Reviews

3 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
Today We Live
Today We Live (1933)
6/10
A battle on multiple fronts
14 October 2002
Warning: Spoilers
It's impossible to watch "Today We Live" without mentally recasting it. Franchot Tone and Robert Young as upper-crust Brits? In what alternate universe? No matter how many "I say's" Faulkner gives them, they just can't sublimate their American aura to their British characters. And Joan Crawford's teatime attire by Adrian, breathtaking as it is, is also uncomfortably out of place. (Crawford does manage to sound a little more authentic than Tone and Young.)

However, if you can get past the accents and the costumes, there's good stuff here. Young plays the puppy-dog-like Claude to perfection; his turn in the airplane is hilarious. Tone pulls off the tough-big-brother act as well as the no-fuss stoicism of Ronnie. Gary Cooper and Crawford survive not only the world's most abbreviated courtship but also convey the hurt and betrayal that each one's character feels subsequently.

In some ways, the film is even daring, portraying heroism without histrionics or flag-waving. And (SPOILER ALERT), despite what the IMDB plot summary says, my impression is that Ann and Claude shack up without benefit of vows, which would make this a very progressive tale indeed.

Bottom line: Worth watching, especially if you're a fan of any of the four leads.
15 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen (1955)
9/10
Tap your feet and laugh
22 October 2001
"My Sister Eileen" has two great stars -- Bob Fosse and Betty Garrett -- stealing the show from two who turned out to be bigger stars -- Jack Lemmon and Janet Leigh. The story is pretty elementary and certainly predictable, but that doesn't matter. What makes this movie special is Garrett's incredible comic delivery (with and without the Brazilian navy!) and Fosse's fabulous choreography. When he and Tommy Rall challenge each other while waiting outside Eileen's "audition," you'll feel like you're in heaven.
11 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
A Matter of Time
A Matter of Time (1976)
4/10
Take with a grain of salt
8 January 2001
If you're not a Liza Minnelli fan, don't even bother because despite the other talent involved, this is her show (and not a very good one -- father Vincente Minnelli, the director, very wisely disowned the edited picture). This isn't one to watch for Minnelli's acting (like "The Sterile Cuckoo" or "Cabaret") or even her charm ("Arthur," "Stepping Out"), but her voice is incredible. While the songs (except for Gershwin's "Do It Again") are middling, Minnelli's delivery makes you forget how silly the story and her character are. Mother Judy had better songs to sing, but Liza's instrument was phenomenal at its peak.

On the plus side is Ingrid Bergman as the aging contessa. She's so at ease and has so much fun as the grande dame that it's impossible not to love her -- again. Reunited briefly with Charles Boyer more than 30 years after their first pairing (in "Gaslight"), she has on-screen history working for her in her playful scene with him. (Watch the melodramatic "Arch of Triumph" if you really want to see Bergman and Boyer connect.)

Another reason to watch is for the film debut of Bergman's daughter, Isabella Rossellini. She's barely in "A Matter of Time" -- and you can barely tell it's her under her nun's habit -- but seeing her luminous face next to her mother's has the feeling of the passing of a torch, or at the very least a blessing. To give you an idea of the kind of cornball humor at work here, Rossellini's character is called Sister Pia; the actress's real-life sister, of course, is Bergman's daughter Pia Lindstrom.
33 out of 34 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Clear your history

Recently Viewed