brendangcarroll
Joined Apr 2004
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Reviews25
brendangcarroll's rating
Made as a follow up to the hugely successful THE INFORMER, John Ford's much maligned screen version of THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS has long been regarded as one of his worst films.
I finally saw this film tonight, thanks to the wonderful Talking Pictures TV Channnel here in England.
My Iriish-born father loathed this film because he said it was a travesty of O'Casey's play and just a Hollywood fiction of the Easter uprising.
Well I read all the reviews here expecting the worst.
But, I was amazed to watch a print of this film that bore NO relation to that described in the reviews posted here! There was no newsreel footage interpolated, no unfortunate added narration whatsoever and no extra footage by other directors to explain the marriage of Stanwyck & Foster's marriage! What gives? What I saw was obviously a genuine John Ford film, beautifully directed and photographed, with many of his trademark camera set ups, close ups and scene compositions. His usual flair for narrative and the many subtle visual trademarks did not indicate a hatchet job by RKO.
The whole thing had an understated poetic quality and the pace and fluidity were striking.
So what was I looking at? A pre-release print that had somehow survived in the UK but not in the RKO archives in LA? It was certainly no turkey and even Stanwyck impressed me - her lack of accent did not matter, because Ford (in this print at least) let her face do all the acting for her. And she was great! Barry Fitzgerald was clearly doing a warm up for his role in THE QUIET MAN, but the remaining Abbey Players were all fine and I believe acted large portions of O'Casey's dialogue intact. I do not have a copy of the play to make a comparison but will seek it out.
Una O'Connor showed what a fine dramatic actress she was in Ireland before she found fame in Hollywood. Even Preston Foster demonstrated an impressive restraint and was highly impressive.
Ford did not have Max Steiner for this film (as he had on THE INFORMER and THE LOST PATROL) but Roy Webb did a fine job with a highly dramatic and vivid music score throughout.
But what of the source print? Are there really two extant versions of this film? If so, I think I watched the long lost "Director's Cut" tonight! How exciting!
I finally saw this film tonight, thanks to the wonderful Talking Pictures TV Channnel here in England.
My Iriish-born father loathed this film because he said it was a travesty of O'Casey's play and just a Hollywood fiction of the Easter uprising.
Well I read all the reviews here expecting the worst.
But, I was amazed to watch a print of this film that bore NO relation to that described in the reviews posted here! There was no newsreel footage interpolated, no unfortunate added narration whatsoever and no extra footage by other directors to explain the marriage of Stanwyck & Foster's marriage! What gives? What I saw was obviously a genuine John Ford film, beautifully directed and photographed, with many of his trademark camera set ups, close ups and scene compositions. His usual flair for narrative and the many subtle visual trademarks did not indicate a hatchet job by RKO.
The whole thing had an understated poetic quality and the pace and fluidity were striking.
So what was I looking at? A pre-release print that had somehow survived in the UK but not in the RKO archives in LA? It was certainly no turkey and even Stanwyck impressed me - her lack of accent did not matter, because Ford (in this print at least) let her face do all the acting for her. And she was great! Barry Fitzgerald was clearly doing a warm up for his role in THE QUIET MAN, but the remaining Abbey Players were all fine and I believe acted large portions of O'Casey's dialogue intact. I do not have a copy of the play to make a comparison but will seek it out.
Una O'Connor showed what a fine dramatic actress she was in Ireland before she found fame in Hollywood. Even Preston Foster demonstrated an impressive restraint and was highly impressive.
Ford did not have Max Steiner for this film (as he had on THE INFORMER and THE LOST PATROL) but Roy Webb did a fine job with a highly dramatic and vivid music score throughout.
But what of the source print? Are there really two extant versions of this film? If so, I think I watched the long lost "Director's Cut" tonight! How exciting!
I hadn't seen this strange hodgepodge of a film for about 40 years and finally caught up with it again on DVD.
All of the ingredients and defects that irritated me the first time around were just as irritating the second - the pet bear (a "joke" that long outstays its welcome) Leon Errol's drunk act and the tedious Burns and Allen shtick that is frequently dropped into the film without any relationship to the story - while the good parts still pleased me, namely Carole Lombard's winsome beauty and charm, and the lovely songs by Gordoon and Revel, which are not always presented to their best advantage but are very catchy nonetheless.
However, one thing I had not noticed 40 years ago on first viewing but which is worthy of mention, is that Mr Crosby sings "live" on set for most of the film and the orchestra is clearly on the soundstage, accompanying him and also most of the action.
This must have been one of the very last musical films to be shot in this way, without playback and lip-synchronisation (only perfected in 1933), which would soon become the industry norm.
So, this is a curio for that reason and also interesting in that we can more accurately assess Crosby's vocal skills and his way of performing and phrasing a song at this stage of his career - rather well, on this evidence.
Poor Ethel Merman is totally wasted but I read elsewhere here that her big number was cut and re-used in the later BIG BROADCAST of 1936. Her best film was yet to come - Alexander's RAGTIME BAND, where she lights up the screen every time she comes on to belt out another Irving Berlin hit.
Back to this film - its one saving virtue is its length - a crisp 74 minutes, which means that no matter how tiresome the comedy becomes (and it does, believe me), it isn't too long to wait before Bing sings yet another lovely song. The DVD print is in pretty good shape too.
All of the ingredients and defects that irritated me the first time around were just as irritating the second - the pet bear (a "joke" that long outstays its welcome) Leon Errol's drunk act and the tedious Burns and Allen shtick that is frequently dropped into the film without any relationship to the story - while the good parts still pleased me, namely Carole Lombard's winsome beauty and charm, and the lovely songs by Gordoon and Revel, which are not always presented to their best advantage but are very catchy nonetheless.
However, one thing I had not noticed 40 years ago on first viewing but which is worthy of mention, is that Mr Crosby sings "live" on set for most of the film and the orchestra is clearly on the soundstage, accompanying him and also most of the action.
This must have been one of the very last musical films to be shot in this way, without playback and lip-synchronisation (only perfected in 1933), which would soon become the industry norm.
So, this is a curio for that reason and also interesting in that we can more accurately assess Crosby's vocal skills and his way of performing and phrasing a song at this stage of his career - rather well, on this evidence.
Poor Ethel Merman is totally wasted but I read elsewhere here that her big number was cut and re-used in the later BIG BROADCAST of 1936. Her best film was yet to come - Alexander's RAGTIME BAND, where she lights up the screen every time she comes on to belt out another Irving Berlin hit.
Back to this film - its one saving virtue is its length - a crisp 74 minutes, which means that no matter how tiresome the comedy becomes (and it does, believe me), it isn't too long to wait before Bing sings yet another lovely song. The DVD print is in pretty good shape too.