jromanbaker

This misguided film complete with gaudy operatic sets, and wooden acting ( except for Flora Robson ) tells the story of how George the First gets on to the English throne. This Hanoverian prince needs a bride and the essentially comedic actor Joan Greenwood tries very hard to be convincing as the unlucky choice, and no spoilers everyone in the wretched scenario ends up unhappy. The title is pretentious and the film is utterly depressing with a few gruesome moments to keep the audience awake. What it does show is that time is a very relative thing. The one and a half running time due to the ponderous direction seemed like four hours. Stewart Granger is dull as the listless lover of both Flora Robson and Joan Greenwood. Apparently he wanted Marlene Dietrich in Robson's role. His grumpiness at not achieving that seemed apparent to me. An expensive film for Ealing just after WW2 and in my opinion a waste of talent and time for everyone, I guess some liked it during that drab era and the colour alone would have dragged them away from their radios.

I often why in the early 1950's there were so many ' Ruritanian ' films, all set in countries that were somewhere hidden in Europe ? ' The Merry Widow, ' and ' The Student Prince ' and arguably the best of them all ' Call Me Madam. ' Ethel Merman stars and she is superb and in my opinion Hollywood should have created more films around her. There was ' There's No Business Like Show Business ' but was somehow crowded out by too many other actors. ' Call Me Madam ' is her film, and she sings and dances to perfection. The ballroom scene is one of many fine scenes, and her dialogue is witty and she acts with a certain vulgarity with great class. What she does with a long train on her dress is a wonder to see. The film was made a few years after the Broadway musical, and no doubt she took New York by storm. Donald O'Connor and Vera-Ellen co-star well, and so does George Sanders who has a song, and he seems to love every moment of it. A must see musical not only for Merman but for the wonderful Irving Berlin songs.

My only reservation that I have over this excellent film by Luchino Visconti is the casting of Marcello Mastroianni. Visconti had wanted Alain Delon and in my opinion his young presence in the film would have made the film all the more deeply moving. I am looking forward to the new version of the novel by Albert Camus directed by Francois Ozon, but in the meantime I watched this long lost film. Anna Karina is superb and the direction of the film is tight and straight to the debatable point; why was Meursault condemned ? The division between the blazing sun and the darkness of the trial is strangely terrifying to watch. The use of colour is perfect, and colour and the light of life is what is at stake for Meursault. A great Visconti film, and it should not have been placed in Limbo for so many years. It was thanks to YouTube in a pristine copy that I was awed by the film's tragic content.