Donna Reed: Classic Movie Goddess Part 4

Here are what I feel are the must see films and TV work of Donna that have to be seen. Her essentials.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) Of course the holiday classic film that paired her with James Stewart. Her character Mary Bailey is one of cinema's best character as she is able to lend solid support to her fractured husband George. Not your typical fun and uplifting Christmas movie, but still a must see. Though I imagine everyone in the world has seen it at least once.

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) Donna's potrayal of call girl Alma shattered her good girl image and showed she had some range in her acting ability. She deservedly won the Oscar that year for Best Supporting Actress. And showed she could play with the big boys who were in this star studded cast: Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra and Montgomery Clift.

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945) Some might say Donna is not that effective in her role as Gladys Hallward and she is just there to provide decoration. But as one of her mainstream films she is actually quite good. More attention might have been paid to Angela Lansbury, who got an Oscar nomination and George Sanders, but the film itself is a solid piece of work and adds nicely to Reed's resume.

THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945) As Lt. Sandy Davyss, Reed has a small part in this solid military movie about American PT boats defending the Philippines during WW2. With her not being involved directly in the action per se, her character is still very effective in a few quiet and emotional scenes. Co-starring the Duke himself, John Wayne.

GREEN DOLPHIN STREET (1947) Pairing up with Lana Turner to portray two sisters in love with the same man in Victorian era New Zealand. While Turner may have been top billed, Reed more than holds her own. Who can forget her scene when the climbs the cliff. Awesome.

THE DONNA REED SHOW (1958-1966) Donna firmly established herself as one of the queens of TV with her classic self titled long running series. One of the best sitcoms in TV history.