WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[feaito]

Thanks for telling me Kingrat, I am glad to read it! I haven't been able to share this film with friends and members of the family who don't speak English, because I own the Anchor Bay DVD edition, which does not include Subs in Spanish. I plan to order the MGM/UA release because it has subs...

[MikeBSG]

I liked the Swedish "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" more than the Hollywood version.

Maybe it was because I saw it first. However, I thought the Swedish actress brought more intensity to her role, and the Swedish actor, who played the journalist, brought a realism and sense of vulnerabilty to the role that Daniel Craig didn't have. I thought the Hollywood film simplified and smoothed out the plot too much and what excited me about the unwrapping/unpeeling of the mystery in the Swedish film was simply not there in the Hollywood version. The Hollywood film wasn't bad, but it was simply rather routine.

[feaito]

I forgot to mention that last week I "discovered" yet another not well-known film: Otto Preminger's version of Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan" simply titled "The Fan " (1949), in which the lovely Madeleine Carroll played -perfectly- her last film role: Mrs. Erlynne. I liked this fresh take on Wilde's story, which is very different from the comedy of manners of the source. Preminger transformed it in something different, but worthwhile, just as Lubitsch did with Coward's "Design for Living" (1933). I think that Carroll's performance is not stereotypical at all...she plays the role with much skill and subtlety. First of all the film begins after WWII when the Windermeres are already dead and an elderly Mrs. Erlynne looks after the equally elderly Lord Darlington (George Sanders) to acknowledge her as the owner of a precious object to her. Then the story unfolds in flashback. Lovely Jeanne Crain, beautifully attired, plays credibly Lady Windermere and Richard Greene her husband. Sanders is very good as Darlinton and Martita Hunt, priceless as a dowager Duchess.

I came across an excellent review at IMDB which I'm quoting next:

Author: imogensara_smith from New York City


*** This review may contain spoilers ***


When I got home from a screening of THE FAN I sat down to re-read "Lady Windermere's Fan," and came to the conclusion that the film is significantly better than the play. I don't think this opinion is as heretical as it sounds. Wilde's literary reputation rests largely on his exquisite aphorisms and his one perfect work, "The Importance of Being Earnest," my nominee for the funniest play ever written. Before he hit his stride with "Earnest," Wilde's plays were an awkward hybrid of sophisticated comedy and stilted melodrama, with creaky plots that heavy-handedly flogged their worthy message of tolerance. There is always a woman with a past, an acidulous dandy, a shameful secret, and a self-righteous young man or woman who has to come to terms with that secret.

Otto Preminger seems like a poor choice to interpret Wilde. He did not have a light touch, and anyone expecting sly, frothy comedy from THE FAN will be disappointed. (Watch the Lubitsch silent version instead.) Preminger downplays the comedy-of-manners aspect without eliminating or destroying it, but he succeeds in translating the cardboard melodrama into something subtle, complex and moving. Preminger's gift was for creating ensembles in shades of gray, with no black villains or white heroes. Here the whole cast is tamped-down and naturalistic: there is no mannered camp about the comedy and no teeth-marks on the scenery after the dramatic peaks.

The first half of the film is original, setting up the situation that the play lays in our laps in its first scene. To begin with there is a framing device set in contemporary post-war London, where the octogenarian Mrs. Erlynn (Madeleine Carroll) discovers the fan at an auction of unclaimed property from bombed buildings. In order to reclaim her property she has to prove ownership, so she tracks down Lord Darlington (George Sanders), now a doddering "museum piece" living in a remnant of his former home. We learn that Lord and Lady Windermere were killed in the Blitz; that the two worldly, ambiguous characters have survived the pure couple feels appropriate to a changed world. The frame gives the costume-drama portion a wistful edge; instead of the usual Hollywood gloss, here the past gleams through nostalgia like a flower buried in a paperweight.

The flashback unfolds as Mrs. Erlynn relates her story to the reluctant and skeptical Lord Darlington. George Sanders might seem like almost too obvious a choice to play this role. Some of the dialogue ("As a wicked man I am a complete failure. In fact, there are some people who say I have never done anything really wrong in my life. Of course, they only say it behind my back") might have been written for that inimitable dry-sherry voice, at once rich, acid and smooth. But Sanders, like the rest of the cast, does not lean on wit, delivering the bon mots casually, almost under his breath. Instead, he comes as close as I've ever seen him to suggesting raw feeling behind the polished facade of disdainful boredom. As Lady Windermere, delicate Jeanne Crain turns the tiresomely shrill, uncompromising puritan of the play into a fresh, gentle innocent, a young woman of innate but untested fineness. It's like watching a paper doll come to life.

