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Reviews
Song of the South (1946)
A Bit of Insight Required
I watched this film on YouTube last night, seeing it for the first time since my childhood days more than 60 years ago.
There appears to be some talk about racism regarding this film; I saw lots of it in posts I have read in the past. In fact, I remember the film being picketed during my childhood years.
Now having seen it again after all these years (remembering that the sound on YouTube is not the clearest, so maybe there was something I did not pick up),what struck me first of all is that you have a boy who has parents grossly insensitive to his needs, feelings, or desires.
When that happens, he will naturally turn elsewhere for some sort of recognition or endorsement, which is what happens here.
The mother, seeing into this situation as though a mirror were held up to her, feels very threatened by it; and consequently tells Uncle Remus that she does not want him around her son. (The final answer to her comes when the boy is lying on his bed in a stupor, calling out for his friend rather than his father who has returned.) That must have been difficult to accept. But in today's society, when she would tell him to stay away from her son, he would still have to show the same recognition of her role as parent regardless.
I really do not see any explicit or overt racism, and I wish someone would point it out to me. There is plenty of color mixing in the film, and the boy's best friend happens to be black, so I cannot imagine what all the hullabaloo was about.
Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Wonderful, homespun entertainment, very down to earth.
First of all, I must agree with a review written by one Bob Dove. I agree with everything said. I never saw the Broadway original either, and also might have been disappointed with it, as I so dearly love the movie.
I loved the generally homespun family oriented scenario. I loved the way the characters came across in their roles, very credibly, I thought, and let me repeat, I've seen this movie several times, always enjoyed it, and as with Bob Dove's review, I urge others to see it if and when they get the chance.
I particularly loved the signature song at the beginning, and equally loved the way it came back at the end in exactly the same form, to wind up the whole thing. This is a device that I will always welcome; as a musician, I always appreciate exactly this form of summing up in a musical work.
The scene from the ballet Sleeping Beauty, with the music speeded up, was one of the very few things I did not appreciate. As a musician, I do not like works tampered with in that way, and also used in a scenario where frankly it has no place - others may disagree and may have perfectly sound reasons for doing so, but for my part, I was very uncomfortable with it.
But this part is relatively brief, and not enough to spoil what for me was essentially a really wonderful movie. By the way, when I first saw it, at a first run theater right after it was released in 1963, I immediately afterward took my parents to see it.
Star of My Night (1954)
Obvious plot, fantastic music sequence
A rather obvious and predictable plot made acceptable by the use of top notch players (Griffith Jones, Kathleen Byron, Hugh Williams, etc.), all of who appear to dispatch their respective parts with complete credibility.
However, what got me to return to this film a few times was the fantastically wonderful music sequence, utilized both during the dance scenes and as emotional ballast for some of the more poignant moments. As a musician myself, I found that I had to hear this repeatedly to absorb it for myself.
I certainly recommend the film for the musical score, but as well for the performances by the players, which pulls through the plot and more than saves it from being hackneyed.
Fanny by Gaslight (1944)
For me, very engrossing; main character completely sympathetic
I first saw this movie at one of the local movie theaters around Times Square, New York, that frequently featured second run British movies.
My original intention was to see James Mason and Stewart Granger face off against each other. Instead, I found myself falling in love with the heroine played by Phyllis Calvert, who immediately became my favorite British actress.
The story may smack of soap opera; I've followed several in my time, and yet this story, admittedly overdone, I found to be very sympathetic, and immediately found myself falling in with the main protagonist, and wishing her to eventually prevail, despite all the adversity she had to face from so many individuals.
I have continued to love this movie and have gone back to seeing it many times. I admit that Stewart Granger is rather wooden at times and James Mason appears only at certain strategic moments. However, the player whom I found myself yearning more to see was Jean Kent; fortunately for her, she was given full opportunity to display her complete diversity in subsequent films, many of which I have also seen. (I would like to comment that Ms. Kent is happily still with us, approaching 90 as of next year.)
I agree that the moment where Stuart Lindsell as Fanny's natural father is about to kill himself because of pressures exerted by his erstwhile wife having become too much is right out of a horror story, at the moment where one sees those multiple mirror images.
Certain other players in this film I have also found to be quite believable considering the context - Wilfrid Lawson as Chunks, Amy Veness as Mrs. Heaviside, and perhaps one or two others.
In addition to James Mason, the individual contributions by Margaretta Scott and Cathleen Nesbitt are also sufficiently believable to invite our intense dislike, as each throwing another obstacle in the path of our heroine.
I understand that these impressions are purely individual; as with any work of art, we experience such in our own way. In my case, it made a very warm, positive impression on me - I cannot say exactly why. I would recommend it to anyone who likes high Victorian melodrama, mindful that I am not necessarily in a majority with my impression, but that is how I am. Chacun e son gout, as they say.
I just finished viewing Madonna of the Seven Moons, another film in this same Gainsborough series, and also featuring Phyllis Calvert, Jean Kent,and Stewart Granger. While this latter is a fascinating story based upon a multiple personality, I found it to be inferior in its cohesiveness and ability to draw the viewer in, compared with Fanny by Gaslight, which I have just commented on. I could easily imagine that the superior direction by Anthony Asquith may have something to do with it.