Line #38 Creator/IreneDunne


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/more_irene.jpg]]
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3	->''"The Irene I know is as vague as the absent-minded professor -- and as adroit. She's casual as a Creator/NoelCoward heroine and as conscientious as a Salvation Army missionary. She's as fragile as Dresden and as strong as steel."''
4	-->--'''Creator/LorettaYoung'''
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6	Irene Marie Dunne (December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress and singer famous during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood. She was nominated five times for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward but never won.
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8	The Dunns (Irene put an “e” at the end when she entered the cinematic world) were a musical family, and Irene was taught singing and piano at an early age. Bent on being a professional singer (she had a soprano voice) and with a degree from the Chicago Music College, she hoped to sing with the Metropolitan Opera Company but was, unfortunately, turned down. Down but not beat, she went into musical theatre instead and became a sensation on Broadway with her biggest success being as Magnolia in ''Theatre/ShowBoat'' (replacing Norma Terris during the show's original run). In the late [[TheJazzAge twenties]], however, she was discovered by Creator/{{RKO}} and signed a contract with them.
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10	During UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra, Dunne was put in pedestrian, dramatic fare, but with the advent of a new genre, the ScrewballComedy, Dunne began to shine in comedic vehicles, showing off her impeccable timing and wit. Although unwilling to go the comedy route, Dunne starred in the successful ''Film/TheodoraGoesWild'' which was the stepping stone to greater things. The next year she co-starred with Creator/CaryGrant ([[ThoseTwoActors a frequent co-star]]) in ''Film/TheAwfulTruth''. She reportedly didn’t like comedies much, preferring serious dramas, but she was considered a great comedienne, nevertheless.
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12	Popular throughout TheThirties and TheForties, Dunne was considered a great actress by the critics and her peers alike. A decline did come due to Hollywood's tendency to dispose of older actresses; however, Dunne decided to retire in the early fifties, her last film being ''It Grows on Trees''.
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14	She continued working, dedicating herself to charities. Also, she was chosen as the delegate to the United Nations by UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower.
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16	She died on September 4, 1990, having starred in over 50 films.
17	----
18	!!Irene Dunne films:
19	* ''Film/{{Cimarron}}'' (1931)
20	* ''Film/ThirteenWomen'' (1932)
21	* ''Film/TheSilverCord'' (1933)
22	* ''Film/TheAgeOfInnocence'' (1934)
23	* ''Film/{{Roberta}}'' (1935)
24	* ''Theatre/ShowBoat'' (1936)
25	* ''Film/TheodoraGoesWild'' (1936)
26	* ''Film/TheAwfulTruth'' (1937)
27	* ''Film/LoveAffair'' (1939)
28	* ''Film/MyFavoriteWife'' (1940)
29	* ''Film/PennySerenade'' (1941)
30	* ''Film/AGuyNamedJoe'' (1943)
31	* ''Film/AnnaAndTheKingOfSiam'' (1946)
32	* ''Film/LifeWithFather'' (1947)
33	* ''Film/IRememberMama'' (1948)
34	* ''Film/TheMudlark'' (1950)
35	----
36	!!Tropes associated with Irene Dunne's films:
37	* AwardSnub:[[invoked]] Considered this by many critics, to her Oscar nominations. More so for ''Film/TheAwfulTruth'' nowadays, since the Best Actress winner, Creator/LuiseRainer, won for [[Film/TheGoodEarth a role]] considered to have [[ValuesDissonance aged like milk]] these days.
38	%%* TheCastShowoff:[[invoked]] Whenever the movie would pause to give Dunne a chance to sing to an audience.
39	* CovertPervert: A lot of her characters were this, surprising to some. Critics have noted that many of Dunne's films are full of moments other film stars wouldn't get away with in the era of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode, mostly because of her persona of the ladylike ingenue. Dunne was the one most likely to have the most innuendo in her dialog, and notably ended up sharing a bed with Cary Grant ''twice'' -- a trope strictly forbidden. Strange double standards Dunne got away with include:
40	** In ''Theodora Goes Wild'', she stars as a Sunday school teacher/church volunteer who turns out to be the author of a best-selling erotic novel.
41	** During a slow dance with Pete in ''A Guy Named Joe'', she suddenly whispers a plea to [[BiteOfAffection nibble his ear]], which he rebuffs in embarrassment.
