Joan Collins is ‘The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing’ 1955

 

Joan Collins is Evelyn Nesbit in 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

Based on one of the most shocking scandals from the early 20th century, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing depicts the Stanford White/Evelyn Nesbit/Harry K. Thaw triangle, which eventually led to White's homicide by Thaw in 1906.

20th Century Fox made the film bio in 1955, starring Joan Collins as Evelyn, with Nesbit herself as a consultant. That made for great publicity, but The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing was filmed in the summer of '55, when Hollywood's censorship code was just beginning to crumble. That meant the unsavory private lives of this triangle’s principals had to be white-washed.

Evelyn Nesbit acted as consultant on 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."
Nesbit was then 70, with Joan Collins, just 22 when she played Evelyn.

What's left? The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing is a lavish, beautifully filmed Cinemascope soap opera that feels like a stage production. If the actors seem bland, that's mostly because they have one-dimensional characters to play. A book could be written just about the facts versus fiction of this film. The bare bones of the film do follow the triangular story; however, the key motivations, character flaws, and actual incidents along the way have been white-washed or changed wholesale.

The real Evelyn Nesbit as a popular teen-age model.

For Joan Collin's, this was her first starring role in an American film, under contract at 20th Century Fox. Just turned 22, Joan is femme fatale Evelyn Nesbit.  It's hard to believe that Fox first offered this to Marilyn Monroe, who turned it down. Monroe was 7 years older than Collins, yet asked to play a teen Lolita.

The first time architect Stanford White sees model Evelyn Nesbit.
Joan Collins' first starring role, as "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

 Collins was certainly a dark beauty as Nesbit, but this may be the most white-washed character of all. Nesbit became a supermodel of the era, while still in her mid-teens. Her famed beauty led to a role in the hit musical, Florodora. Evelyn Nesbit liked older men and was probably encouraged by her mother, a struggling seamstress. At one point, she had to put Evelyn and her brother to work as young teens in a factory, laboring 12 hours a day, six days a week. And then a millionaire comes along and offers to put both your children in upscale schools and ply you with gifts and money... This is the opposite of how The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing portrays the story. When Evelyn breaks down at the private school after Stanford White steps back from their romance, it's depicted as a nervous breakdown. In actuality, she claimed it was appendicitis while others gossiped it was an abortion.

Joan Collins as model/show girl Evelyn Nesbit. Here, she's depicted as recovering
from a fictitious nervous breakdown, in 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

At the murder trial, Nesbit is prevailed to testify in Harry Thaw's favor and trash White on the witness stand, after Evelyn falls for his mother's sob story about Harry's troubled childhood. It’s hard to believe that a young woman like Nesbit would give up her trump card to such a nest of vipers, with no guarantee of them helping her after the trial. In the film, they don't, of course.

"Dynasty" wasn't Joan Collins first time playing a femme fatale on a witness stand!
 Collins as Evelyn Nesbit, in 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

Collins was groomed as Fox to be their answer to Ava Gardner and especially, Elizabeth Taylor. At this point, Joan was not seasoned enough as an actress to bring the animal vitality that Ava had or the empathy that Elizabeth brought to her roles. As The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing is a one-dimensional film, young Joan doesn't have a lot to work with and mainly postures prettily in mid-century film starlet style. Joan looks lovely and wears beautiful costumes and hairstyles, but the character of Evelyn Nesbit is a blank slate, not helped by the script or actress. Even at the finale, when Joan's Nesbit shoots a zinger at the Thaw family, it comes off very flat. Joan has some sweet moments as the girl with a very big crush on White, or her Scarlett O'Hara-like flirting with both men. Collins studied her American accent with fellow Fox star Jeffrey Hunter, but Joan's rather nasal voice attempting an American accent in the emotional scenes sounds odd.

Joan Collins' Evelyn Nesbit finds out that Ray Milland's Stanford White
won't be leaving his wife for her, in 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

According to Ultimate Film Rankings, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing made $65 million in today’s dollars, not a bulls-eye for a big budget movie promoting Collins in a starring role. Judging from Joan’s subsequent Fox movies, Zanuck seemed to have instantly given up on Collins, considering how intrigued he was by her in Land of the Pharaohs. Her biggest film at Fox was another soap opera, 1957’s Island in the Sun. This film made a fortune because it was based on a huge best-seller about interracial romance, wherein Joan was the second female lead to Joan Fontaine.

