This film is a good example of why I love black & white movies.
Director Wise, cinematographer Ted McCord, and production
designer Boris Leven craft light, shadow, and line into two hours of
absolutely lovely images, making the most of such elements as
the contrast between MacLaine's hair, eyes, and skin, and the
juxtaposition of the hard lines of doorframes and shadows with
the softness of rumpled fabric and fluid dancer's movement. (And I
loved the split set.) Total eye candy for B&W lovers, and an
incidental, abrupt reminder of what a beautiful woman the young
Shirley was.
Unfortunately, the script seems very dated here in the twenty-first
century. The characters' relationship is frustrating, and (reported
offscreen chemistry notwithstanding) MacLaine and Mitchum look
very much mismatched. (Supposedly it was originally to be Liz
Taylor and Paul Newman. I can't see Liz here, but a MacLaine- Newman pairing could have been hot. But we'll never know.) I
found MacLaine's character to be much more believable--more
rounded, containing more nuance--than Mitchum's. While this
seems mostly the script's fault, I do feel that MacLaine here brings
more quirky humanity to her work than does Mitchum (who I like
very much in general).
"Seesaw" stands out for me as one of those films that, because of
its meticulous attention to visual detail, becomes an archetypal
period piece as it ages--firmly among the films everyone making a
movie set in the early 1960s should study carefully.
Director Wise, cinematographer Ted McCord, and production
designer Boris Leven craft light, shadow, and line into two hours of
absolutely lovely images, making the most of such elements as
the contrast between MacLaine's hair, eyes, and skin, and the
juxtaposition of the hard lines of doorframes and shadows with
the softness of rumpled fabric and fluid dancer's movement. (And I
loved the split set.) Total eye candy for B&W lovers, and an
incidental, abrupt reminder of what a beautiful woman the young
Shirley was.
Unfortunately, the script seems very dated here in the twenty-first
century. The characters' relationship is frustrating, and (reported
offscreen chemistry notwithstanding) MacLaine and Mitchum look
very much mismatched. (Supposedly it was originally to be Liz
Taylor and Paul Newman. I can't see Liz here, but a MacLaine- Newman pairing could have been hot. But we'll never know.) I
found MacLaine's character to be much more believable--more
rounded, containing more nuance--than Mitchum's. While this
seems mostly the script's fault, I do feel that MacLaine here brings
more quirky humanity to her work than does Mitchum (who I like
very much in general).
"Seesaw" stands out for me as one of those films that, because of
its meticulous attention to visual detail, becomes an archetypal
period piece as it ages--firmly among the films everyone making a
movie set in the early 1960s should study carefully.