saustin

Saw this on Friday,13 December 1940 in Birmingham,a wonderful escape from the intense bombing. Eddy comes again in very fine voice,but not quite up to the standard of "Naughty Marietta," the first of the duo's film operettas. He has obviously gained significant weight: for example, he navigates with difficulty the gunwale of a ship which his comrades and he are attacking with strangely no casualties. The hit song in this operetta,which would not,I think,benefit from color because most of its takes are either at night or interiors, is "Wanting You",which the duo pulls off quite nicely.However,his emotional reactions during this piece,although adequate at the embrace,appear rather automatic,and do not compare with Allan Jones' tenderness in "Tomorrow is another day" (Day at Races,1937) or even the Red Shadow's pouring out his heart in the dated 1929 "Desert Song".His acting skills leave something to be desired:he turns his back on Jeanette during her vocal response,and shows deficiencies in emotional reaction. There is a marked antiquatedness in the dialog as in Jeanettes"I'll try my powers" when asked to sing "Paris" at the film's beginning, or her "Spare your minions!" when offered help in the captured ship. At times they are distinctly looking their ages.He is no longer the angular, gangling young Captain Warrington (lean and muscular) of "Naughty Marietta",but considerably "filled out." All the same,this is delightful escapist musical romance,with pirates, secret police,the French Revolution,sailing gunboats,Caribbean Islands,moonlight and beaches etc. I would strongly recommend this as a video played through an equalizer and amplifier perhaps with a sub-woofer,since the MGM musical recording is extremely good for the time.Romberg's operetta is not as classic as Herbert's "Naughty Marietta" and something is lost from the stage version with all its colorful choruses,reprises,but this is made up for in action and motion not practicable on the stage.

This saga seems to echo much of what Sergei Eisenstein (October,Potemkin) wrote in the 40s in "Film Form"---the dialectic of opposites. We see this very much in two sequences:- 1) The attack of the dragoons-sequence of the demonstration;cutback to dragoons preparing;the progress of the marchers;closeup of the marchers' leader; dragoons advance; a whole lot of intercutting of the action of opposites. 2) The confrontation of the retreating army and its leaders might have been from the annals of "Potemkin."

There is much symbolism in this film: the nature-struck boy's engrossment by a twig on a window-pane;the wreath blown away to oblivion; the mature Zhivago's frequent contemplation of nature,under a microscope,on the way to the Urals,or the ice crystals on a glass pane. There is often the broad canvas of panorama which might be Lean's signature (Lawrence of Arabia) which is enhanced by wide screen.

Even if Zhivago came from middle Russia,the Eastern appearance of Sharif does not quite fit; Max von Sydow might have done better in this part.The character played by Steiger is well shown: a callous cynical cad who presses his assistance contemptuously on his victims; perhaps the premise of this photoplay is in his words: An idealist spreads misery in his idealism; the man of action,the man of the world accomplishes goals in people's interest and is the better of the two (words to that effect).

This film starts and ends with talk about a balalaika, and although we never see it played,the background music "Lara's theme" recurs often too frequently.Guinness in the opening scenes and later, shows an appreciable range of emotions,but what is a general doing in charge of a hydro-electric dam? I would have liked some contemporary Russian music,Tchaikowski,Glazunov or the like;we are treated only to a short piano rendering of one of Rachmaninoff's preludes. This film is enormous in scope: the alleged scenes of Russia, the Urals are fine;even in Alaska the houses do not freeze inside so much

but the license is acceptable.

This movie does well as a saga,an on-again,off-again love story about

a man whose ideals do not exclude adultery.It is Eisenstein in color and wide screen,but not up to the standard of Bondarchuk's "War and Peace",(Russian,1969)...perhaps a bit on the style of "Alexander Nevski".

