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Friday, December 20, 2024

INTERLUDE (1957)

Second (and least) of three 1930s John M. Stahl films remade in the ‘50s by Douglas Sirk for Universal producer Ross Hunter.  (Hunter likely brought all three to Sirk’s attention.)  The other two much better known and all four films hold interest: MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION/’35 ‘54 and IMITATION OF LIFE/’34; ‘59; but INTERLUDE (WHEN TOMORROW COMES in 1939) doesn’t take nearly as well to Sirk stylistics with its light romance & CinemaScope travelogue elements in & around Salzburg reacting negatively once it receives a Gothic blood transfusion right out of JANE EYRE.  Plain Jane (or rather June) Allyson is an American in Germany who drops the nice all-American doctor everyone assumes she’s going to marry when Rossano Brazzi’s famous symphonic conductor sets eyes on her.  But all ain’t smooth sailing because . . . he’s already married.  (Of course.)  Worse, his wife is rapidly going insane.  (Does that make it okay?)  And as there’s no castle tower to lock her up in, furtive romance is the best Brazzi can offer.  Stahl was luckier with his leads: Irene Dunne & Charles Boyer, just off LOVE AFFAIR/’39, are far more comfortable & charming together; and somehow making Boyer a classical pianist rather than a conductor, adds intimacy to Stahl’s straightforward style on b&w studio sets rather than TechniColor overseas locations.  And Dunne, a waitress who happens to sing Schubert, brings common-sense & common-sensibility to the impossible situation.  Allyson weirdly overdressed all thru the film even feels physically uncomfortable.  To their credit, both films aim for adult tones with unresolved endings, but it sure worked better in ‘39.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Brazzi is better than most actors who pretend to conduct, but why do they all signal on the beat, rather than lead/anticipate?  European conductors in particular almost comically ahead of the musicians response.  (Maybe that’s why they do it this way in film.)

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  James Cain’s novel was used yet again (INTERLUDE/’68) with Oskar Werner as the conductor (not seen here), but stick to Boyer/Dunne in WHEN TOMORROW COMES.  (Use the MAKSQUIBS Search Box to find the other Stahl/Sirk originals & remakes.)  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2020/10/when-tomorrow-comes-1939.html


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