42	** ''Love Affair'' implies that Terry has a history as sexually adventurous as ladykiller Michel, notably in their MeetCute where she lightly ribs him of how terrible she thinks the location of his recent night of passion was.
43	** Dunne also had an interestingly sympathetic portrayal of a one-night stand in [[FilmNoir an era]] where flirtatious {{femme fatale}}s got killed. The train carriage scene in ''Unfinished Business'' is best known for Dunne's Nancy getting aroused from the sounds of the train horn. Then she and Creator/PrestonFoster passionately kiss and it [[SexyDiscretionShot cuts to the next morning]] when they're stepping off the train.
44	** In ''Together Again'', Mayor Anne and George the {{sculptor\|s}} go to a strip club, which gets raided by police when Anne excuses herself to the restroom to clean her dress. The police catch her in her underwear and [[MistakenForProstitute throw her in jail]] for the night.
45	* CreatorBacklash:
46	** ''Life with Father'' was offered to Dunne several times, but she hated Vinnie's ditziness. She eventually warmed up to the offer and accepted, although she'd often admit she still didn't like her in interviews years later.
47	** Inverted with ''The Mudlark'' where she was devastated it was a box-office bomb in the USA because it was a chance to {{method act\|ing}} with prosthetics.
48	** Although ''Love Affair'' was one of her favorites she made, she would say years later that Terry's HonorBeforeReason attitude after the accident was ridiculous because if Dunne was in the situation, she'd wheel herself back to New York City every day to look for Michel.
49	* CreatorsOddball: Subverted. Dunne did so many film genres, she went through TomHanksSyndrome and LeslieNielsenSyndrome several times. Sometimes in one year!
50	* GoodParents: Often starred as a fantastic mother and housewife with nice, selfless children -- traits that they probably inherited. In some cases, she was the TeamMom of a group.
51	* IronyAsSheIsCast:
52	** Dunne (a trained singer) starred in ''Anna and the King of Siam'' (a drama) in 1946 which was later remade as ''Theatre/TheKingAndI'' (a musical), which starred Creator/DeborahKerr (whose singing was dubbed).
53	** Downplayed to an extent and {{lampshaded}} by the woman herself when ''The King and I'' opened in Broadway, when she sent a letter to Rogers and Hammerstein joking that they should've asked her to be in it if they needed extra singers, reminding them that she'd performed in Hammerstein's ''Show Boat'' on Broadway when she was younger.
54	** Comedy didn't interest Dunne, yet critics have declared she excelled the best in it. Her comic timing has been called her CharmPoint.
55	* NoblewomansLaugh: Her melodious giggle sounded like this a lot, especially if she was about to avenge or embarrass someone. A great example is in ''Theodora Goes Wild'' when she confronts her publisher, chuckling like this when she walks into the office in her feathered coat with her dog on a leash.
56	* OlderThanTheyLook: Dunne was told to lie about her age (as she was much older than her contemporaries) and even her epitaph has the wrong year of her birth. To put in perspective, she was older than most Hollywood Golden Age SmallReferencePools actresses that can come to mind, and the only leading men she was younger than were Creator/WilliamPowell (born in 1892) and Creator/AdolpheMenjou (born in 1890).
57	* PlayingAgainstType:[[invoked]] Audiences that only know her for the popular comedies she did might be surprised to find out about Dunne's weepy beginnings, beginning her film streak in drama and ending in drama. In fact, comedy films were an anomaly in her career.
58	* PlayingWithCharacterType: Her ambitious SilkHidingSteel NiceGirl persona shows up in ''Together Again'', but a business trip ends up with Mayor Anne falling for her hired sculptor. Despite Dunne's other hardworking characters not being sidetracked from their jobs by a love interest, Anne turns into a SmittenTeenageGirl, dressing and styling her hair differently, singing and dancing around the house, and is unable to think straight whenever the sculptor looks at her. Her former political popularity begins dimming as problems start piling up.
59	* ThoseTwoActors: She did three films with Creator/CaryGrant and Creator/CharlesBoyer. Interestingly, she went through ActorShipping with both, being dubbed the funniest Hollywood couple with Grant and the most romantic with Boyer.

Context Creator / IreneDunne