bailodhia

This was probably one of the most well-made films of the 40's - Warner Bros. at the very height of their style. The photography by Sol Polito is arguably his finest achievement - gorgeous compositions and lighting with delicate shadowing. Max Steiner contributes one of his most complex and beautiful scores - the epitome of his classical leit motif method. The music adds great emotion and excitement to the plot and is exquisite and memorable. It's interesting to note that the same production team that made this movie went right on to make "Now, Voyager" later that year - a fine film which won honors and awards and went down as a historical favorite, ciefly because it starred Bette Davis. IN my opinion, "The Gay Sisters" is a much better film - better made in all departments, and more interesting, complex and enjoyable. A most unusual film which entertains those who take it for what it is, rather than project their own modern creative sensibilities or their advanced and demanding standards of hyper-critical perfection. Each thing has to be judged in it's own time reference and for what it is trying to achieve on its own terms. Most of the complaints I've read in these reviews are so childish and totally missing the point. If you're hungry for a perfect filet mignon, don't go to the bakery counter and start whining and complaining about the fluff pastry. The art of film criticism is truly lost on a large segment of the population. Sorry folks - maybe if this movie had had a score by the Rolling Stones and a hundred intricate and soul searching subplots, you'd all be gleefully gratified. I'll take an old movie without modern intellectual pretensions an day of the week!

Yikes!! Where does one begin? I bought the new DVD of this movie, just watched it, and now have chosen it as the worst film I've ever seen, with all due respects to former title holder Ed Wood. In fact, this movie has about the same level of production artistry and skill of a typical Wood epic. It's truly amazing. A pure fiasco on every level! Especially story and acting, with the sole exception of the unsinkable Agnes Moorehead who couldn't give a bad performance if they tied her up and gave her sleeping pills.

Ironically, I've waited years to finally see this film. A great admirer and fan of the incomparable classic film composer Max Steiner, I found that this was one of his few films that I was never able to see. I was always curious why he was loaned out from WB to score this minor forgotten film when he was at the zenith of his power and popularity in 1949 - having just composed for "Johnny Belinda", "Key Largo", "Treasure of Sierra Madre", "The Fountainhead", and "Don Juan" - all scores which entered film history.

Why did he go score this meager independent effort? I suspect that the director was a good friend of his and after the film was put together everyone saw what a disaster it was and believed that Steiner could achieve a true miracle and save the movie by putting his glorious music to this awful mess.

I never thought I'd ever admit this, but Steiner's score absolutely destroys the film. Perhaps after paying his astronomical loan-out fee from Warners, the producers insisted on getting their money's worth with a wall-to-wall thundering score. I'd hate to think it was Max's choice. But this film desperately needed just an ounce of subtle music here and there to make it more realistic and believable - and Steiner unfortunately scores it like a Wagnerian opera. I came across the sound track years ago and it was one of my favorites - vibrant, melodic, passionate epic music. At the time I had no idea what the plot of the film was and could only conjure the most epic images of car chases, train crashes, exotic locales - possibly a trip to Chinatown. When I finally read that the whole thing takes place in a bungalow in the San Fernando Valley I couldn't believe it. And watching the movie I was horrified to see that the surging, thunderous, throbbing passages that I thought was probably a thrilling chase culminating in a spectacular train crash was simply Laraine Day walking into her bedroom and sitting down at her vanity table and putting on lipstick! Poor Max! Poor movie! A dull, nothing plot. One tired cliché after another. Ridiculously motivated characters, acting badly as they chew up the drab scenery. Just a preposterous mess that can't be explained. Top talent all around. First-rate director, acclaimed writer, filmdom's greatest composer, a photographer (Lionel Lindon) who had shot some of Paramount's finest hits and would a few years later cap his career with an Oscar for Mike Todd's "Around the World in Eighty Days" - and this ultra cheap, crummy-looking movie is the result. A true aberation and unique disaster of film-making history. See this with a friend - you'l laugh yourselves sick.