The "Stanwyck version" is not, as other reviewers seems to believe, the "orginal" and to my mind the performance in the genuinely original (1925) version by Belle Bennett is quite the best. The problems with Midler's performance have been well rehearsed but there are serious problems too with Stanwyck's performance. The 1937 version tracks the original almost exactly (the only real difference obviously being sound)losing some significant detail but without really improving it in any way. Stanwyck is miscast. Her "vulgarity" comes and goes in a totally illogical manner and when she suddenly converts herself for no obvious reason into some sort of clown towards the end of the film, it doesn't really make any sense. Bennett's performance builds the character much more consistently and convincingly. The daughter too is far less saccharine and far more believable than in the 1937 version. The original is also far more frank in confronting the class issue which is somewhat air-brushed in the 1937 version. Arguably Midler returns to something closer to the original but I do not think her performance as good as Bennett's.