Nelson Eddy's last feature (or penultimate).Still in very good voice as a 46 y.o. baritone whose renderings of "Raindrops on a Drum"," Nearer and Dearer",written by Rudolf Friml ("Rose Marie"),back from retirement for this work,are still a delight. Very much a repeat of the theme of "Rose Marie" i.e. Mountie,policeman,ranger,guard,soldier pursues beautiful suspect who has assignment to rescue fugitive lover,brother etc. The music by Friml rescues the story from the formula and there is some historic merit in the the settings in Fort Ross in California;the earlier scenes have incidental music evocative of P.Tchaikowski and reminiscent of "Balalaika" in which the two juvenile leads also starred.(They are also on opposite sides ). Ilona Massey (from Hungary)has a pleasant contralto voice and the film has a number of practiced or well known supporters:Joseph Shildkraut,Elsa Lanchester,Hugo Haas plus the talented director, Alan Dwan. Despite the fact that the two stars have aged by this time, this is pleasant entertainment with empathic background orchestral music.Forget the story,listen to the singing and also the newly formed "G.I.Chorus". The final scene,both on horseback is just like the last in "Naughty Marietta". Although done on the Republic lot, certainly not the "horse-opera" described by some critics.

So remarks M.La Bessière,played by dapper Adolphe Menjou,as he takes the ferry to Morocco,the underlying subtext of this fiction. This is Marlene's second film in tophat (after "Blue Angel") and she has now completed her "habit de métier" in tuxedo,her amour-propre which fascinated audiences for years to come. Most of the characters were well-rounded:the insecure nightclub owner,Lo Tinto,played by Paul Porcasi;Adjutant Caesar,who arrests hero Gary Cooper for a fight with an Arab and suspects Cooper of toying with his (Caesar's) wife,but puts his life on the line against an Arab foe firing a Vickers machine gun. There are some nice touches:moonlit Morocco streets overshadowed with vine branches;the relaxation of the legionnaires after a patrol;the Germanic detail of the barracks (mosquito netting),the tilted hanging lamps (suggestive of Pabst,Pommer and East European directors);the final touches that the patrol commander makes to his men's uniform just before the final shot at the end of the film. Cooper is the silent type;there is a motionless delay as he waits in Marlene's dressing-room but this was probably acceptable in 1930 and now is an acceptable drama,the opposite pole from "Beau Geste" or "March or Die".

Little to add to previous full length descriptions.Otherwise,the whole resolves itself into two headings: The story.

The history.

After a short time I had the feeling of a soap-opera of forbidden love,which might have occurred in Ancient Athens,Shakespeare's England or the Wild West.There is some viciousness..Cal's demands on his fiancee,and his brutal slap across her face;the way in which his bodyguard, a "heavy" ,Lovett,gives the handcuffed Dawson a crippling blow to the stomach: this is the stuff of a bad Western.Neither is the idea of Cal shooting off his automatic in a crowded hallway realistic nor does it add anything to the plot except perhaps to indicate a fragment of character.With little exception, these seem to be mono-dimensional characters. In fact,tri-dimensionsality seems to be far from the skills of the director or main characters,apart perhaps from that of the heroine's mother,from whom we get some idea of her past,present and anticipated future.They say their lines,gesture,grimace, and act,but we know rather little about them. There are obvious and predictable "cliff-hangers",one earlier,which brings the juvenile leads together: later an attempt to escape the pursuing Atlantic floods,which could equally have been a pursuit by prehistoric beasts in "Jurassic Park'-a film which is also short on character and plot. While some details are accurate: British handcuffs,(not the US ratchet type)UK Webley revolver,the cup of lemon and weak tea served to the Captain raises some eyebrows;obviously an old seadog would have had strong tea with milk and sugar.Again, the string quintet played "Nearer my God to Thee" to the US tune of Lowell Mason's 1856 "Bethany",while English musicians would have been more familiar with Dykes' (1823-76) "Horbury" in Hymns Ancient and Modern.Perhaps the director had US cinema audiences in mind. The story also aggravates class hostility of the time; I would wonder whether the crew would deliberately exclude the less privileged classes from safety.

