I’ve seen Jean Dixon in two movies: My Man Godfrey, and Sadie McKee. Both times I thoroughly enjoyed her dry sense of humor. For example, take this exchange from Godfrey, where she plays Molly, the Bullocks’ maid:
Godfrey: May I be frank?
Molly: Is that your name?
Godfrey: No, my name is Godfrey.
Molly: All right, be frank.
She has a more substantial role in Sadie McKee, playing Joan Crawford’s best friend Opal, who stands by Sadie through all her adventures. Opal is cynical but still a romantic. She’s not adverse to riding the coat tails of Sadie’s good fortune, but never comes across as greedy; her opportunism still has a good-natured innocence to it. Yes, she wangles a diamond bracelet out of Sadie’s tipsy fiancée while they’re out shopping, but you don’t get the impression that she’s only out for the money. If she can get something for herself, okay, but it’s not her primary motivation. Opal genuinely cares about Sadie. If I were a jilted girl alone in 1930s NYC, I’d want Opal for my pal.
Jean only appeared in 13 movies, usually as the wise cracking sidekick to the leading lady. However, her acting career had quite a start: her theater debut was on a Parisian stage with Sarah Bernhardt while a student at a French university. She returned to the US in 1921 and performed on Broadway before going to Hollywood in 1929. Jean’s last movie was in 1938; I don’t know any details about why she stopped making movies or what she did afterwards. She died in 1981 in New York City.
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