![]() ![]() “The Manchurian Candidate” is not only fascinating because it is so unpredictable as storytelling but also because it reverts to the kind of movie-making that made cinema - sheer “film” - a joy, and an end in itself. I went the second time to see if I would see what I thought I saw the first time. I have now looked at the pesky thing twice. ![]() Anyhow, whatever it was that threw readers of the book into incoherencies has been carried over into the picture. I understand readers of Richard Condon’s novel had something of the same difficulty in trying to describe it to friends. “You’ll have to see it and figure that out for yourself,” he said. Frankenheimer took a deep breath, stammered a few words and then gave up. John Frankenheimer, the director, was well into “The Manchurian Candidate,” which he was filming from George Axelrod’s script, when I asked him what it’s about. Kanopy: Included | Apple TV: Rent/Buy | Amazon Prime: Rent/Buy 'The Manchurian Candidate'ġ962 | Thriller | 2 hours 6 minutes | Rated PG-13 It is well off the hewn track, and therefore interesting. Peter Lawford, Richard Fraser, Douglas Walton, Morton Lowry and Miles Mander are in the cast. Donna Reed appears effectively as the daughter of Hallward, in love with Gray. Miss Lansbury endows Sibyl Vane, the songstress with virginal charm. Gilmore admirably portrays the painter throughout. Of murder there is the touch when Dorian Gray kills Hallward (Lowell Gilmore,) the artist who has painted him. The film falls flat in this and the climax. But the artist reveals neither subtlety nor inspiration in what he has done to unveil the deterioration process. This picture is supposed to show the effects the life of the central character has had upon him, while he himself remains ever young. For that reason it will arrest the interest of the discriminating audience, even though it may not completely satisfy the devotees of the poet who gave the strange story life.ĭismaying in the film is the actual close with its evidences of contrition on the part of Dorian Gray, and also the earlier grotesque treatment of the idea of the painting. ![]() There are jarring compromises in the production, unquestionably, yet it will rate as one of the most unusual ever brought before the public. MGM has brought the fabulous Oscar Wilde narrative of soul-destruction to the screen, but undoubtedly faced the laws, the prophets and the Hays office in its brave endeavor. It is a perfect, a glorious holiday attraction, the first picture keyed to the season to reach Broadway, where it will remain long after the holly and mistletoe are taken down.Īngela Lansbury in the 1945 drama "The Picture of Dorian Gray." (Donaldson Collection/Getty Images)Īpple TV: Rent/Buy | Amazon Prime: Rent/Buyįrom Edwin Schallert’s 1945 review: The “flowers of evil” bloom in the screen transcript of “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” They flourish ebulliently in the conversations of Lord Henry (George Sanders), whose decadent bon mots appear to awaken marked response, especially with the feminine audience. 'National Velvet'Īpple TV: Rent/Buy| Amazon Prime: Rent/Buyįrom Norbert Lusk’s 1944 coverage: Everything that was whispered about “National Velvet” in advance of its opening at the Music Hall is true, more than true, and reviews fairly trumpet the virtues of the film. In "National Velvet" she has the sympathetic part of an English country girl experiencing her first puppy-love affair, in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" she is featured in the tragic role of Sybil Vane, the young actress betrayed by Dorian. On the basis of her performance as the saucy, scheming servant in "Gaslight," Angela was given a long-term contract. She is Angela Lansbury, who won unprecedented praise for an initial performance as the cockney maid in MGM's "Gaslight," starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. Now, in August 1944, taller, poised and talented, the same girl is regarded as one of the foremost young candidates for dramatic stardom on the screen. ![]() From The Times' 1944 coverage: Four years ago this month a wide-eyed, blond little English girl of 14 sailed up New York Harbor seeking refuge from the London blitz. ![]()
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