I caught this short film at a showing recently and I have to say what a surprise it was! The production values are first rate - especially the photography and the costuming - both of them were first rate and definitely a cut above most short films that you see. But the whole concept of this film is what really has really stayed with me long after seeing it. Imagine Judy Garland and Orson Welles getting together to make a troubled film noir musical! It's so bizarre that it all totally works! And the two actors playing the leads do such an excellent job that you buy it. This is one impressive short film that is worth catching if you can.
6 Reviews
Clever Film Noir Send-Up Keeps Us Guessing
wordsmithk831 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Judy and Orson on Elm Street
Crammed as full of film hommages and sight gags as Driftwood's stateroom, "The Harvey Girl from Shanghai" is a droll pastiche of Wellesian film noir spiced with dashes of Wes Craven and "Laugh-In." The plot: discovery of a mummified corpse revives the mystery surrounding Orson Welles' uncompleted masterpiece, "The Harvey Girl from Shanghai," co-starring Judy Garland. Bits of archival footage of Welles and Garland reminiscing about the production are woven with surviving snippets of the lost film. What really happened? Did Welles suffer from Stendhal syndrome, or was it Garland? Was the shocking climax an elaborate hoax by the master prankster? What really happened to stuntman Joe? It's a fine line between dream and nightmare. Twenty-odd years later, Jackie Susan, who had been an extra in the movie, brings Welles and Garland together on her TV show to answer the riddles, but all three get stoned on the sponsor's product and the mystery remains unsolved.
Samm Hill channels Welles to perfection, and Woolsey Ackerman is a delightfully fey Garland. Acerbically written by Ackerman and Hill from a story by Michael Frost and Walter Reuben, THGFS is a clever melange of wildly different genres. Were they to leave out the gratuitous nods to Craven and Schlatter, this talented team could delve into the Garland-Welles oeuvres to create a sparkling film noir send-up. Imagine "Madame Crematon Meets The Stranger Under The Clock."
Crammed as full of film hommages and sight gags as Driftwood's stateroom, "The Harvey Girl from Shanghai" is a droll pastiche of Wellesian film noir spiced with dashes of Wes Craven and "Laugh-In." The plot: discovery of a mummified corpse revives the mystery surrounding Orson Welles' uncompleted masterpiece, "The Harvey Girl from Shanghai," co-starring Judy Garland. Bits of archival footage of Welles and Garland reminiscing about the production are woven with surviving snippets of the lost film. What really happened? Did Welles suffer from Stendhal syndrome, or was it Garland? Was the shocking climax an elaborate hoax by the master prankster? What really happened to stuntman Joe? It's a fine line between dream and nightmare. Twenty-odd years later, Jackie Susan, who had been an extra in the movie, brings Welles and Garland together on her TV show to answer the riddles, but all three get stoned on the sponsor's product and the mystery remains unsolved.
Samm Hill channels Welles to perfection, and Woolsey Ackerman is a delightfully fey Garland. Acerbically written by Ackerman and Hill from a story by Michael Frost and Walter Reuben, THGFS is a clever melange of wildly different genres. Were they to leave out the gratuitous nods to Craven and Schlatter, this talented team could delve into the Garland-Welles oeuvres to create a sparkling film noir send-up. Imagine "Madame Crematon Meets The Stranger Under The Clock."
Great Film
rglazier25 May 2010
Three things stand out in this film: 1) It was written by some very bright people who happen know Hollywood history. As result their script is witty enough for anyone to enjoy, but has a special appeal to people who love old films and Hollywood lore; 2) It is beautifully directed and photographed. Each scene has a look of its own, to fit the era in which it was set. The production values are first rate. 3) The cast is excellent, from the smallest parts to the leads. Suzie Kane as "Louella Parsons" advances her theories with just the right amount of wickedness. Samm Hill is excellent as "Orson Wells" ---sounding and looking a great deal like the man himself. Woolsey Ackerman is brilliant as "Judy Garland". He obviously knows his subject well, as he gives us Judy at her most fragile and her toughest, with equal success. Congratulations to everyone involved in this film
Love this smart little film!
janpdisc25 May 2010
A little sinister and a bit gruesome I guess, but very well written and extremely clever. Loads of references that Old Hollywood aficionados will "get" and appreciate, and production values (RED!!!) that will send today's film buffs into orbit! The magic of black and white is intensified a thousand times by this new technology. Kudos to the producers for going all out to make this short film as beautiful as it is entertaining.
Loved the cast, too, especially Woolsey Ackerman as Judy Garland. This was no "impersonation", but a loving and thoughtful interpretation of Judy. In the wrong hands she could have been campy, but thanks to Mr. Ackerman's talent and sensitivity she is dignified and beautiful.
I hope this film has the success it deserves!
