helps is the cast is populated with old pros, who convey the most with each scene. Yet, it is Jane Wyman's warmth and strength that hold this episodic tearjerker together, and nabbed Wyman a Best Actress Academy Award nomination.

Jane Wyman is a young widow who just finds out her new baby has died, in 1951's "The Blue Veil." Jane was 34 when this was filmed.

There is the era's "get on with it" attitude toward trauma and life changes evident in The Blue Veil. For example, within the first five minutes, Jane Wyman's Louise Mason goes from a war widow with a baby, to suddenly losing her child, with a doctor who comes in and gives the world's most generic non-explanation, capped with, "…we did all we could for it." Later, a practical employment lady who thinks that Louise should be a nanny ASAP to ease her pain! Likewise, when Louise is eased out from her duties after the widower boss remarries, his new bride asks how many weeks it will take the nanny to teach her everything about caring for the baby. No time for therapy back then!

Jane Wyman as nanny Louise Mason, with her first charge. Charles Laughton is her  boss and Vivian Vance is his new bride. "The Blue Veil" from 1951.

While the “mother love” storyline can be very sentimental, Jane Wyman's acting is warm, but not sticky sweet. That's why I enjoy Jane in movie soaps. Some movie fans think of Wyman as dull, but I find her acting naturalistic. Especially when shed of glamour, Jane Wyman appeals with those huge doe eyes and soft but firm voice. She suggests deep feeling without the diva posturing so typical of the era. I find Wyman’s acting more in keeping with Barbara Stanwyck and Olivia de Havilland than say, Crawford or Davis. 

The Blue Veil starts after WWI and ends after WWII, so Jane's Louise goes through a series of jobs, with the governess/nanny/nurse in the "blue veil" uniform connecting deeply with several families.

Louise's first charge is Freddie, whose mother died giving birth, almost the reverse of her own situation. The widower is Charles Laughton as Frederick, most appealing as the lonely man, in a rare normal role. Laughton and Wyman have a nice rapport, and the businessman proposes to Louise. She wisely turns him down, feeling two lonely people does not make for a happy marriage. So secretary Vivian Vance soon accepts his proposal instead, and lives the dream of a prosperous businessman's wife. An example of how even-handedly The Blue Veil is told, Vance's character is pragmatic but not a villain. While Wyman’s Louise is saddened by her departure, she made the call, and accepts the situation gracefully.

I love overlap "dissolves"from classic films. Here, Jane Wyman's nurse says goodbye  to her first child, then shown leaving to find a new job, from "The Blue Veil."

If Wyman's Louise was a young war widow just after WWI, that would put “LouLou” in her early '50s at the post-war end of this film. As Louise starts caring for her last child, each subsequent scene makes her looks older. By the finale, Wyman looks like Margo in Lost Horizon, after she escaped Shangri-La!

At the finale of "The Blue Veil," Jane Wyman's nanny is suppose to be in her early  '50s, but looks like Helen Hayes in "Airport!"

Next, “LouLou” cares for two boys, the younger especially attached, the sons of a wealthy couple, with Agnes Moorehead in sympathetic mode as Fleur Palfrey. Moorehead acted five times opposite Wyman: Johnny Belinda; The Blue Veil; Magnificent Obsession; All That Heaven Allows; and Pollyanna.

Agnes Moorehead is Jane Wyman's second employer in 1951's "The Blue Veil."

Here, she meets Richard Carlson as the boys’ tutor, Jerry. A warm charmer and dreamer, he wants more than this temporary gig. He gets a teaching job offer in Syria—of a century ago! He wants Louise to run off with him and marry. That Jerry is weak of character shows when he's easily discouraged by Moorehead, then Wyman herself, when they both make valid points of his intentions. On the train, he projects his doubts on Louise, who then calls it off and goes back to her job.

I love this warm romantic scene between Jane Wyman & Richard Carlson in 1951's  "The Blue Veil."

