Everybody has had one ... the boyfriend who turns out to be the biggest four-flushing, dirt-eating, woman-ogling, foul-mouthed, eats-with-his-mouth-open, bullying maroon who breaks up with you the day before Valentine's and then wants to get back together the next day. Gentlemen readers, you are free to substitute the feminine gender and any similar characteristics ... it's only fair. The movies are chock full of nasty boyfriends, so count yourselves lucky, girls, that you didn't try to date any of these guys.
(Spoilers are par for the course here, so continue at your own risk.)
Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson in
Key Largo, 1948).
The ultimate gangster, Rocco has no conscience or love at all for the woman who has stuck with him for many years. Gaye Dawn (Claire Trevor) is now an aging, alcoholic, former nightclub singer. She is pitiful, an abused woman who keeps coming back for more. Rocco enjoys it a lot. Oh, that horrendous scene in which Rocco forces her to stand and sing for her liquor! Anybody with a heart can't watch that without wincing and feeling sick for this woman. And then he welshes on his promise and won't give her a drink. Thank heaven for Bogart, who not only gives Gaye her drink, but gives Rocco a bullet in the end.
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Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift in
The Heiress, 1949).
Every time I see this movie, my mind keeps repeating "How could he? How could he?!" Gorgeous, charming Morris, who makes rich, homely Catherine (Olivia de Havilland) blossom like a flower because she believes he loves her ... who can forget Catherine sitting in the parlor with her bags packed, waiting for Morris to come and get her so they can elope? And he never comes ... her hopeful, loving face wilts and part of her dies forever.
Morris returns after Catherine inherits her money, with excuses and "the same old lies" says Catherine, after telling Morris to return that night and elope with her. He returns, and in one of the most powerful endings ever, he hammers desperately at the bolted door while Catherine, now a strong woman, climbs the stairs and leaves him behind. What woman wouldn't give her right middle finger to get that chance! There are two separate camps of opinion about Morris. Some believe he really did want to protect her from angering her father with an elopement and possibly losing her inheritance. Others believe he was just a complete rat. I'm with the rat pack.
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Danny (Robert Montgomery in
Night Must Fall, 1937).
Definitely cute, Danny may not seem to fit the category of boyfriend to Olivia (Rosalind Russell), but the chemistry is there and the sparks fly throughout this story of a pathological killer. Charm exudes from Danny and everybody loves him ... except Olivia, who feels that Danny is a dangerous man even while she is attracted to him. Robert Montgomery is just wonderful in this part, quite a departure at the time from his usual light comedy fare. This guy is scary!
Mrs. Bramson (Dame May Whitty) is an annoying bully of a woman, but she believes Danny is like a son to her. She doesn't deserve her fate at the hands of the sweet young man who comes home to finds her alone and scared, and seems to be comforting her with brandy and sweet talk. She doesn't know that a pillow and Danny's strong hands will follow that drink.
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Tom Stevens (Hugh Marlowe in
The Day The Earth Stood Still, 1951).
The ultimate wormy guy, Tom somehow wriggled his way into Helen Benson's (Patricia Neal) life as her boyfriend. Nothing really untoward had happened yet, although there were signs of jealous pique and controlling behavior. However, when Klaatu and Gort arrived from space, Tom was unconcerned that he might be bringing doom to the planet Earth. All he could think of was being a big man. Helen pleads with him not to betray Klaatu, but all Tom could say is "You'll feel differently when you see my name in the papers." "I feel differently now," she says. Smart woman.
Obviously Klaatu (dreamy perfectly tailored Michael Rennie) would be a fabulous boyfriend, but even Gort would have been a better catch than Tom.
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Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard in
Gone With The Wind, 1939).
I hope I don't get too much hate mail for this one, but I've always thought Ashley was a major wimp and quite a tease to Scarlett. She always gets the blame, but Ashley kept stringing her along all through the movie. (He counts as a boyfriend since he squired Scarlett around before his marriage and didn't give up the job completely after that.) Rhett was so right ... Ashley couldn't go all out one way or the other. It's a good thing for him Melanie was so kind and understanding, or he would have had the door slammed in his face pretty quick. I would have had more respect for him if he had just thrown Scarlett down in the mud at war-torn Tara and had his way with her. They would both have gotten it out of their system and life could go on...
Man up, Mr. Wilkes! Do it, or don't do it, but bring it to
some kind of climax already!
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Bluto (
Popeye cartoons, beginning 1933)
Everybody's favorite big bully, Bluto courted and abused Olive Oyl at every opportunity. Popeye was always there to save her, but wait a minute ... is it possible that Olive was responsible to some degree?
Yep, there's old Olive fawning and simpering over big bad Bluto. I just can't feel sorry for her ... in her case, she really asks for it!
The moral of all this is: Listen to your Mom and Dad when they beg you to dump that guy!
