Wonderland Burlesque's
Let's Go To The Movies:
Face Time
Part XVI
That look, that face...
It's all in the face. It can be read like a book. Or so these films would have us believe.
The silver screen has been home to so many beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) faces, lighting up the dark, showing us the way, sharing celluloid dreams. It seems only fitting that we take them at their word and look a these films one face at a time.
Yes, these faces may belong to a bygone era, but in the movies?
A face lives forever.
--- ---
The Woman With Four Faces
(1923)
Reformed criminal Elizabeth West, works in cooperation with District Attorney Richard Templer to convict a gang of criminals suspected of running a dope ring. Miss West catches the criminals and finds that she has fallen in love with the district attorney.
Based on a play by Bayard Veiller, this American silent crime melodrama was directed by Herbert Brenon and stars Betty Compson and Richard Dix. .
This is a lost silent film.
Betty Compson was an American actress and film producer who got her start during Hollywood's silent era. She is best known for her performances in The Docks of New York and The Barker, the latter of which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She made 25 films in 1916 alone and continued that pace through 1918. Her popularity allowed her to establish her own production company, which provided her creative control over screenplays and financing.
After completing The Woman With Four Faces (1923), Paramount refused to offer her a raise (her salary was $2,500 per week), and she refused to sign without one. Instead, she signed with a motion picture company in London, where she appeared in four films by Graham Cutts - two of which had screenplays co-written by Cutts and Alfred Hitchcock. They proved so popular that Paramount offered her top dollar to return to the studio. While her star dimmed post 1930, she still remained active, taking characters roles and the rare lead. She became a familiar face at Monogram Pictures, where she worked with Bela Lugosi, Jean Parker, Grace Hayes, and The Bowery Boys. After retiring from pictures in 1948, she started her own line of cosmetics.
--- ---
The Three Faces Of Eve
(1957)
Eve White is a quiet, mousy, unassuming wife and mother who keeps suffering from headaches and occasional black outs. Eventually she is sent to see psychiatrist Dr. Luther, and, while under hypnosis, a whole new personality emerges: the racy, wild, fun-loving Eve Black. Under continued therapy, yet a third personality appears, the relatively stable Jane. This film, based on the true-life case of a multiple personality, chronicles Dr. Luther's attempts to reconcile the three faces of Eve.
Based on the life of Christine Costner Sizemore as captured in a book by Thigpen and Cleckley, this American drama was directed by Nunnally Johnson and stars Joanne Woodard, David Wayne, Lee J. Cobb and Nancy Culp.
The film is based on the true case of Christine Costner Sizemore, who wrote three books about her multiple personalities: The Final Face of Eve (1958) I'm Eve (1977) and A Mind of My Own (1989). According to writer Aubrey Solomon, "When the real Eve signed the contract for the movie, the studio had her sign three separate contracts under each of her personalities, so that they would be covered from any possible legal action. In fact, when she signed the contract, they actually had her go into the personalities, and the signatures were all different on the contracts."
Orson Welles was courted to play the part of Dr. Luther, but turned it down, deciding to direct A Touch of Evil (1958) instead. After reading the script, Welles told the director that whoever played the female lead would win an Oscar.
Judy Garland was director Nunnally Johnson's first choice for the role of Eve, but she either declined or proved unsuitable. Eva Marie Saint turned it down. June Allyson said that she was offered the role of Eve, but her husband, Dick Powell, talked her out of it, saying she would be miscast.
The actress playing Joanne Woodward's mother is Nancy Kulp, who is best known for playing Miss Jane Hathaway in The Beverly Hillbillies (1962).
Joanne Woodard won an Academy Award for Best Actress, the film's only nomination.
