Looking on the main ICM thread,I noticed a discussion about the original To Be or Not to Be,which led to me seeing Carole Lombard's brilliant, tragically final performance again. Checking BBC listings a few days later,I was thrilled to find that a Lombard was being shown that I've not heard of!,which led to me putting my name down.
The plot:
Stuck in a marriage that has gone off the rails long ago,Alec and Maida Walker spend each day having huge arguments with each other. Crossing paths with widow Julie Eden, Alec feels like entering a new relationship for the first time. Talking to Maida about getting divorced,Alec discovers that Maida will not let this marriage in name only end easily.
View on the film:
Proceeding when the Hays Code was at the peak of its powers,Richard Sherman's adaptation of Bessie Breuer's book is impressively frank about the broken state of Alec and Maida Walker's marriage,with the blunt exchanges between the couple having a sourness and a prickly nature which lay bare the disintegrated state of the relationship. Blossoming Eden and Alec's romance at X-Mas time,Sherman takes any hope of Christmas cheer away with a silk Melodrama which sows the quality light touch Alec has with Eden with the bitterness Maida can't stop expressing,even in front of Alec's deathbed!
Working twice with Lombard in 1939,director John Cromwell & cinematographer J. Roy Hunt give the romance between Alec and Walker a playfulness with on the snow covered streets,which melts into a rich Melodrama atmosphere,as stylish overlapping images and soft close- ups expose the possible fatal clouds on the horizon.Taking the role after being labelled "box office poison" Kay Francis gives a magnetic performance as Maida,with Francis sinking her teeth into the take no prisoners exchanges Maida has with everyone.
Toning down her comedic side, Carole Lombard (who replaced first choice Katharine Hepburn when she became "box office poison") gives a fantastic performance as Eden,who is given a breeziness from Lombard which gives the Melodrama a sincerity. Catching the eye of all the ladies, Cary Grant gives a marvellous performance as Alec,thanks to Grant balancing his leading man charms burning whilst delivering abrasive dialogue,as Alec and Maida find themselves in a marriage that is in name only.
The plot:
Stuck in a marriage that has gone off the rails long ago,Alec and Maida Walker spend each day having huge arguments with each other. Crossing paths with widow Julie Eden, Alec feels like entering a new relationship for the first time. Talking to Maida about getting divorced,Alec discovers that Maida will not let this marriage in name only end easily.
View on the film:
Proceeding when the Hays Code was at the peak of its powers,Richard Sherman's adaptation of Bessie Breuer's book is impressively frank about the broken state of Alec and Maida Walker's marriage,with the blunt exchanges between the couple having a sourness and a prickly nature which lay bare the disintegrated state of the relationship. Blossoming Eden and Alec's romance at X-Mas time,Sherman takes any hope of Christmas cheer away with a silk Melodrama which sows the quality light touch Alec has with Eden with the bitterness Maida can't stop expressing,even in front of Alec's deathbed!
Working twice with Lombard in 1939,director John Cromwell & cinematographer J. Roy Hunt give the romance between Alec and Walker a playfulness with on the snow covered streets,which melts into a rich Melodrama atmosphere,as stylish overlapping images and soft close- ups expose the possible fatal clouds on the horizon.Taking the role after being labelled "box office poison" Kay Francis gives a magnetic performance as Maida,with Francis sinking her teeth into the take no prisoners exchanges Maida has with everyone.
Toning down her comedic side, Carole Lombard (who replaced first choice Katharine Hepburn when she became "box office poison") gives a fantastic performance as Eden,who is given a breeziness from Lombard which gives the Melodrama a sincerity. Catching the eye of all the ladies, Cary Grant gives a marvellous performance as Alec,thanks to Grant balancing his leading man charms burning whilst delivering abrasive dialogue,as Alec and Maida find themselves in a marriage that is in name only.