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reviewed
by Matt Hinrichs |
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May
30, 2005
| By now, vintage film fans know what to expect from the Fox Studio
Classics DVDs: beautiful transfers, plentiful extras, and an overall
presentation that oozes respectability (even when the movies themselves
often don't).The series' latest batch covers two of 20th Century
Fox's high-drawer productions of 1946 and a campy widescreen soap
opera — released twelve years later but seeming as if it came from
a different planet, much less the same studio, as the other two.
Fox's 1946 film of W. Somerset Maugham's novel is like a sumptuous
dessert that you wish was served in a smaller portion. The story
of a young man who escapes the trappings of upper class Chicago
society to "loaf" in Paris and India might have worked better if
produced in the rebellious '60s, but this adaptation is a handsome
looking and involving effort nevertheless. Director Edmund Goulding
allows his cast to shine in long, uninterrupted takes: Tyrone Power
as the restless Larry, Gene Tierney as Larry's fiancée Isabel, Herbert
Marshall in the thankless role of Maugham himself, Anne Baxter as
doomed family friend Sophie, and Clifton Webb as Isabel's snobby
uncle Elliott. That cast of mostly Fox contract players might have
given this movie an "off the shelf" feel, but the performances are
generally terrific. After he returned from enlisting in WWII, Tyrone
Power's onscreen image developed a nearly imperceptible haunted
quality — perfect for this role. Tierney manages to give her selfish
character a measure of sympathy, and Webb's delightfully fey mannerisms
turn Elliott into one of the gayest onscreen characters to appear
under the Code. The only sour note in the cast is Baxter, who hams
it up as a young woman who seemingly changes from innocent to drug-addled
floozy overnight (she won an Oscar for this?). Despite this, The
Razor's Edge is a smoothly entertaining film, overlong but thankfully
not too preachy.
Due to the numbing familiarity of its musical remake The King and
I, Anna and the King of Siam seems forever destined for marginality;
something that exists solely to fill a gap in the Fox Movie Channel
schedule. Taken on its own terms, however, this film's capable blend
of comedy and drama manages to come off as both intimate and lavish.
The story, for those few who don't already know, follows English
governess Anna Owens (Irene Dunne), who journeys to 1860s Siam to
teach the many children of King Mongkut (Rex Harrison) in his walled
palace. Of course, most of the Asian roles are played by caucasian
actors — right down to Linda Darnell as a hotsy-totsy native girl.
That detail would only matter to the hyper-sensitive, however, since
the cast turns in uniformly good performances. Harrison is commanding
yet droll in scenes such as the one where Mongkut, with Anna's help,
writes a letter to Abraham Lincoln offering elephants to assist
in the Civil War. Dunne's radiant intelligence fits the character
of Anna like an exquisitely made glove, and Gale Sondergaard is
touching in the smallish role of the King's eldest wife. The screenplay
tends toward the episodic and meandering, but that only gives the
viewer time to admire the film's gorgeous sets (which won that year's
Art Direction Oscar) and intricate costumes.
Rona Jaffe's trashy best-seller of working life at a glamorous
publishing house got the full-scale, balls-out treatment in Fox's
1959 film. Certainly it's a beautiful looking film, awash in chi-chi
interiors and awe-inspiring outdoor scenes filmed around New York
City. Its says a lot that the stand-in for this film's high rise
office was Ludwig Mies van de Rohe's monolithic Seagram Building,
a sleek Industrial Style monument to postwar industrial progress.
Despite the newness of the setting, though, Jaffe's storyline holds
true to the old "three women take different paths in life" chestnut.
The ambitious, spoken-for Caroline (Hope Lange) struggles to keep
a cynical editor (Stephen Boyd) at arm's length; part time actress
Gregg (model Suzy Parker) falls for a theatre director (Louis Jordan)
who doesn't love her; good girl April (Diane Baker) gets knocked
up by a sleazy playboy (future mogul Robert Evans) and has to suffer
the consequences. As if that wasn't enough, the ladies have two
formidable bosses to deal with: one a tippling lecher (Brian Aherne),
the other a hard-as-nails taskmaster (Joan Crawford in her Dragon
Lady period). This film doesn't present a flattering portrait of
working women. In fact, Crawford's Amanda Farrow exists to tell
'50s career gals what might happen if they never marry: you'll become
a harridan in mannish suits, privately groveling for a date with
your married lover when not barking orders or scribbling "Trash
--- NO!!!" on bad manuscripts. That The Best of Everything is claptrap
goes without saying, but it's supremely enjoyable claptrap. Director
Jean Negulesco keeps things moving at a brisk pace, and his carefully
planned widescreen compositions indicate a love of visual details—from
the office's Mondrian-esque color scheme to the wild modern art
in Louis Jordan's apartment. If only he paid as much attention to
the humans as the set decorations
With all three DVDs, Fox has provided super-sharp picture and
fine sound quality, along with original trailers and vintage premiere
footage taken from Fox Movietone newsreels. The Razor's Edge also
includes a dry but okay commentary by film historians Anthony Slide
and Robert Birchard. The Best of Everything's commentary ropes in
Rona Jaffe herself, along with film historian Sylvia Stoddard. The
pair were recorded separately, but they each chime in with several
fascinating anecdotes. In lieu of a commentary, the main bonus on
Anna and the King of Siam is a revealing episode of A&E's Biography
covering the real Anna Leonowens and the various liberties that
have been taken in adapting her story for the page, screen and stage.
Matt
Hinrichs is a Phoenix-based writer and designer. In addition
to Mindjack Film, he blogs regularly at scrubbles.net.
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