Ray Milland as Stanford White, about to be shot in public, by Harry K. Thaw,
in 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

Stanford White, white-washed as he is, is made watchable by Ray Milland, who comes off best of the actors. Milland convincingly plays the superstar architect and is very distinguished, authoritative, and handsome at 50. There are just hints that White was a married womanizer who liked very young women, 48 when he met Nesbit. Evelyn was just 16 when she and White began their affair. In this era of Me Too, White would probably get branded a groomer and predator. During the trial, the defense made the claim that not only did White ply Nesbit with champagne, but drugged her when he took Evelyn’s virginity. Who can truly say? But in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, Milland's White several times makes a point to allow Nesbit just one glass of champagne. As for their affair, they kiss just twice! It doesn't mention that after their romance, White moves on to other young women.

The movie Stanford White makes sure Evelyn Nesbit has only ONE glass
of champagne! Ray Milland & Joan Collins in "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

It was also alleged that White and other rich NYC men ran a sex club where they shared under-aged girls. Some things never change! In the film, when White finds that Nesbit's been hired to jump out of a giant pie at a stag party, he has her replaced, and sent home with the cash she would have made. That event happened, but over a decade prior, before Evelyn’s time. The actual girl was so ashamed by the later talk that she disappeared for a decade.

Harry K. Thaw turns out to be a horrible husband to Evelyn Nesbit. Farley Granger
& Joan Collins in 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

Harry K. Thaw, the poor little rich boy, sort of the Nicky Hilton of his era, is played by Farley Granger. He's quite handsome as always and has the showiest role as the deranged playboy. Thaw's sadistic private life gets very toned down and Granger performs with his typical petulance. The role is one-dimensional, but Farley mostly plays him as a surface character, as well. Shaw was an infantile man child enabled by his mother. He used drugs, alcohol, and women. He was physically abusive and acted out publicly. Granger's usual hurt puppy dog eyes and pouting expression style of acting is irritating. But Granger has a few moments as when he decides to shoot White publicly or his final scene, when he gives Evelyn the brush off. Overall, his more grandiose scenes are serviceable but not inspired.

Farley Granger's Harry K. Thaw gets off the murder charge by reason of insanity,
 then gives Joan Collins' Evelyn Nesbit the brush-off. "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

The supporting cast is solid, right down to the bit parts. Frances Fuller is empathetic and believable as White’s wife. One-time WB star Glenda Farrell is a scene-stealer as Evelyn’s pragmatic mother, as presented here. Cornelia Otis Skinner is a bit chilling as Mrs. Shaw, Harry’s two-faced mother. Reptilian Luther Adler is effectively creepy as Shaw’s defense lawyer.

Evelyn Nesbit's fame was confirmed when she became a "Gibson Girl" for the cover
of Collier's Magazine. From 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

Richard Fleischer was just hitting his stride as a young director when he helmed The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing. He gradually fell into directing crowd pleaser movies, many successful, some dreadful. Here, Fleischer tries to imply some of the details of this scandal without directly addressing them. Also, he seems to make the red velvet swing in White’s pleasure dome hideaway a symbol for Stanford and Evelyn’s affair. Fleischer staged the climactic scene, of White’s public shooting by Thaw, quite skillfully.

A tense moment when Harry K. Thaw decides to shoot Stanford White.
Farley Granger in 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing is filled in with very watered down facts, and typical film fiction soap opera storytelling. The production is lavish, some say over-produced, but this was the Gilded Age, right? There are many books and docs on this ill-fated trio that tells the whole story. Having that knowledge will make this fill in the blanks production more watchable.

At the film's finale, there's nothing left for Joan Collins' Evelyn Nesbit to do
but cash in on her notoriety as "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."

This moral of this story is that bad behavior by people with wealth shows that there is nothing new under the sun. And people will never tire of reading or watching their scandalous stories.

My in-depth look at Dynasty, the TV show that made Joan Collins a genuine star:

https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2020/02/dynasty-catfights-cliffhangers-clothes.html

My close-up look at what really made Dynasty, the female stars, led by Joan Collins as Alexis!

https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-divas-of-dynasty-1981-89.html

 

"The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" wasn't Joan Collins last time as a saucy swinger!
 Nearly a quarter of a century later, Joan joins "The Stud" for a ride.