Critics uniformly praised Joanne Woodward's performance, but opinions regarding other aspects of the film were more mixed. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that Woodward played her part "with superlative flexibility and emotional power", but that "when you come right down to it, this is simply a melodramatic exercise - an exhibition of psychiatric hocus-pocus, without any indication of how or why. It makes for a fairly fetching mystery, although it is too verbose and too long." Variety wrote that the film was "frequently an intriguing and provocative motion picture" and that Woodward "fulfills her assignment excellently", but believed that the comedy elements "will undoubtedly confuse many viewers who won't quite be sure what emotions are suitable". Harrison's Reports called the film "a fascinating adult drama" and said that Woodward's performance was "of Academy Award caliber". John McCarten of The New Yorker wrote that Woodward "does well in a role that is inevitably full of confusion", but the film "seems rather fantastic when it depicts the heroine going through her mental gyrations at top speed". The Monthly Film Bulletin agreed, writing that Woodward "manages the triple role cleverly", but found that the depiction of psychiatric treatment "all looks a good deal too easy, and in spite of Alistair Cooke's introductory assurances of authenticity one is always conscious of being given the case history in capsule form".
You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube.
Joanne Woodward
--- ---
Man Of A Thousand Faces
(1957)
Loose biography of actor Lon Chaney. Growing up with deaf parents, Chaney learns what being different is like; as an actor, he puts that knowledge (along with lots of makeup and talent) to use playing a variety of strange, unique characters, while adopting their characteristics.
This American dark dramatic biographical film was directed by Joseph Pevney, and stars James Cagney, Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer, Jim Backus, Robert Evans, and Roger Smith.
Creative license was employed in the writing of the screenplay, and many incidents were sanitized and fictionalized.
Robert Evans, who plays Irving Thalberg, was chosen by actress Norma Shearer, Thalberg's widow, who spotted him around the Beverly Hills Hotel swimming pool.
On a trip to Hawaii, James Cagney met Roger Smith stationed there in the Naval Reserve. Impressed with his clean-cut good looks and appeal, he encouraged Smith to pursue an acting career. Following this advice and after success in several films, Smith reconnected with Cagney who hired him to play his son, "Lon Jr." in Man of a Thousand Faces (1957).
The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther described the scenes depicting the early days at Universal Pictures as "immensely flavorsome and exciting" and strongly praised James Cagney's performance. "With not too much help from the screenplay, Mr. Cagney none the less gives a stirring sense of the actor's devotion to his first wife, to his infant son, to his aging parents and to his profession, which he pursues through a hard career in vaudeville to eventual stardom in Hollywood. Being Mr. Cagney, it is difficult for him to remove all the familiar Cagney cockiness and pugnacity from the role. Even so, there is an abundance of tenderness, sensitivity and pride in his creation of the driven actor. This is the heart of the film. Joseph Pevney's direction has a curious affection for clichés, but Mr. Cagney rises above it. He etches a personality."
--- ---
The Mirror Has Two Faces
(1958)
AKA: Le Miroir à deux faces
A teacher runs an ad in the newspaper to find a wife. Afraid of beautiful ladies, he weds an ugly woman. After a car accident, he meets a doctor who offers to reveal his wife's beauty.
This French crime drama was directed by André Cayatte and stars Michèle Morgan, Bourvil and Ivan Desny. For English-speaking audiences it was called The Mirror Has Two Faces.
TV Guide commented: "The filmmakers do a fine job of delving into the problems people face when a fairy tale-like transformation takes place, though the film suffers from an over-analysis of the situation. Also, Morgan is too glamorous to pull off the type of physical transformation that occurs."
The film was loosely remade in 1996 in the US as The Mirror Has Two Faces starring Barbra Streisand and Jeff Bridges.
--- ---
The Spy With Ten Faces
(1966)
AKA: Upperseven, l'uomo da uccidere,
Der Mann mit den tausend Masken
You can watch this movie in its entirety for free on YouTube.
--- ---
And that's all for now, folks!
Tune in next time...
Same place, same channel.
Three Faces Of Eve - Movie Trailer
(1957)
Man With A Thousand Faces - Movie Trailer
(1957)
Le Miroir à deux faces - Movie Trailer
(1958)
--- ---
No comments:
Post a Comment