WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[feaito]

I can imagine that in the USA, due to the strict Censorship Code and all that, but I thought that in France things were different even at that time; that there was more freedom and the public was more used to adult stuff like this. The subject of adultery is handled in such a delicate, adult way that I wouldn't have thought that. Sorry for having written incorrectly the release date: 1947, I must have confused it with Philipe's "La Beauté du Diable" (1949)...so both actors were 24-25 years old then. I realized that the film has been restored. I bet this is the same version relesed on DVD in France.

[Ann Harding]

What you saw is a broadcast on French TV last year. The film had been unavailable for years due to rights problems. The DVD has English subs.

[feaito]

OK, thanks for the information Christine. I bet that the print released on DVD is the same that was broadcasted last year with English subs added.

[feaito]

I liked very much "Lydia"...I've never seen "Un Carnet de Bal".

[feaito]

I revisited one of my favorite films from my childhood "My Friend Irma" (1949) which I saw many times (dubbed in Spanish, of course). The characters' voices were so vivid in my mind, especially Irma's and Al's, that it's the first time I missed the dubbing in Spanish ...and what I remembered as a riotously funny comedy, was nothing more than a mildly pleasant film. Marie Wilson is lovable and daffy as Irma; it's also Jerry's & Dean's first film; Diana Lynn is lovely and John Lund is shameless as Al. Fine.

[Ann Harding]

I also enjoyed Julien Duvivier's Lydia (1941), a remake of his French classic Un carnet de bal, although apparently very different. This is the first Duvivier film I've seen. With its smart direction and excellent sets and costumes, it could be one of the good Vincente Minnelli films. In old age Lydia seeks out the suitors she rejected when she was a rich young woman. Merle Oberon is always beautiful, but here she proves she can really act, as she did in These Three (but in Wuthering Heights and Berlin Express, not quite so much). Joseph Cotten is good as one of the suitors, and Edna May Oliver brings her special brand of campy comedy to the role of Lydia's grandmother. If you like 40s films about women, you should give this one a try, for there's much to talk about. Warning: people who've seen Un carnet de bal apparently tend not to care for Lydia, according to the imdb reviews.

For one, I do like both Lydia and Un carnet de bal, but not for the same reasons. Lydia is a flamboyant melodrama with a great score and superb cinematography. Un Carnet de bal is far grittier and a showcase for a multitude of great French actors and actresses. I think Un carnet de bal might come out through Criterion at some point. You'll discover a film that contains equal measure of drama and comedy. Mary Bell revisits her past suitors and meet men which have changed considerably. Harry Baur has become a priest, Raimu is the mayor of a small city in the south on the verge of marrying his maid, Pierre Blanchar is a dodgy medic (practicing abortions) in a derelict flat, Louis Jouvet is a former lawyer who became a gang leader, and so on... As you can see, it's quite different from Lydia.

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday, I watched "No Man's Land" (2001), a movie set in the Bosnian war of the 90s. I think the best way to describe it would be as a "Steel Helmet" that turns into "MASH." It begins with a Bosnian and a Serb trapped in a trench between the two lines. Then the UN (the "smurfs") get involved. It is both grim and very funny. Perhaps it is the European "Wag the Dog" in a way. in attitude?

Sad note. I was impressed by Katrin Cartlidge, the British actress in the film (she plays a TV reporter.) When I looked up the movie on IMDB, I saw that she died a year after making this film. What a loss.

I have to seek out more films by the director, Danis Tanovic.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched Daisy Kenyon today, directed by Otto Preminger in 1947 a starring vehicle for Joan Crawford with Dana Andrews and Henry Fonda in support. It was a pleasant enough movie, one I found slightly miscast, the only person enjoying his part seemed to be Dana Andrews. Henry Fonda's part was too small and too ordinary, I'm used to Henry Fonda being billed first on the marquee and taking a larger part but his character was bland, I don't know why Daisy wolud ever have fallen for him. Perhaps Fonda had just come back from the war and had to work his way back up the ranks again, a shame, he's becoming an actor I'm liking discovering, as is Dana Andrews who never seems to dissappoint although he's very different here than he was in The Best Year of Our Lives. I didn't find Joan particularly convincing and tried for most of the film to wrack my brains as to why, I think I find her quite forced in this film, not as natural as in her earlier thirties movies, perhaps a tad too much in film star mode. I think she was giving the public what they wanted and Iam merely looking at it from today's viewpoint.

[JackFavell]

I think you make good points about Daisy Kenyon - I have always had trouble with the Fonda role, I like him in almost everything, but this was a miss. There should be something in that character that makes him attractive to her, not just a choosing of safety over passion. Dana is such an underrated actor, he's just marvelous. I saw him in State Fair today - he took this simple little nothing role and made it unique and interesting.

[MikeBSG]

Saw a very entertaining film this afternoon, "Nine Queens" (2000) directed by Fabian Bielinsky, from Argentina. (I don't even remember why I put this in my Netflix list anymore.)

It is a film about con men, and it has all the swift back-and-forth of that type of film. "Paper Moon" and "The Sting" came to mind, especially the latter. I really liked Ricardo Darin as one of the con men. His face reminded me of Lee Van Cleef in a way.

The surprising thing, to me, was that "Nine Queens" also made me think of "Inception." There was nothing science fictional about "Nine Queens." I think it was the look of the film, the style of the hotel where the action took place in both films.

[Ann Harding]

Yesterday I watched Out of the Fog (1941, A. Litvak) with John Garfield, Ida Lupino and Thomas Mitchell. We are in the harbour area of Brooklyn where poor people are victims of a nasty racketeer Harold Goff (J. Garfield). They have to pay to keep their little boat or they risk a beating. It gets worse when Goff starts to flirt with Stella (I. Lupino), the daughter of a tailor (T. Mitchell), himself a victim of this nasty hoodlum. Garfield plays the nasty to the hilt. He grins and kicks with relish. Ida Lupino is her usual tense self as the poor girl ready for an adventure away from her everyday surroundings. My favourite character was however Thomas Mitchell as the victim who decides to act against his tormentor. The seedy atmosphere is well portrayed by James Wong Howe's cinematography. But, I was slightly disappointed by the one-sided characters. They are just too black and white to function properly, except for Mitchell. Nevertheless, it's a nice feature with some great character actors John Qualen, Aline MacMahon, Jerome Cowan, Paul Harvey, etc.

[JackFavell]

I agree, Ann, that Out of the Fog misses greatness by a hair...there are no real surprises, but the cast is just wonderful, especially Mitchell and Qualen.

I love the fact that the leads are two middle-aged, timid men. Garfield is electric, one sees immediately how evil he is, and yet there is something so compelling in him, you almost fall for his line anyway. I have always thought that this movie was a parable of events leading up to WWII, with Mitchell and Qualen as the countries who capitulated to Hitler, and Garfield as the fascists or Nazis themselves.... making themselves attractive in order to gain power, then robbing the people of everything, first their money, then their possessions or land, then their daughters, and finally their self-respect. I love that Mitchell draws the line at self-respect.

[charliechaplinfan]

That's a good analogy, it describes Out of the Fog well. It was much better than I'd expected with a couple of unexpected twists, it does just miss out on greatness.

Today I watched Suzy directed by George FitzMaurice and starring Jean Harlow in one of her only serious roles and costarring Franchot Tone and Cary Grant. The story is part romance, part spy story, part love triangle and part war film. Jean has never looked lovelier than here, I don't know what it is, she seems to have caught the look of love from the story but she sparkles. Franchot Tone hasn't got a particularly dashing part, he's more the Mr Dependable, Cary Grant's character, an ace flyer and a very charming man who marries Jean within a day. Jean is very touching in her scenes with Lewis Stone as Cary's father. My favorite bit is Cary singing to Jean, certainly not dubbed, no one could get that accent right. Benita Hulme also stars as a spy.