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Home Archives for paul henreid

January 10, 2012 By iluvcinema 16 Comments

Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: So Young So Bad (1950)

Boy we have come a long way from the glory of Casablanca, Paul Henreid. Labeled by my Netflix recommendation, this film, So Young, So Bad is a ‘Gritty Independent Fight the System ‘ movie and with a synopsis like this:

Aghast at the cruel punishments handed out by Mr. Riggs (Cecil Clovelly) and his pitiless assistant, Mrs. Beuhler (Grace Coppin), at their all-girls reform school, forward-thinking psychologist Dr. Jason (Paul Henreid) tries to take control of the institution. But when an inmate turns up dead, Jason suspects a setup, and now the girls themselves must reveal the truth about their treatment. Bernard Vorhaus directs this drama.

Source: Netflix

This film has the distinction of being (1) the feature film debut of a 19-year old Rosita Moreno – who would later be known as Rita Moreno and (2) one of the earliest roles for actress Anne Francis.

So Young, So Bad is a story told in flashback by Paul Henreid’s Dr. Jason, a psychiatrist working in a reform school for girls with hopes of making a difference in their lives. In the process he gains insight into the way the girls are exploited and abused by the very system enlisted to reforming them.

Not that I am not saying So Young So Bad is an all-out classic which time has forgotten. Rather, here is a little perspective – at the time of this film’s release, there were essentially two tiers of pictures that received wide distribution: the A-film and the B-film. Because the studios were still in control of most of the film production, independent features did not have the artistic distinction or polish that many have in our modern thinking of this area of cinema.

I suppose the intent of this film was a sort of ‘message’ film. In fact, it was released one day after a very similar film with a similar message (also featured on this blog), Caged. Caged starred Eleanor Parker as a woman irrevocably hardened by the prison system.

In its own way, as the film poster indicates, this attempts to explain WHY the girls are the way they are.

On a side note, Paul Henreid made a lot of money from this film; against the advice of his advisors, he put up 50% of the financing for the film and in return, received what he said was more money than he did for any other film during his film career.

Source: Wikipedia

Filed Under: Overlooked Films Tagged With: ann francis, overlooked film, paul henreid, reform school, rita moreno

August 9, 2011 By iluvcinema 7 Comments

Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: Night Train to Munich (1940)

Night Train to Munich deftly blends romance, comedy and suspense to create a great piece of entertainment. Much credit to this must go to director Carol Reed (of The Third Man notoriety) for his ability to combine all of these elements together.

The plot is somewhat generic for WWII espionage thrillers of the period with a few added twists and turns for good measure:

A Czech scientist has some information the Nazis want. As he and his daughter attempt to flee the impending occupation, the daughter (portrayed by Margaret Lockwood) is apprehended and sent to a concentration camp. She eventually “escapes” and heads to England to find her father, who is hidden somewhere in the country. While there, she comes in contact with British intelligence primarily in the form of Rex Harrison. All of this sets the narrative in motion in a race against time to prevent the Nazis from getting their hands on the Czech scientist’s secret.

As previously stated, the plot is somewhat generic for a wartime espionage thriller. Taken in its proper context, this makes sense. The year is 1940 and the film represents a propaganda-styled film designed to boost the morale of a nation deeply in the throws of a war against Germany; at this time England literally must feel like an island unto its own as it is about a year before the United States officially enters the conflict.

According to my research, Carol Reed looked at this film as a “sequel” of sorts to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, made two years earlier. While Night Train to Munich shares many similarities to its predecessor, chiefly (1) a main part of the action takes place on a train; (2) the cast includes Margaret Lockwood and the popular Charters and Caldicott (portrayed by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, respectively); (3) it features a death-defying climatic sequence of events.

But that is where the similarities end. Notable and welcomed additions to this idea are the presence of Rex Harrison and Paul Henreid. In the case of the latter, Henreid puts on display his fine acting ability and succeeds in convincing the audience that he is a bona-fide “baddie.” This portrayal is in stark contrast to his later heroic turns in both Casablanca and Now, Voyager (both from 1942).

Night Train to Munich takes its audience on a fun and thrilling ride from the Czech Republic to England and Germany.

While you may occasionally catch it on cable (I recently watched it on Turner Classic Movies), it is also available on Criterion DVD at several online retail outlets.

 

Filed Under: Recommendation Tagged With: carol reed, margaret lockwood, nazis, night train to munich, paul henreid, rex harrison, suspense, WWII

September 21, 2009 By idawson Leave a Comment

Review of Devotion (1943/6)

For years I have been looking forward to seeing this film. Finally it was on TCM this weekend and what can I say, it was awfully dull. It did not capture my attention at all. It is really disappointing because I love Olivia deHavilland as a screen presence and always find her worth the price of admission. I feel the same adoration for Ida Lupino as well. The story was a very contrived attempt to turn the life of the sisters Bronte into some sort of romantic drama (with a love triangle to boot). Needless to say about 45 minutes in, I could not bear it anymore and merely left the television on as a background distraction occasionally looking up to see where in the story they were. My recommendation: stick with film/TV adaptations of the Bronte’s novels. My personal favorite is Jane Eyre (TV/2006).

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: bronte sisters, ida lupino, olivia dehavilland, paul henreid

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