But this is Madeleine Carroll's movie. All too often relegated to decorative roles, here she gives a nuanced performance as a complicated woman: flirtatious, scheming, unscrupulous, but ultimately brave and compassionate; proud but stricken with inconsolable regret. She manages the mother-love scenes with compelling emotion, never sliding into sentimentality. As a young woman Mrs. Erlynn left her husband and child for another man, breaking her husband's heart. In middle age, still relying on youthful allure and trailing a scandalous reputation, she returns to London. She is not above blackmailing her daughter's wealthy husband, Lord Windermere, who gives her large sums of money to spare his wife from learning the truth about her idealized mother, whom she believes is dead. Gossip turns this transaction into an affair, and Lady Windermere is devastated when she believes her handsome young husband has betrayed her.

Interestingly, the film shows Lord W. initially attracted by Mrs. Erlynn, suggesting he is no plaster saint. But he hardly deserves the agony of having to choose between losing his wife's trust or destroying her illusions about her mother. Meanwhile, Lord Darlington seizes on the alleged infidelity to declare his love for Lady W. and beg her to leave her husband for him. Would he really have devoted his life to her, or would he have abandoned her after a year, as Mrs. Erlynn suspects? We're never sure, but we believe that he still regrets losing her. This must be one of the few cases in which the movie version of a literary work has a less happy ending than the original. The elimination of Mrs. Erlynn's last-minute marriage suits the darker, sadder, more mature tone of the film—and since we see her in hale old age we know that she landed on her feet somehow. There is the faintest hint that she and Lord Darlington might make a December-December match, but it's not overplayed.

Few films have done a better job of hiding their stage origins; this one never feels static or talky, and the interpolated activities like a fencing match and a shopping trip feel natural and evoke an elegant lost world. THE FAN has more warmth and tenderness than many of Preminger's films, and if it doesn't belong with his very best, it certainly belongs with those, like DAISY KENYON, that deserve greater exposure and appreciation.

Here's a still from the film:



A tense moment develops when Mrs. Erlynne (Carroll) meets Lady Windermere (Crain) at her birthday party. Lord Windermere nervously looks on.

[feaito]

I liked the Swedish "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" more than the Hollywood version.

Maybe it was because I saw it first. However, I thought the Swedish actress brought more intensity to her role, and the Swedish actor, who played the journalist, brought a realism and sense of vulnerabilty to the role that Daniel Craig didn't have. I thought the Hollywood film simplified and smoothed out the plot too much and what excited me about the unwrapping/unpeeling of the mystery in the Swedish film was simply not there in the Hollywood version. The Hollywood film wasn't bad, but it was simply rather routine.

Thanks for your input Chris. I'll look for this version.

[RedRiver]

George Sanders and Oscar Wilde. The perfect match! It does sound as if the writers made some cinematic choices in adapting the play. But I must defend Wilde's skill as a dramatist. Yes, "Earnest" is his master work. Yes, "Earnest" is the funniest thing ever put on paper! But his other comedies are well written too. "Lady Windermere" is the best known, but AN IDEAL HUSBAND has enjoyed a bit of a resurfacing. A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE is more sensitive, and possibly the best of the three.

Wilde did incorporate the dramatic conventions of his time, but he managed to poke fun at them while utilizing the format. Ever the philosopher, there's usually one character who serves the dual purpose of expository sounding board (other people tell him what's going on) and "wit in chief," he tells us what he thinks about it! The plot gets sillier and sillier, but that's part of the fun!

These are fine, sophisticated comedies. They're merely overshadowed by a true work of genius.

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" (1935) directed by Henry Hathaway.

Where has the movie been all my life? It was very well done. It zipped along like greased lightning, and I loved the interplay between Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone, as they started as antagonists and ended up as friends. It was interesting seeing Cooper as a guy who was (somewhat) wrong about stuff throughout the film. I don't think I've ever seen Cooper with a moustache in a film before. The action scenes were all very well done, and in general I'd give the edge to this over "Gunga Din" any day. (That film always struck me as a little too silly.)

[feaito]

Thanks for your input RedRiver. I'd like to read your thoughts about the 1949 "The Fan" when you watch it.

