The Revolt of Mamie Stover *** (1956, Jane Russell, Richard Egan, Joan Leslie, Agnes Moorehead) – Classic Movie Review 7927

Director Raoul Walsh’s 1956 CinemaScope and Deluxe Color drama The Revolt of Mamie Stover is based on the novel by William Bradford Huie and stars Jane Russell as the titular Mamie Stover, a busty young lady of the night, who is forced out of San Francisco by the cops in 1941 and sets up shop with great success in Hawaii before love intervenes – with novelist Jimmy (Richard Egan), whom she meets on the ship to Honolulu.

Since the young lady of the title happens to be played here by the remarkable Jane Russell, that might just have helped The Revolt of Mamie Stover succeed as an entertainment and at the box-office. But the unfortunate American censorship laws of the time have made for a very insincere, sanitised and flimsy film, which avoids all the areas it should have concentrated on, since it was based on the true story of an upwardly mobile prostitute. Instead we get a typical Hollywood morality play and women who are strictly platonic ‘hostesses’.

However, the material remains unusual and intriguing, while Russell gives her usual feisty, appealing performance and Agnes Moorehead enjoys herself as a tough madame called Bertha Parchman. And Raoul Walsh directs robustly.

It is the last cinema movie of Joan Leslie (as Jimmy’s posh fiancée Annalee). Her film career was over at the age of 31, leaving the profession to bring up her twin daughters. She acted under her real name of Joan Brodel until adopting Joan Leslie for High Sierra (1941). She died on 12 October 2015, aged 90. 

As often in her movies, Russell sings a couple of songs: ‘If You Wanna See Mamie Tonight’ and ‘Keep Your Eyes on the Hands’.

Also in the cast are Jean Willes, Jorja Curtwright, Michael Pate, Richard Coogan, Alan Reed, Eddie Firestone, Leon Lontoc, Kathy Marlowe, Margia Dean, Jack Mather, John Halloran, Boyd Morgan, Naida Lani, Dorothy Gordon, Irene Bolton, Mary Townsend, Claire James, Sally Todd, Margarita Camacho, Richard Collier, Max Reid, Janan Hart, Charles Keane, Marjorie Stapp and Carl Harbaugh.

The Revolt of Mamie Stover is directed by Raoul Walsh, runs 92 minutes, is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Sydney Boehm, based on the novel by William Bradford Huie, is shot by Leo Tover, is produced by Buddy Adler, is scored by Hugo Friedhofer and Lionel Newman, and is designed by Lyle R Wheeler and Mark-Lee Kirk.

[Spoiler alert] The story synopsis in the 20th Century Fox studio production notes shows last-minute changes and edits were made the film to tone down the nature of the Mamie Stover character, and reveals that the film has a new different ending in which she is redeemed from a life of prostitution, instead of greeting her next customer with her ‘You waitin’ for Mamie, honey’.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7927

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