Monday, April 02, 2007
THE MISSING ROMANOV
Today's NYTimes Best Film was
with Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes.
It is just now available on disc and not worth the wait.
It is a romance without any heat at all between Brynner and Bergman and a speculation on the tale of the surviving daughter of the Czar.
There were two such claimants to the 'throne'; Anna Anderson and Eugenia Smith.
This film, based on a Broadway play with Viveca Lindfors has no connection with either of the women who claimed to be Anastasia.
It is fluff; one of those star vehicles that is all gussied up but lacks a heart.
I was very happy to see Akim Tamiroff who acts them all off the screen in his scenes and with great flair; the life of the party.
It is also in Cinemascope which was an excuse to trot out big scenes, parades and so on that have nothing to do with the drama.
Another annoyance. There is a window that looks out on the Eiffel Tower with a little train in front of it. There is not a scene in that room (and there are a lot) without the train going by the window several times. It even has a bit of sound effect to it. Gimcrakery.
It is also not a good transfer. The music drowns out a lot of the dialogue and there are spots where the sound goes loud and soft and sometimes crackly.
And so on.
I didn't much like it.
Can you tell?
It is a turkey.
I will be giving it a 2 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films, turkeys