Chris, LOABL is one of my favorite action-adventures film of all-time...only a very talented director -like Henry Hathaway- could turn out such excellent and different films in one year: LOABL and "Peter Ibbetson", both showcasing Gary Cooper at his peak.

[Lzcutter]

Mike,

I always find it interesting and hard to explain how little Henry Hathaway is appreciated. Granted, he wasn't an easy director to work for but, then, neither was John Ford (and I love John Ford but he wasn't easy to work for) or Howard Hawks. Yet, the auteurs of the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s elevated Ford to the top of the pyramid and Hawks, Hitch, Minnelli and a small handful of others to the next rung down and yet, Hathaway, Mike Curtiz, Wild Bill Wellman, Raoul Walsh and others were treated like they never made the cut.

Though I lived through that era, I will never completely understand the reasoning behind who got to be auteur and who got ignored.

All I know for sure is it sure wasn't fair.

[MikeBSG]

I too am puzzled by the lack of respect for/interest in Henry Hathaway.

Granted, he seems to have made a lot of duds in the late 50s. "Garden of Evil" is just lifeless, for example.

But his career is just odd. Even if you can get over the fact that the same guy directed "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" and "Peter Ibbetson" in the same year (let alone the same lifetime)there is the enigma that Hathaway starts out making "Americana" movies ("Trail of the Lonesome Pine," etc.) then becomes an accomplished director of noir ("Kiss of Death" "Dark Corner" "Niagara") and finally ends up in the Western. That is just a weird career arc, made even weirder by the fact that Hathaway's best known WWII movie is "The Desert Fox." It is very difficult to wrap a career like that up into a neat package.

[feaito]

I agree with you Chris, but I feel that the "oddity" of Hathaway's career has to do with his versatilty and also with the fact that as a talented Studio (Paramount & Fox) director he was appointed to direct films belonging to very different genres. I always admire a director that can be successful in many genres and that 's one of the main reasons because William Wyler is my favorite film director of all time.

And let me tell you that your feelings about "Gunga Din" (1939) are mine too; when I watched it some years ago with my dad I also found it quite silly, notwithstanding its merits; the mixture of slapstick comedy, adventure and drama comes off a little bit strange. I realized that my dad enjoyed much more "Beau Geste" and "The Four Feathers" (released that same year), which we watched over that WE, because they are plain action-adventure-dramatic films...But pondering now I'd have to say that "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" is the superior film of them all in that category!

[RedRiver]

Hathaway was a pioneer of the documentary style drama. CALL NORTHSIDE 777, THE HOUSE ON 92nd STREET and others. He made mature westerns such as RAWHIDE and THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS. Could it be that talented filmmakers like himself, Walsh, Curtiz just didn't have the track record of "The Great Ones"? Ford, Hawks and Hitchcock made SO MANY fine films!

[MikeBSG]

Just watched "The Small Back Room" (1949) directed by Powell and Pressburger.

An interesting film. I can see why it isn't one of their more popular films, as the plot seems rather disjointed. Part of the film is a bitter satire of British WWII governmental infighting, and part of the film is about defusing booby traps.

Is this the only film in which Michael Gough played a heroic character? He is the hero second-class here, as he gets blown up and loses the girl, but he nearly steals the film from the actual star, David Farrar. Usually I expect to see Gough playing mad killers or deranged scientists.

Jack Hawkins is on hand as an aboslutely despicable bureaucrat. The depiction of bureaucratic infighting is terrific and very amusing. It just doesn't quite fit with the bomb disposal material. Still, this one is definitely worth a look.

[RedRiver]

This promising espionage drama fails to excite me too. Certainly not a bad film. It's just a little too meticulous. It does have its moments. This is the one with the dancing whiskey bottle, isn't it? Fantastic scene!

[feaito]

On Saturday I watched the Blu Ray release of "The Robe" (1953). The restoration is quite amazing and I compared it with the regular DVD edition. It has many worthwhile extras, so I recommend it to any fan of Biblical movies and/or the film itself. I enjoyed the movie (with my wife) very much, especially Jean Simmons' loveliness as the Lady Diana...she's nothing short of spectacular here, looking like a Roman Goddess of Purity and Class...She and Burton make a most handsome couple; more than Burton and Taylor did ten years later in Fox's "Cleopatra".

Yesterday night I watched "The Family Man" (2000) a sort of modern re-hash of "It's a Wonderful Life!" (1946), but "the other way round". Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni are fine, but it's one of the most manipulative films I have ever seen.