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david-sims8
Reviews
The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
It raises one's eyebrows
I have read all 16 previous reviews containing glowing admiration for Loretta Young in this film. While I enjoyed watching Cotton and Barrymore, I felt uncomfortable watching and listening to Ms. Young. Firstly,she appears to be so much older than her brothers. In fact, if someone said that Ms. Young was the mother of Peter, Sven...it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to imagine just that.
Secondly, are we to believe that two weeks worth of robust projection lessons would decrease her accent to the point of making Ms. Young sound like no stranger to Toastmasters? If anything, her accent would be more pronounced during such high pressure activities, such as speech-making in front of potential constituents.
Finally, sometimes, one heard a decrease in accent, only to hear a full come back in the following scene. I would have preferred my accent in one of the following three ways:1)a lessoning of accent in direct correlation with the length of the movie; 2)a complete absence of accent; or 3)include in the movie something explaining away the accent, such as diction lessons with Barrymore during the six months of waiting for Cotton's return, The accent grew so annoying after awhile.
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Humphrey Bogart not well
What bothers me in the film, The Barefoot Contessa, is that the Technicolor makes Humphrey Bogart look like he isn't feeling well. Since he died only three years later, the signs of ill health are clearly visible.The color adds weight to his face and makes his lines and wrinkles stand out. I prefer my Bogart in black and white, thank you.
Ava Gardner, on the other hand, looks sensational. Her confident stride and her chin always up make her a stand out on the screen.
I still have some unanswered questions about this film: 1) How intimate are the Count and his sister? Does the Count have to squeeze that close behind his sister when they are looking at Maria on the beach?
2)Why didn't the sister do what every sister would do--tell Ava that her brother, Mr. Knight-in-Shining, really isn't ..uh... "functioning?"
3)Why did the Count shoot both "Maria" and her lover in the shack or garage where the tryst was going on?
4) Was Humphrey Bogart warning Maria when he said that the Count was "handling life on his own terms?" Don't you think Borgart should have gone the extra mile to explain the implications of that for Maria?
5) After "Maria's"drive back home on the rainy night, couldn't Maria wait until the next day to have sex with the "pool guy" before telling her husband some tough news about having someone else's baby?
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