Whatever Ben Hecht wrote was always brilliant - by this time in his career however he knew this himself so would never see the need to edit or revise anything he wrote. Harry Cohen must have been another fan because he gave him free reign not just to write this movie but to direct and produce it. Pandering to someone's self indulgence would be a way of describing this decision.
Hecht might have the gift of being able to write anything from fast-talking screwball comedy to gritty underworld drama to the tear-jerking sentimentally of Wuthering Heights and Gone with the Wind but was he a director? There's some fabulous imagery, use of reflections and shadows not just to add atmosphere but to literally tell the story like words. All this however is used as part of the screenplay, it's all very clever but Ben Hecht is no Orson Wells, he can't do everything himself and as a result, this film doesn't quite work.
You get the impression that everything spoken in this film is vitally important - something you really need to know whereas in retrospect, it probably isn't. It's still worth watching and maybe even revisiting after a few years to catch the subtle nuances you miss first time. Ostensibly however it feels a bit forced and the actors aren't real people - they're just acting. As a director, he concentrates on his script and his vision of how his film should look (both done excellently) but doesn't seem able to develop his cast into believable people. Doug Fairbanks comes across as one dimensional and doesn't seem to develop any emotional connection with Rita Hayworth. Scarlett O'Hara's dad however is really great in this - everything he says (and he does say a lot) really does seem like it's of life and death importance. He had worked with Rita Hayworth a couple of years before in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS so knew a thing or two about angels.
Hecht might have the gift of being able to write anything from fast-talking screwball comedy to gritty underworld drama to the tear-jerking sentimentally of Wuthering Heights and Gone with the Wind but was he a director? There's some fabulous imagery, use of reflections and shadows not just to add atmosphere but to literally tell the story like words. All this however is used as part of the screenplay, it's all very clever but Ben Hecht is no Orson Wells, he can't do everything himself and as a result, this film doesn't quite work.
You get the impression that everything spoken in this film is vitally important - something you really need to know whereas in retrospect, it probably isn't. It's still worth watching and maybe even revisiting after a few years to catch the subtle nuances you miss first time. Ostensibly however it feels a bit forced and the actors aren't real people - they're just acting. As a director, he concentrates on his script and his vision of how his film should look (both done excellently) but doesn't seem able to develop his cast into believable people. Doug Fairbanks comes across as one dimensional and doesn't seem to develop any emotional connection with Rita Hayworth. Scarlett O'Hara's dad however is really great in this - everything he says (and he does say a lot) really does seem like it's of life and death importance. He had worked with Rita Hayworth a couple of years before in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS so knew a thing or two about angels.