Discovering Dirk Bogarde

We Joined the Navy cameo (video clip)

2011-07-26T13:48:00.003-04:00

Here is the scene in which Dirk appears in "We Joined the Navy!" It's only about a 2 minute long scene, and he only appears in the last 30 seconds, but it's fantastic nonetheless! I'll have screencaps coming up later today, too :)

We Joined the Navy

2011-07-26T02:41:00.002-04:00

FANTASTIC news! I finally tracked down a copy of that elusive "We Joined the Navy" (1963)! Dirk Bogarde's cameo is very brief, only about one minute tops, but it's great and if you're as big a fan as I am, it's quite exciting! :D

I just got it in the mail this afternoon & checked to make sure it was the right movie (I've been searching fruitlessly for so long that I wasn't sure I really had it until I saw it with my own eyes!) but tomorrow I'll get some screen caps to share here!

If you're interested in getting a copy yourself, I've added it here!

This means the only remaining films I've yet to find are Upon This Rock, Blackmailed, Power Without Glory and Rope. And I'd also love to track down the "This is Your Life" episode starring Kenneth More, which Dirk made an appearance on. I'm so excited to finally have We Joined the Navy, though.. I've been searching for almost two years now, so I had almost given up hope that I'd ever find it! :)

Happy 90th, Dirk Bogarde!

2011-03-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

TCM Programming Alert!

2011-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

So Long at the Fair is playing at 12:00PM EST on Turner Classic Movies! Don't miss it!

More information on new and upcoming DVD releases

2011-01-28T14:51:00.005-05:00

Libel (1959) - Available now through Warner Archive! $19.99

Simba (1955) Release date: March 14, 2011

The Gentle Gunman (1952) Release date: March 7, 2011

The Singer Not the Song (1961) Release date: March 14, 2011

Victim (1961) Available now as part of the box-set

"Basil Dearden's London Underground Collection"

The Spanish Gardener (1956) Release date: February 14, 2011

So Long at the Fair (1950) Release date: February 14, 2011

Esther Waters (1948) Release date: February 14, 2011

Once a Jolly Swagman (1948) Available now through Amazon UK

Dirk Bogarde's life story -- in comic book form!

2011-01-18T20:21:00.003-05:00

This is BY FAR my favorite Dirk Bogarde find. About a week ago I was perusing ebay listings and came across a late-1950's magazine that had only a photo of the cover, and said "Dirk Bogarde cover and feature -- his life story in pictures and also in comic strip." Comic strip??? I had to see this. And it's about 100 times better than anything I could have hoped!! It is seriously a comic strip. It's 22 pages long and -- with a few white lies and exaggerations -- really is his life story in comic strip form, up until about 1958. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!! :)

Rest in Peace, Susannah York

2011-01-15T20:50:00.002-05:00

Susannah York passed away today at the age of 72 after a battle with bone marrow cancer. Dirk Bogarde's co-star in Sebastian and Oh! What a Lovely War, Susannah York was an amazing actress, and from the interviews I've seen, and articles I've read, she seemed like an incredibly lovely person. As The Guardian put it, she was a "gentle star of 1960's cinema." She'll be deeply missed.

Instant Play

2011-01-07T23:31:00.002-05:00

I signed up for Netflix tonight, and BOY was I thrilled to see how many Dirk Bogarde movies are available on instant play! When I used to have Netflix months ago I think the only one available to watch online was Justine, so this is a huge improvement. Here's the list of films available to watch instantaneously, on a whim, any time night or day! Whee!!

Quartet (1948)

Penny Princess (1952)

Doctor in the House (1954)

Doctor at Sea (1955)

Doctor at Large (1957)

I Could Go On Singing (1963)

Modesty Blaise (1966)

Justine (1969)

new scans

2011-01-02T19:07:00.002-05:00

Some new scans to share! The one above is from The Password is Courage, and the ones below are from a set of French Justine lobby cards I got last month -- mainly for the first one, but the rest are really nice too!

I'm a bit behind in adding the new scans to the photo section of the site, but hopefully I'll have that finished this week. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season & best wishes for the new year! :)

Justine photos

2010-12-19T18:41:00.003-05:00

Have to admit .. I haven't actually seen Justine yet! It's one of the ones I'm really looking forward to watching (co-starring Anna Karina! yay!) though. I've just been trying to save some of his films and not watch them all at once. Nevertheless, I couldn't pass on these photos when I saw them on ebay! They're fantastic!

