Past Issues
The Other Woman - 1903-1998
by Charles Stumpf
Binnie Barnes was born March 25, 1903, (some sources say 1905) in Caledonia Market, London, England. Her father was an English "bobby" and her mother an Italian seamstress who had been thrice-wed. Between the two of them the couple had 17 children. The family had just about run out of ordinary names, so they called her Gitelle Enoyce Gertrude Maude Barnes. When the girl was old enough to make a choice of names for herself, she blended them all together and called herself "Binnie," a name as unique as her bouncy, bubbly personality.
Her father died when she was 14, and the family resettled on a small farm in Kent. Mornings at four a.m. Binnie rose, milked the cows, and made her round of local deliveries. Then for a time she went to work in a factory, testing light bulbs. As soon as she had earned enough she entered nurse’s training at London’s Great Northern Hospital. She quickly learned that she did not want to spend the rest of her life lifting heavy patients and making beds.
Plucky Miss Barnes decided to use her energy and talents in show business. The auburn haired beauty, noted for her gorgeous complexion, began as a chorus girl, cabaret singer and dance hall hostess at the Cosmo Club. It was there she met an American entertainer who billed himself as "Tex" McLeod. Binnie was intrigued and begged him to teach her to twirl a rope, speak with a western drawl, and yell out "Yippee!" at the top of her lungs. "Texas Binnie" joined the act and went on an extended tour of South America. When she got back home she found bookings in variety shows and cabarets.
In 1928 Andre Charlot was a well known producer of London revues. When he caught "Texas Binnie’s" act, he signed her for a featured spot in his next revue, and she wowed the audience with a torrid rendition of a torch song. In October 1929 Miss Barnes (dropped "the Texas") and made her London stage debut in The Silver Tassie, followed by the leading role of "Rosa" in the musical comedy Little Tommy Tucker.
Once her name was established onstage she was signed to make a series of 2-reel comedies with Stanley Lupino, father of Ida. Binnie appeared in more than two dozen comedy shorts. More than once she received a gooey pie in her pretty face, which earned her the nickname of "Pie Face."
Noel Coward had seen her perform and liked what he saw. In 1931 he wrote the role of "Fanny Bridges" for her in his stage hit Cavalcade. Miss Barnes scored a big hit singing "Twentieth Century Blues."
Her first feature film was in A Night In Montmarte (1931).
During the long happy stage run of Cavalcade, Miss Barnes spent most of her daytime hours making films. Between 1931 and 1932 she appeared in a dozen British features. Her film output for 1933 was an additional five feature films, including her standout role as "Catherine Howard" in The Private Life of Henry VIII with Charles Laughton. Her strong performance earned her stardom, both in her homeland and America.
In 1932 Binnie had married art dealer Samuel Joseph. They divorced four years later, but remained on friendly terms.
Binnie appeared in a trio of British films in 1934 before departing for Hollywood for her American film debut in There’s Always Tomorrow in which she was cast as "the other woman." Throughout the 1930s and 1940s she reigned as "the Classic Bitch" in dozens of "other woman" roles. Binnie Barnes was once described as "a beauty carved of Grecian marble." Tall, slender, and often slinky, she excelled at delivering brittle dialogue, caustic comments, icy stares, and artificial smiles. Most of her characters were worldly wicked, scheming, and predatory. As one critic once noted: "Her voluptuous lips, gliding walk, and the gleam in her eye does not establish her as a candidate to be entrusted with another girl’s husband or boyfriend."
Miss Barnes appeared in six Hollywood films in 1934. Her two 1935 releases found her portraying a spy in Rendevous, and in Diamond Jim she played the famed American beauty, Lillian Russell. During 1936 she was seen in two Hollywood spectaculars The Last of the Mohicans and Sutter’s Gold, as well as roles in Small Town Girl and The Magnificent Brute. During 1938 she brightened the screen in Three Smart Girls, Breezing Home, and Broadway Melody of 1938.
1938 was a very busy year as Binnie worked at five different studios, turning out eight features, including her role a "Susan Potter" in Holiday, trading quips with Katharine Hepburn. She made six film appearances during 1939.
Binnie had a single film release in 1940 in ÔTill We Meet Again at Warner Bros. Nevertheless, it was an eventful year. She married Mike Frankovich, the adopted son of comedian Joe E. Brown. Frankovich was a former All-American football hero and sportscaster who became a screenwriter. Later, Frankovich would become a producer and studio exec. The couple had a daughter and adopted twin boys. In the fall of 1940, shortly after her marriage, Binnie joined Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons in a tour of vaudeville theaters across the country. Binnie had one show-stopping number. Dressed in a tightly fitted blouse and baggy white pantaloons, she stepped into the spotlight and gave a soulful rendition of "Why Am I Always A Bridesmaid and Never a Blushing Bride?"
During 1941 she appeared in six films. In addition to New Wine, Angels with Broken Wings, and comedies Tight Shoes and Skylark, she made two films for Columbia Pictures, Three Girls About Town and This Thing Called Love. The latter called for a bedroom scene in which Binnie would be seen in a black bra and black lace panties. The new Mrs. Frankovich objected to such immodesty. The director calmed her by saying he would shoot the scene in silhouette. Much to her dismay, a fully lit still from the scene appeared in newspapers around the country, showing the lady in her "unmentionables." The indignant actress and her husband sued Columbia Pictures, the studio which, ironically, later would employ Frankovich as one of its vice presidents.
Fed up with films for the moment in 1942, Binnie had a Saturday night radio program, Perpetual Motion aired over NBC. She did, however, return to the screen in three films, Call Out the Marines (RKO), In Old California (Rep), and at MGM she had one of her best roles in I Married An Angel, in which she struck a coy pose while she sang "A Twinkle in Your Eye." In 1943 she made another film for MGM, The Man From Down Under.
The following year she was back on the screen in the farce Up In Mabel’s Room (UA), Barbary Coast Gent (MGM), and The Hour Before Dawn (Par).
She then returned to radio as a panelist on Leave It to the Girls and also found time for three films, Getting Gertie’s Garter (UA), It’s In the Bag (UA), and The Spanish Main (RKO).
Binnie had reached a point where she preferred to spend more time at home with her family. In 1946 she joined Abbott and Costello for The Time of Their Lives. In 1947 she appeared in one film for MGM, If Winter Comes. The following year she was back on screen in The Dude Goes West and My Own True Love.
The actress became interested in co-producing films with her husband. She appeared in The Pirates of Capri (1949) and Fugitive Lady (1951), Decameron Night (1953), Fire Over Africa (1954), and Shadow of the Eagle (1955).
Miss Barnes had only one try on Broadway. In June 1951 she replaced Gloria Swanson in the comedy Twentieth Century, but the critics were not kind, and the show soon closed. In July 1951 she made her television debut in an episode of the G.E. Guest House. She also made two guest appearances on The Donna Reed Show in January 1963 and March 1966.
In 1966 a role came along that appealed to her, and she was seen as a musical nun who directed the school’s band in The Trouble With Angels. The film was quite successful, and she repeated the role in the sequel, Where Angels Go—Trouble Follows (1968).
In addition to being a popular actress, Miss Barnes was also an astute businesswoman. She once owned four dress shops for which she personally selected the merchandise. She also turned a neat profit with the sale of an apartment house.
Still perky and bubbly, Binnie made her final film, Forty Carats, in 1973. In one delightful scene she danced briefly with Gene Kelly in a disco.
The final curtain came down on Binnie Barnes in her home in
Beverly Hills at the age of 95 on July 27, 1998.