Some time elapses when Louise now takes care of the daughter of Annie Rawlins, an aging musical stage star. Her daughter Stephanie, played by 12 year old Natalie Wood, adores Louise. As is usually the case, the child becomes attached to doting nanny LouLou. Annie is good-hearted but thoughtless and often a no-show at her daughter's big life moments. When Stephanie calls Louise her mother at her confirmation, the nanny lets her mother know that it’s best to leave. This sets up a major tearjerker scene, when Louise tells Stephanie she has to go. Wyman and Blondell were old pros by this point and play with their typical naturalism. Wood is remarkable as the disappointed daughter and plays her big scene, begging Louise stay, quite movingly.

Tearjerker scene from "The Blue Veil," when Jane Wyman's governess realizes it's time to move on. Young Natalie Wood as her charge & Joan Blondell as the mother.

Natalie Wood was 12 when she made "The Blue Veil." She is quite good as the girl who becomes attached to Wyman's nanny.

I was a bit surprised that Blondell got a supporting actress Oscar nomination for The Blue Veil. Her role is brief as the good natured broad, and she isn't doing anything new. Yet, she got no nods for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or Nightmare Alley, in roles that were bigger and juicier. But that's Hollywood, where some very strange Oscar nominations and wins were awarded in the ‘50s. Gloria Grahame in The Bad and the Beautiful and Jan Sterling and Claire Trevor for The High and the Mighty come to mind.

Dan O'Herlihy & Audrey Totter play a young couple who go to England during WWII,  leaving their baby boy with Jane Wyman's dependable nanny, in "The Blue Veil."

Louise's last stint as nanny comes for Helen and Hugh Williams, played by Audrey Totter and Dan O'Herlihy. They have a baby boy, Tony, and LouLou fits right in. Then British hubby Hugh is called off to war. When he is reported missing, Lulu holds down the fort while Helen goes off to find him. He is wounded and later dies, and she stays on for the war's duration. After the war, Helen stays on, for very vague reasons. By this time, Lulu is caring for Tony for free, even working to support him! While Lulu has taken care not to become too attached to her charges in the past, this time she does. When Helen finally returns, the boy is a grade-schooler playing baseball. Lulu attempts to run off with Tony, but is found. Totter’s Helen now has bulldog husband Henry Morgan in tow, who wants to press charges. But the district attorney shames them for their lack of communication, appreciation, or payment. Louise is heartbroken when they leave with Tony.

Have a hanky handy when Audrey Totter's Helen comes back nearly a decade later for her son, in the care of Jane Wyman's nanny, from 1951's "The Blue Veil."

By this time, Louise is looking like and acting like a latter day Madame X, but having had none of her fun! Along the way, Louise turns down a third offer of marriage, from irascible but good guy Frank (Cyril Cusack), who owns a toy store that she frequents for her charges. Unfortunately, he dies of a heart attack when the police come looking for Louise.

Jane Wyman's nanny is now an elementary school janitor in 1951's "The Blue Veil."

Louise winds up as a janitor at an elementary school, to be near children. Today, she'd probably be pegged as a predator, but that's another discussion! Going home one day, she nearly steps out in front of a car, but is saved. At an eye doctor for a checkup, he turns out to be her second charge, Robbie Palfrey, who was once afraid of storms. Unbeknownst to Lulu, he arranges a dinner for her and her previous kiddos. With their spouses, they enjoy a lovely reunion, with Robbie announcing he wants Lulu to care for his own children. At this point, you will have used up a box of tissues!

Jane Wyman's "LouLou" is asked to be nanny to her one-time charge's children in the finale of 1951's "The Blue Veil."

One of Jane Wyman’s smaller films, like the likewise underrated So Big, The Blue Veil is a straight up soap, but played with genuine feeling. Director Curtis Bernhardt, who made his name at WB, did well with actors and keeps this movie moving along smoothly. The Blue Veil feels more like a ‘40s movie in the increasingly modern ‘50s film world, but if you’re in the mood for cinema suffering with an uplifting finale, Wyman and a stellar cast are worth watching.

Here’s my look at one of Jane Wyman’s best latter day roles, in Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows, with Rock Hudson: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2020/10/all-that-heaven-allows-1955.html

A stellar cast is a bonus in 1951's "The Blue Veil," but Jane Wyman's performance as  Louise Mason, a nanny for over three decades, holds this film together.