History. The film puts total liability on the class-deferent British:insufficient lifeboats; arrest of Dawson on false charges;handcuffing in a sinking vessel;closing off the lower hatches at the risk of the engine crew.I may have missed the 16 watertight compartments,of which five were ruptured, and the double hull. Once more, the Leyland liner "Californian" is omitted (US?)-less than 20 mi.away,and her radio operator asleep.(Encycl.Britannica,vol 22).There is no follow-up of the International Convention for safety held in London.

There is no doubt about the cinematic thaumaturgy,the amazing computer effects,the marvelous shots of the liner and some tricks like a color equivalent of the Dunning Process(placing actor in distant filmed background).They fail to compensate for a seaborne soap opera and I would have chosen a Grant-Bergman film for a romantic drama,and Das Boot" for a taut aquatic drama. In short,the wreck and the romance don't fit.

It was the best of times, the worst of times(Dickens);"The Singing Fool" and the "Jazz Singer" rescued W.B. from bankruptcy but the advent of sound ruined actors who failed to make the transition:e.g. John Gilbert's squeaky voice. 1929 saw the great crash and the onset of Depression.It was also the time of Abd-El-Krim who fought the French in Morocco and may have been the inspiration of this operetta.

The titling looks so very much like a silent,plus the 10 min.intermission.The stiffness is forgivable,considering some facts: silent actors still had to declaim and gesture;synch.sound had to be filmed in booths,restricting movements(no blimps those days),and the camera crane and boom had only just arrived.

Carlotta King is in excellent voice,but has a distinct almost UK elocution resembling Margaret Dumont's.I still think that John Boles' acting as the R.S. is as passionate as one could wish, his portrayal as the inane Pierre overplayed until his father tells him of Margot's intended trip with Fontaine,when his disappointment is obvious.The music keeps to the imported Viennese style except the Riff Song and one or two others.The "Desert Song" duet is a delight and the difference with this film and other musicals is that the background music is there all the time and keeps the action going,not just dialog interspersed with a song or two.I think that their voices compensate for any acting deficiencies and the sincerity comes over very well.The two later versions do not match it in content, and given the choruses and dances the production values for the time are great.The original was partly in Technicolor,I am informed.I disagree about Benny's gaiety:the term was unknown in those days and would not have been implied.I saw this historic masterpiece in Brighton UK in '30,and wish there was a decent video.

Opens in UK hospital with Walbrook as war-injured Polish officer agonising over recall of composition:flashback to meeting with N.Y. news correspondent (who quickly supplants US with UK accent) Sally Gray(actress's name) as he ruminates over concerto composition.Further recall to selection by Air pilots' squad to come to US to garner funds for Poland in 1940.Wrenching decision to return East and and as RAF pilot runs out of ammunition and wilfully crashes into German bomber,bringing us back to original scene in hospital room. Conflicts developed very nicely:between hero and other pilots;between hero and close friend over the heroine;between hero and wife about return to UK;and within himself over his future mission:to stay fundraising in US or join RAF.Goes without saying about excellent haunting" Warsaw Concerto" excellently played,very moody amd evocative. When this film came out in '41 the Concerto was criticised as a copy of Grieg's p.concerto in A mi., or Tchaikowski's 2nd in C. All the same it is worth several viewings.

Perhaps not the greatest intellectual material, but quite likeable piece of pre-WWII fluff. Shirley Ross comes over as a quite refreshing young starlet,and masquerading as a deaf goldmine owner,who turns out at the end to be as short of a fortune as anyone else. The motor trip of the Sheriff from the S.W. raises a few laughs,and Shirley's song "Blossoms on Broadway" sung in the pouring rain on Broadway is the highlight of the picture.The music is catching,Johnny Arnold as Quinterfield Jnr. (also as Benny of the "Desert Song") is amusing, as is the conniving Quinterfield Senior. The film is well supported by Edward Arnold as the longtime con artist, and William Frawley as the persistent detective. The end is somewhat overdone by the operatic musicale.,which would be tedious to modern audiences,and the police extravaganza at the end.