While I became interested, to put it mildly, in Jimmy when I was first discovering classic films, and even though It's A Wonderful Life has been my favorite movie for years, I never sought out more of Donna Reed's film work. But with her being TCM's May Star of the Month, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. I must say I enjoyed her films very much. It was interesting to see her progress over the years as an actress, and I became even more impressed with her and began to like her even more with each new movie I saw. In correlation with watching her movies, I wanted to find out more about her as a person. I thought I'd do a tribute post to her at this blog with some of the information I found.
Donna Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger in the small town of Dennison Iowa on January 27, 1921. Donna was the oldest of five children and was very beautiful, much more so then the other local girls and won a local beauty contest when she was in high school. After moving to California to attend the Los Angeles Community College on the advice of her aunt, she performed in various stage productions while in college but had no plans to become an actress.
In 1941, Donna signed a contract with MGM and made her first film, The Get-Away the same year. She starred in The Courtship of Andy Hardy and had a supporting role with Edward Arnold in Eyes in the Night (1942). In 1943, she appeared in The Human Comedy with Mickey Rooney, followed by roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray and They Were Expendable, both in 1945.
In the early 1940s, Donna was being groomed by MGM to be their girl-next-door. Her star was swiftly rising and it seemed as if she would become a great asset to MGM. That is, until MGM changed their mind. They decided to make June Allyson their "girl next door" instead. Donna's starring roles in A pictures were becoming less frequent. She was either getting a supporting role in a top production or being cast in starring roles in less popular B pictures. Even though Donna wanted to be known as a glamour-girl and not the average girl-next-door, she wanted her career to keep moving forward in a positive way.
In 1945, being fed up with not receiving starring roles, Donna went on a loan-out from her home studio to do a movie for Liberty Films, a small independent production company. Donna felt that working with such a well-known and successful director as Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart would give her career the boost it needed. Though she was not Capra's first choice for the part, after seeing one of MGM films, Frank Capra decided she was just the actress he was looking for to portray Mary Bailey.
Jimmy was very nervous during the filming of IAWL. It was both his and Frank Capra's first film after their service in World War II. Donna helped Jimmy through filming and was very kind to him. They filmed the famous Phone Scene in one take, and it ended up being too passionate to pass the censors, so some of it was cut cut. I kind of wish I could see that footage now. *wink*
Jimmy & Donna practicing the Charleston on the set of It's A Wonderful Life
When IAWL ended up not doing well at the box-office upon its release, Donna was again being offered supporting roles. This time MGM cast her in Green Dolphin Street (1947) opposite Lana Turner. This is one example of how MGM viewed Donna's career. June Allyson was originally going to play the part of Lana's sister in the movie, but when she found out the leading man was supposed to prefer her over Lana Turner, she refused to be in the picture. Donna felt the same way, but MGM forced her to do it. Donna was also supposed to play opposite Jimmy in The Stratton Story (1949), but again, the part went to June Allyson.
I've also read that Donna was offered the leading female role in The Naked Spur (1953), one Jimmy's Westerns, but turned it down. I'm not sure if that's true or not, though and unfortunately I can't remember where I read it.
Finally in 1953, Donna was cast way against type in From Here to Eternity(1953). She won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her performance. In 1958 Donna moved to television and had a huge success with The Donna Reed Show. After the show's final season in 1966, Donna focused less on her career and more on civil rights and activism. In the early 1980s, she had a recurring role on the popular tv show, Dallas. Donna Reed passed away on January 14, 1986 of pancreatic cancer.
After she died, Jimmy said some wonderful things about Donna. See the video here. To me, one of the things that makes It's A Wonderful Life so wonderful is the chemistry between Jimmy and Donna. They made the relationship between George and Mary so believable and real. Plus, having a great script and director to work with helps, too.
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