![]() Tanner), Helena Byrne-Grant (Hannah), Ann Fiedler (Mrs. Vane), Olaf Hytten (Mills), Lawrence Grant (Mr. ![]() Shannon), John Holliday (Sir George Barton), Henrietta Crosman (Granny Vane), Frieda Inescourt (Ann West), Claude Allister (Lawrence Bidley), George Breakston (Joe, Fay Chaldecott (Betty), Denis Chaldecott (Ginger), Douglas Walton (Roulston), Sarah Edwards (Mrs. Assistant Diector: Hugh Boswell.Ĭast: Fredric March (Alan Trent), Merle Oberon (Kitty Vane), Herbert Marshall (Gerald Shannon), Janet Beecher (Mrs. ![]() Script: Lillian Hellman, Mordaunt Shairp, based on the play by Guy Bolton. Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions. Toronto Film Society presented The Dark Angel (1941) on Monday, March 7, 1977 in a double bill with Man Hunt as part of the Season 29 Monday Evening Film Buff Series, Programme 8. THE DARK ANGEL, as adapted by Lillian Hellman and Mordaunt Shairp from the play by Guy Bolton directed by Sidney Franklin a Samuel Goldwyn production released through United Artists. It promises to be one of the popular pictures of the season. Sidney Franklin, director of that earlier sentimental masterpiece "Smilin' Through," enshrouds the photoplay in the peculiarly warm emotional haze which he manages so well. There is an unintentional howler when Miss Oberon, in the dramatic act of being tossed from her horse at the feet of her missing lover, flies through the air in a highly unbecoming posture. You may be mildly astonished to find that the child actors of the early part of the picture, all approximately the same age, grow up into such varying stages of adulthood as the middle-aged Mr. Marshall contribute their best performances in months, and Miss Oberon, abandoning the Javanese slant of the eyes for the occasion, plays with skill and feeling. It is a high-powered dramatic situation and the film manages it beautifully and effectively.Both Mr. He almost gets away with his deception, but betrays himself in one unexpected detail. Awaiting his visitors, the blind man plans to conceal his affliction from them by memorizing every detail in the room and arranging an elaborate stage business for receiving them. This is the high point of the new version, too. ![]() It is sad and sweet and brave and very sacrificial.If you saw the 1925 silent version with Vilma Banky and Ronald Colman, you probably recall that the big dramatic scene was the reunion of the blind man and his two friends. Marshall were about to be married when they found out that he was alive. March, though, was blind, not dead, and when he found his way back to England he buried himself in the country because he didn't want to be a burden to the girl he loved. Marshall, his superior officer, sent him out on a dangerous mission and he never came back. March and married him in the eyes of God if not to the complete satisfaction of the English church by spending the night with him just before he crossed the Channel to join his regiment. Then they grew up and, when the two boys went off to war, the girl gave her heart to Mr. He and Miss Oberon and Herbert Marshall were children together in the lovely English countryside. This time, however, his motive is more reasonable. Now in "The Dark Angel" he pretends that he is dead in order to escape marrying the lyric Miss Merle Oberon. At the Capitol, you will remember, he is deserting Miss Greta Garbo five times a day in his passion to go to war. If you are thoughtful enough to bring along a spare handkerchief, you will find the new film at the Rivoli Theatre an engaging sentimental journey into martial romance.Fredric March in his new role continues to be lacking in good common sense in his relations with his screen loves. ![]() The photoplay is in the handsome Goldwyn tradition of visual excellence and, if you know your cameramen at all, you quickly guess that the superb clarity of the photography is the work of Gregg Toland. Lillian Hellman and Mordaunt Shairp have written a highly literate screen adaptation of Guy Bolton's play, skirting all the more obvious opportunities for tear-jerking and overemphasis, and telling the story with feeling and admirable good taste. Goldwyn's belief that "The Dark Angel" is destined to achieve screen immortality, the impresario's first photoplay of the season is a happy adventure in sentimental romance. Even if there is just a hint of overstatement in Mr. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |