This has been one of the most difficult to see movies I have ever come across. For years I have searched for a copy of this movie in any format available, be it VHS, beta, whatever. It appears to have been an independent production, although it was filmed at Paramount Studios. It had a brief VHS release in 1985, also from an independent company that no longer seems to exist. From there, it seems to have vanished into obscurity. I was finally able to locate a VHS copy on EBay, and considering how old the tape is(30+) it played beautifully from beginning to end. As for the actual film, it didn't disappoint. Richard Thomas and Mary Layne were both excellent and very appealing together as two people who come together so that the Thomas character can lose his virginity before going off to war. They end up spending the weekend together, and I felt as though they were an appealing couple to spend time with. The soundtrack was also good, contributing to the overall wistful tone of the picture. The few surprises didn't really surprise me, but that was okay because I cared about the lead characters. There were really only a few things I objected to, and they may just be personal peeves. The first was an attempted gay seduction scene very early on, which seemed completely gratuitous and unnecessary. Another problem for me was the startling inclusion of the infamous on the street execution of a Vietnamese man with a shot to the head, shown without cutting away. I was astonished to see this in a film rated PG. Finally, a later scene shows a woman cutting the head off of a live fish, which again was completely gratuitous. Overall, I think this is a genuinely good film, and I hope that someday it will be rescued from the unfair limbo it has fallen into. Maybe someone who reads this can determine who owns the rights to this film and help facilitate at least a television or festival screening.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Hello, Sister!
(1933)
A Remarkable Pre-Code Title
18 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I was able to catch about 26 or so minutes of this movie on you-tube, and what I saw was actually pretty remarkable. The plot has clear intimations of rape and unwed pregnancy, as well as women with loose morals and predatory men. What I saw was so clearly directed by a fine director that I have to believe that at least portions of it must have been directed by Von Stroheim. The settings were very atmospheric, with some great carnival scenes early on. I don't know why whoever posted the movie only made about half of it available, but what's there flowed like a complete movie and I was thrilled to see it. I wish someone would post the entire movie somewhere, or release it on DVD. I have to believe that movie lovers would snap up every copy available, due to the legend surrounding it. I do know that Hello Sister was screened as part of a Von Stroheim retrospective earlier this year in New York, so hopefully we'll see it come DVD someday. Until then, by all means see what you can over at you-tube. It's well worth your time. Finally, in one scene Zasu Pitts refers to herself as homely, which to me is hogwash. She was in fact quite beautiful.
Like David Lynch,Luis Bunuel and Pedro Almodovar After Falling Into A Black Hole Together.
30 August 2012
Imagine those directors being sucked into that black hole, and being stretched and torn into many little pieces. Then,imagine that they are reconstituted into a hot mess of a cinema pile without regards to anything remotely resembling coherence, and maybe you can begin to approach this movie. I said approach, since you won't begin to understand it. In fact, I think that this movie must be seen as an acid-fueled dream,filled with bizarre and senseless images assaulting your eyes while frying your brain. I would like to comment on the cinematography, which is actually quite beautiful. I believe that it was done by Vilmos Zsigmond, who of course went on to do great work for much better films. In fact, the images he shoots for this picture go a long way towards giving it a nice,dream-like effect. Believe it or not, the very famous and credible Movies on T.V. by the great Steven Scheuer gave this title 2.5 stars our of 4, praising it mostly for the work of Zsigmond.
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