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| Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux |
To pay off her debts, Comtesse Louise (Danielle Darrieux) pawns earrings that were given to her by her husband, General Andre (Charles Boyer), but they wind up being given back to her as a gift from the man she's fallen in love with, Baron Donati (Vittorio de Sica), causing mildly interesting complications. Ophuls' most famous film (made in Hollywood) is Letter from an Unknown Woman, which is vastly superior to the French-Italian co-production Madame de. The characters are not that dimensional, although the actors, especially a fine Boyer, do their best to put them over. Despite some of the emotions boiling under the surface, the story is slight and not handled with much dramatic flair. The modestly attractive Darrieux makes too ordinary a heroine. (She had a decidedly brief Hollywood career, appearing in The Rage of Paris in 1938.) I like de Sica better as a director than as an actor, although he is certainly not bad as Donati.
Verdict: A mere trifle all told. **.
2 comments:
Watched Boyer this week, too, with Bette Davis is All This and Heaven Too. I forgot what a lovely and handsome actor he was...I think I mentioned to you that the previous week I saw him again in Barefoot in the Park...really admiring Boyer lately after not thinking about hij much over the years. He was amazing in Gaslight too. Need to rewatch that next.
-C
Boyer was a superb actor who rarely gave a bad performance, although at times he was miscast or something was amiss. He was good in all the films you mention and many, many more.
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