Starring: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Mary Astor
Dir: William Wyler (1936)
The bad and the good -
Bad: Mary Astor's "emote! emote!" waving scene at the very end. Also bad (in a good way) is the sheer hatefulness of Ruth Chatterton's character. Everything she does makes me want to smack a ho. The French-isms, the emotional manipulation, the mindless way she throws herself at anything with an accent - as long as it's not a Midwestern one - although her comment about tourists and Baedekers made me think of A Room With a View... so that's awesome.
Good: Walter Huston, who I haven't seen in anything else yet, but did one of the finest bits of old movie acting I've ever seen. He created a sympathetic character without being obnoxious, and was actually vivacious and entertaining and endearing to watch (which is something, since I don't usually waste my time on the plain ones). The dialogue was similarly entertaining - replete with shocking arguments, subtle manipulations, and brazen innuendos. Just balls-out fun.
Summary: It looked dreary at first, and I won't deny that it's some fairly intense viewing, but Dodsworth's plot scuttles along quickly enough to make you unable to resist hating the characters you should hate (there was some shouting at the screen), not to mention loving the good ones, by the end. Also props for edgy cinematography! Now who would have thought to place the camera BEHIND a plant...
Stars: 4 of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment