No Man of Her Own dating history

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The novel that No Man Of Her Own was based on was written by Cornell Woolrich the original title was "I Married A Dead Man". Variety magazine was upbeat in their review, "No Man of Her Own combines an adult love story with melodrama, runs off with the intensity of a full-bloom soap opera, and is altogether satisfying screen dramatics ... Barbara Stanwyck does a beautiful job of portraying the heroine ... [and] John Lund wraps up his role as the man who falls in love with a girl he believes to be the widow of his dead brother. It’s a fine job." No Man of Her Own is Barbara Stanwyck’s show all the way. The 1950 film is a throwback to Stanwyck’s hard-bitten Depression-era melodramas. At first glance, it seems similar to such films as Baby Face (1933, Warner Brothers), Ladies They Talk About (1933, Warner Brothers) or Night Nurse (1931, Warner Brothers). Mitchell Leisen had a bad reputation for some years, mostly due to negative things said about him by Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. Time has refuted their criticism. Leisen did right by both future auteurs in his direction of their screenplays Remember the Night (1940, Paramount Pictures) and working with Stanwyck again, Midnight (1939, Paramount Pictures) with Claudette Colbert and Hold Back the Dawn (1941, Paramount Pictures) with Olivia de Havilland. Leisen was a major stylist who worked within the constraints of the Hollywood system. His films are remarkably individual—florid, atmospheric and eccentric. No Man of Her Own was Leisen’s only full-bore film noir. Part crime story, part suspense story, part woman’s picture, the film sustains a remarkable tension and ambiance that befits its source material. No Man Of Her Own's screenplay, written by Sally Benson and Catherine Turney, stresses the woman’s angle, with a fervor that anticipates Douglas Sirk’s non-noir melodramas of the later 1950s. This film is a compelling blend of visual and a noirish atmosphere, heavy emotional themes and a wide swath of Hollywood acting styles. Its coincidences and baroque twists pile atop each other, much like the tangled train cars that set Patrice’s story into morbid motion. Sincerity and attention to detail distinguish No Man of Her Own. Perhaps to counter-balance the plot’s ludicrous twists, a solid, tactile world, rich in visual detail, strengthens the film. Sally Benson and Catherine Turney’s screenplay, which also gets across narrative information in fresh ways, fully embraces the intensity of Woolrich’s novel. They achieve unusual, almost autistic moments when they reveal Helen’s inner monologue, which typically consists of staccato repeated phrases with a pounding rhythm. Sally Benson and Catherine Turney create a haunting character in Patrice/Helen. Their inherent goal is to ennoble her—and most of the other female figures in the film. Strong women, who are also good women, rule No Man of Her Own. They do the right thing, are welcoming, accepting, sympathetic and don’t pry. Only in this benevolent world could a fragile figure like Helen Ferguson survive—and find happiness. Most of the strength of the movie rests on Stanwyck -- one of the greatest of all screen actresses -- and her ability to sell this story. She rarely rests or accepts her situation. In several scenes, she lets her guard down -- such as a scene in which she's testing a new ball-point pen in a shop and accidentally writes "Helen" instead of "Patrice" -- and then falls into a twist of rage and fear for forgetting her situation for an instant. What we come away with is a real appreciation of Barbara Stanwyk's talent. She was one of Hollywood's highest paid stars and worth every penny -- whether a maudlin weepie or an ice-cold murder story, most everything she was in became a hit. When lesser noir films fail, it's often because the actors can't put across the absurd plot contrivances. Stanwyck makes the most unlikely situations entirely believable; she gathers the audience's interest and sympathy for her characters. From Jane Cowl’s Mother Harkness to Josie, the attitude-enriched maid (played to perfection by Esther Dale), the film’s women are highly motivated, stable, confident individuals. Patrice/Helen remains shakily virtuous, even when her actions and motivations might seem suspect. Mitchell Leisen's personal experience in Hollywood creates a highly sympathetic treatment of Stanwyck’s troubled character. He makes it clear that she is no criminal. She does what she does for the selfless benefit of her infant son. And the karma wheel does spin to her advantage. Later, a masterful sense of atmosphere and place suffuses the film. Scenes of blackmail, murder and the disposal of a corpse play against a remarkably real winter-scape of ice, snow and slush. If they didn’t go on location in these scenes, this is Hollywood illusion at its most impressive. An admixture of noir elements, soap-opera, sentimentality and style, No Man of Her Own is a remarkable achievement from one of the peak years of film noir. It is genuinely odd, at times ludicrous, but it bears its maker’s compelling, distinct personality.