Reviews

It has always amazed me that no one has commented on the fact that composer Max Steiner used the same love theme in "Mildred Pierce" as he did in "Now Voyager" Being a Warner Brothers composer, I suppose it was their property to do as they please. But one would think that the great Steiner could have come up with another tune.

It's a great film and certainly deserves better music, at least different music.

Crawford gives the performance of her life and Ann Blyth is genuinely vile in the role of Vita. A great Black and White Classic film from Hollywood's heyday.

The best thing for me about this version of War and Peace is the magnificent score by Nino Rota. I had the vinyl recording of the soundtrack in the 50's when it came out and practically memorized it at the time.

Later on, as my study of music progressed, I realized how Rota had so perfectly captured the essence of Russia with his music. His greatest model is Tchaikovsky and much of Rota's music is a great homage to the Russian master.

My greatest regret is that no stereophonic recording of this wonderful score has ever been attempted. If you want to hear the greatest comparison, listen to Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings" and then listen to Nino Rota's "War and Peace".

I thought I would never see a biopic of Cole Porter as bad as "Night and Day" starring Cary Grant and Alexis Smith. I was wrong, dead wrong. "De Lovely" makes "Night and Day" look like "Casablanca" or "Gone With The Wind" in comparison!! It is just awful.

It is completely unreliable as a biography of Cole and Linda Porter. Chronologically, the movie is all screwed up and wrong.

Worst of all is Kevin Kline's performance as Cole. To begin with, Cole was a small man. This movie should have used someone like Joel Grey or someone of that statue. And Cole was a big homo and had absolutely no interest in women at all. Linda was more like a mother to Cole and certainly not a lover.

And the script is trite and sentimental and grossly incorrect. Won't somebody please make an honest biopic of this great composer's life? Please!!

Betty Hutton is all wrong for Annie Oakley. She overplays every scene and she mugs unmercifully in almost every song. But that's her style. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think Judy Garland would have been right for this film, either. My real wish is that they'd have hired Ethel Merman to recreate her Broadway smash. Merman would have been much more "natural" in the part and she knew where the jokes and the comedy were. And The Merm only had to open her mouth and the great songs came out. Hutton screams almost everything, usually off pitch. After Merman, I would have preferred someone like the cowgirl comedienne Judy Canova play Annie. Now, that would have been funny!

Still, I'm glad we have the film of this great Irving Berlin show. Howard Keel is great in his first movie role, and the politically incorrect Native American issues are handled delicately and with taste.

Actually, this film is a lot of fun - 50's style. But the best performance in the movie is the one by Joan Blondell as Mansfield's assistant. She has a monologue about a milkman that will leave you in tears of laughter. Don't ever forget Blondell. Mansfield is quite funny, too! She takes her fan club very seriously and that makes it all the funnier. And that poodle!!

All the references to Fox movies of the day are there, plus all the digs at TV. They even add a commercial - making it very small and in black and white, fuzzy and full of snow - something the kids these days have never heard of.

Tony Randall is a scream and the perfect icon of the 50's. What a pity no one ever did an in- depth biography of him - - the stories he could surely tell!!

The movie is a lot of fun, especially if you remember the 50's. Hey! It really was like this, kids!

Ginger Rogers was never more beautiful, Cary Grant was never funnier and Walter Slezak was never more menacing. Set in Europe as Hitler conquers various countries, the movie is a travelog of the times, the fashions, and takes every chance to make fun of Hitler. Not the funniest picture ever made, but a delightful diversion. Don't miss it.