Saturday, December 09, 2006
LIFE, DEATH AND OTHER STUFF
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Thornton Wilder's
adapted from the Broadway play and starring, the original Emily, Martha Scott and, in his fifth picture, William Holden as George.
Yes. They are very young.
This play often taken as an exercise in nostalgia but the play, which won a Pulitzer, is deeper than that; a meditation on life. It is not particularly a christian meditation either.
The period-ness of it helps see our modern lives in some perspective that we might not ordinarily have. We may think ourselves special but we are not. Well, perhaps especially human.
It is a little corny here and there but it is quite enjoyable to watch even in this technically awful DVD presentation. It badly needs restoration.
There are a host of great character actors from the period: Thomas Mitchell (who has been in everything lately), Guy Kibbee, Beulah Bondi, Fay Bainter and Frank Craven. These are the actors who made films work at that time.
What else?
It is fun to see William Holden in his first screen role. The distinctive voice and personna are just forming.
I liked it. I will give it a 4 out of 5 even if I had to squint a lot to see what was going on.
Oh. The film is distinguished to have Aaron Copland's undistinctive score. I am not a fan of Aaron who sounds the same no matter what the theme and wrote a lot of it.