Loved the cast, too, especially Woolsey Ackerman as Judy Garland. This was no "impersonation", but a loving and thoughtful interpretation of Judy. In the wrong hands she could have been campy, but thanks to Mr. Ackerman's talent and sensitivity she is dignified and beautiful.
I hope this film has the success it deserves!
An intriguing blend of glorious Technicolor and film noir nightmare
woolsey_ackerman-114 May 2010
It's MGM meets the Mercury Players in this rediscovered and partially restored masterpiece. Long considered lost, this captivating collaboration of Orson Welles (at his most dementedly brilliant) and Judy Garland (in the days when she reigned supreme as the musical-comedy queen of the Metro lot) is an intriguing blend of glorious Technicolor and film noir nightmare (the vivid blood shed on display in a climactic scene is what film buffs might term "Minnelli red"). Only Helsinki Productions could resurrect the most important A.W.O.L. epic in Hollywood history and allow contemporary audiences a tantalizing glimpse at what might have been.
If you thought Faye Dunaway was a revelation channeling Miss Joan Crawford in Frank Perry's finest hour ("Mommie Dearest," don't you know...),get a load of wonderful Woolsey Ackerman as Miss Show Business. You'll be standing on your seat, shouting out "Encore!" - just like you were at the Palace in '51.
What other cinematic triumph can emerge from the depths of Louis B. Mayer's private vault and come complete with references to a musical version of "Madame Bovary," Lillian Hellman and all the beefsteak sandwiches you can eat? Not to mention a cameo by none other than Scott Michaels...Is it even more marvelous than "The Magnificent Ambersons"? More tune-packed than "Till The Clouds Roll By"? Pick up some popcorn, slip into your best Adrian-designed evening wear and give it up for "The Harvey Girl from Shanghai." It's like nothing you've ever experienced...while fully conscious.
If you thought Faye Dunaway was a revelation channeling Miss Joan Crawford in Frank Perry's finest hour ("Mommie Dearest," don't you know...),get a load of wonderful Woolsey Ackerman as Miss Show Business. You'll be standing on your seat, shouting out "Encore!" - just like you were at the Palace in '51.
What other cinematic triumph can emerge from the depths of Louis B. Mayer's private vault and come complete with references to a musical version of "Madame Bovary," Lillian Hellman and all the beefsteak sandwiches you can eat? Not to mention a cameo by none other than Scott Michaels...Is it even more marvelous than "The Magnificent Ambersons"? More tune-packed than "Till The Clouds Roll By"? Pick up some popcorn, slip into your best Adrian-designed evening wear and give it up for "The Harvey Girl from Shanghai." It's like nothing you've ever experienced...while fully conscious.
- Mark Griffin, author of "A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli" (Da Capo Press)
A wonderful Hollywood "what if...?"
divaworks-682-7079119 October 2013
Imagine the queen of MGM musicals Judy Garland and Orson Welles working on a movie together! This movie imagines this Hollywood debacle in full "behind the scenes" documentary style. Really, what could go wrong with these two legendary, ego-driven Hollywood creatives?! Everything! The result is hysterical with some knock-out performances!
Woolsey Ackerman's Garland is so subtle, so understated you hardly notice you're watching "Garland" at all. He brings a human heart to a legendary figure that so many simply "impersonate". He plays her almost like a whispered lullaby instead of the over-blown diva she was known to be. Also, he plays her in various time periods: the 1940's, the 1950's and the 1960's to astonishing believability.
Samm Hill serves up the epic filmmaker Orson Welles without pretense or camp value. He's just a working "director" in Hill's hands. Kudos.
And there is the very saucy Suzie Kane giving dish from the sidelines as only Hollywood gossip Louella Parson's could.
Michael Frost's direction is sharp, clear and BIG as any Golden Age Hollywood studio would have confected. He ropes us into this tragic, flawed world of movie making! We know we are in for a real comedic ride!
If you want funny, imagined Hollywood dirt, Harvey Girl from Shanghai delivers.
Woolsey Ackerman's Garland is so subtle, so understated you hardly notice you're watching "Garland" at all. He brings a human heart to a legendary figure that so many simply "impersonate". He plays her almost like a whispered lullaby instead of the over-blown diva she was known to be. Also, he plays her in various time periods: the 1940's, the 1950's and the 1960's to astonishing believability.
Samm Hill serves up the epic filmmaker Orson Welles without pretense or camp value. He's just a working "director" in Hill's hands. Kudos.
And there is the very saucy Suzie Kane giving dish from the sidelines as only Hollywood gossip Louella Parson's could.
Michael Frost's direction is sharp, clear and BIG as any Golden Age Hollywood studio would have confected. He ropes us into this tragic, flawed world of movie making! We know we are in for a real comedic ride!
If you want funny, imagined Hollywood dirt, Harvey Girl from Shanghai delivers.
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