Relegated to ornamental duty as wifely consort to famous barrister husband Roger Livesey, Myrna Loy (in her only foreign-based film) has taken up with his young associate (Richard Greene), hiding the affair by claiming it’s not her, but step-daughter Peggy Cummings who’s the object of his attentions. But when overwork breaks Livesey’s health, a convalescence on the Isle of Capri puts the foursome together and Loy’s lie turns prophetic even as past truths are inconveniently discovered. Exceedingly smart woman’s pic just misses under Gregory Ratoff’s typically slapdash megging, lacking pace, rhythm & dramatic punctuation in spite of some fine work from cinematographer Georges Perinal. (Loy, who could be tricky to shoot, given a kind of middle-aged tragic grandeur.) Yet it’s possible (if unlikely, knowing Ratoff’s faults) to imagine a better/lost cut in the British release (as THAT DANGEROUS AGE) which ran a full two reels longer than the Stateside edition. Does it exist? Even as it stands, a pretty intriguing change-of-pace for Loy from her later top-billed vehicles. Preceded by a final THIN MAN/’47; MR BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE/’48; THE RED PONY/’49; followed by CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN/’50.
DOUBLE-BILL: Any of the above Loy titles, DREAM HOUSE extra nice.
No comments:
Post a Comment