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.