CHARLES BOYER

[CineMaven]

Aaaahhh. Okay. Thanxx for the thought. Do you like Dunne? Loy?

[knitwit45]

Yes, I like both of them, but I much prefer Myrna Loy to Irene Dunne. (couldn't you tell? ) Ms. Dunne, to me, always seems to be smiling through her teeth, it seems forced. Ms. Loy seems always to be much more natural.

[CineMaven]

Ha!!! Yeah, I gotcha.

[JackFavell]

That's just how I feel about Dunne and Loy! You described them perfectly, Nan.

[CineMaven]

Thanx for weighing in on Dunne / Loy.

I see you have a new avatar. Why looky here at Ben.

[JackFavell]

Ha! Right back where I started. With Ben.

[charliechaplinfan]

I would agree that Tyrone Power illustrates the point I was trying to make about Cary Grant, Grant still has the edge in terms of longevity but Tyrone Power is comparable in the kind of looks that make women take a deep breath.

Irene Dunne and Myrna Loy, I think Nancy nailed the difference, Irene Dunne was a slow burner with me, I wish she'd opened up more like in I Remember Mama, I find her better performances were with Charles Boyer and Cary Grant (back to them too again) both men could cut through that aloofness, she's perfect foil for Cary's foolishness and her coolness and humour is perfect contrast to Boyer's ardent wooing. Myrna Loy is the same however she's with and I don't mean that detrimentally, she is more fun, more spontaneous, more sure of her own ground.

[CineMaven]

Ha! Right back where I started. With Ben.

Aaah...I see:

1/2010:

Irene Dunne and Myrna Loy, I think Nancy nailed the difference, Irene Dunne was a slow burner with me, I wish she'd opened up more like in I Remember Mama, I find her better performances were with Charles Boyer and Cary Grant (back to them too again) both men could cut through that aloofness...

I gotcha, Allison. Thanx for that shading of difference between the two actresses.

[JackFavell]

Oh man! That's my favorite picture of him. I'm taking a long long look. Maybe I'll even pull out the original and gaze upon him longingly.

sigh.

[RedRiver]

I should have been in politics. I like Dunne AND Loy. Myrna is fine and quirky in CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, BR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE and the Thin Man series. The subtle Ms. Dunne shines in THEODORA GOES WILD, PENNY SERENADE and especially THE AWFUL TRUTH, which also features some of the best work of her talented co-star. Both ladies exhibit a depth and believability lacking in many of their peers.

As for politics, I support Democrats and Republicans, and feel Congress should pass legislation only when they have nothing else to do!

[CineMaven]

Oh man! That's my favorite picture of him. I'm taking a long long look. Maybe I'll even pull out the original and gaze upon him longingly.
sigh.

MMmmmm.

I should have been in politics. I like Dunne AND Loy. As for politics, I support Democrats and Republicans, and feel Congress should pass legislation only when they have nothing else to do!

Don't hold yer breath.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks to Christine I got to watch the French version of Caravane, sigh. Boyer still wears a curly black wig but he's utterly charming as Lazzi the gypsy violinist. Loretta Young's role is taken by Annabella who plays the princess beautifully. The movie has the feel of Malmoulian's Love Me Tonight or Lubitsch's The Merry Widow and is a comedy with music, a lovely melody that weaves throughout the film accompanied by other gypsy songs and revelleries, it gives the film it's soul. The princess has to marry but does not want to marry the man chosen for her by her father's executors even though she hasn't met him, instead she decides to marry the gypsy violinsit playing beneath her window. She whisks him into the palace and into her life, he falls for her despite having a gypsy girl who gets good and jealous. Finally the princess meets her intended and then the pace picks up into a romantic triangle. This film was Boyer's third attempt to crack Hollywood, the English version (exactly the same) is available on youtube and although it wasn't a big money maker it did well enough to give Boyer a permenant place in Hollywood and made him the French actor in Hollywood.

Although my French is not good, that voice I can listen to it whether I can completely understand everything he says.

[JackFavell]

How would you compare the two versions, Alison? I can picture Annabella much better in the role even though I haven't seen the french version.

[Ann Harding]

Here is the French gipsy with his girl (Conchita Montenegro)

I knew you would like the film, Alison. It's certainly among my favourites in Boyer's filmography. He is very relaxed, having fun and doesn't try to project the 'brooding lover' image he sometimes adopted for later films. Even my mother who sometimes finds Boyer a bit over-the-top, liked him a lot in that film. But, we should mention the director, Erik Charell. He made in Germany a little masterpiece called The Congress dances (in French & in German). This Caravane shows he had lost none of his talent for fluid camerawork.

[charliechaplinfan]

The camera work, especially in the musical scenes with all the gypsies and soldiers are something to behold, so may extras and such fluid scenes. I enjoyed it a lot, I'll admit that Boyer is more natural and seems to be enjoying himself playing the gypsy but I'm a sucker that brooding lover too.

There isn't much to seperate the two films, they are shot pretty much scene for scene, Boyer feels more natural in the French version and I think the chemistry looks more fun with Annabella, so perhaps the French version has the edge but not by much. I do marvel at actors and directors who could deliver films in more than one language. Eric Charrell was German, that was quite a feat and it certainly is a film that should be better known.