I'll be adding them to the photograph section next week -- until then, if you'd like to download the large scan, just click on the photo and it should open in a new window :)

As Time Goes By

2010-12-16T04:17:00.004-05:00

I made a new video tribute today... actually, I made it this month. It's taken me forever to prepare, since I had to rip all of Dirk Bogarde's movies to my hard drive. Yup, this one includes EVERY one of his movies, and in chronological order, no less! The only exceptions are Blackmailed, Upon This Rock & We Joined the Navy since they're being stubbornly elusive.

The video is set to "As Time Goes By" sung by Bryan Ferry. It starts with Dirk Bogarde's first starring role in Esther Waters (1948) and ends with his last performance in Daddy Nostalgia (1990). Here is the full list of films, in order:

Esther Waters (1948), Quartet (1948), Once a Jolly Swagman (1949), Dear Mr. Prohack (1949), Boys in Brown (1950), The Blue Lamp (1950), So long at the Fair (1950), The Woman in Question (1950), Hunted (1952), Penny Princess (1952), The Gentle Gunman (1952), Desperate Moment (1953), Appointment in London (1953), They Who Dare (1954), Doctor in the House (1954), The Sleeping Tiger (1954), For Better For Worse (1954), The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954), Simba (1955), Doctor at Sea (1955), Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), The Spanish Gardener (1956), Ill Met By Moonlight (1957), Doctor at Large (1957), Campbell's Kingdom (1957), A Tale of Two Cities (1958), The Wind Cannot Read (1958), The Doctor's Dilemma (1958), Libel (1959), The Angel Wore Red (1960), Song Without End (1960), The Singer Not the Song (1961), Victim (1961), HMS Defiant (1962), The Password is Courage (1962), The Mind Benders (1963), I Could Go On Singing (1963), Doctor in Distress (1963), The Servant (1963), Hot Enough for June (1964), King and Country (1964), The High Bright Sun (1964), Little Moon of Alban (1964), Darling (1965), Modesty Blaise (1966), Blithe Spirit (1966), Accident (1967), Our Mother's House (1967), Sebastian (1968), The Fixer (1968), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Justine (1969), The Damned (1969), Death in Venice (1971), Night Flight From Moscow (1973), The Night Porter (1974), Permission to Kill (1975), Providence (1977), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Despair (1978), May We Borrow Your Husband? (1986), The Vision (1988), Daddy Nostalgia (1990)

Later this week I'm planning on screen-capping the video and captioning the photos with which film they came from, so that if a specific clip looks intriguing you'll know which movie to watch :)

dvd releases

2010-12-14T18:17:00.003-05:00

Three early Dirk Bogarde movies are finally being released on DVD in January! They're being released in the UK, so they're in PAL format but most computers can play region 2 discs with VLC player, and multi-region DVD players can read them as well.

The lucky movies are Once a Jolly Swagman, Esther Waters and The Spanish Gardener. Hopefully the fact that the powers-that-be are finally releasing some early DB Rank films is a sign that Blackmailed (a movie that doesn't seem to be available anywhere, and I mean anywhere) will finally see the light of day!

ps. Thanks to Micky for the heads-up! :)

Appointment in London screen grabs

2010-12-11T18:18:00.003-05:00

I try really hard to keep the gushing here to a minimum, and to keep the blog more proper than "omg I love him!!" fangirly. But, my goodness, do you see these screen shots?! It's hard to keep your composure whilst looking at them, let alone write a post that's any more formal than "drooling......"

I took a LOT of shots, and these 12 are my favorite. You can see the rest here.

Appointment in London (1952)

2010-12-09T03:11:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the obnoxious gif, but I had to make one when I saw this scene. It's just so perfect!

I was a very bad Dirk Bogarde fan when I watched this film. I was quite tired and I only vaguely understood the plot (not that it was that complicated, I was just that tired) but from what I understand, this is how it went -- Dirk Bogarde plays a flight officer who has already flown more missions than most people do in their entire careers. He's working towards 90 bombing missions, even if everyone thinks that it's pushing his luck to even do 88 or 89.

I have a very hard time watching war movies.. I can't help myself! All of the talk about missions and bombing raids and radar went flying through my left ear and soaring out the right. Like most post-war British war films, however, it did have several really heartfelt, saddening scenes that emphasized what war does to the women on the homefront. One pilot was sending coded messages to his wife so that Dirk Bogarde (who didn't approve of his officers having their minds on their women, so preferred that they either didn't have women at home or didn't communicate with them) wouldn't find him out. Bogarde's love interest in the film, played by Dinah Sheridan, is a war widow who is still referred to throughout the movie as "Mrs." Those moments were poignant and deeply sad.

It puzzles me why Dirk Bogarde was cast in so many war films at the peak of his popularity with young girls. Why screaming bobbysoxers would be interested in violent movies seemingly aimed at male audiences eludes me, but I guess I'm living proof that if he was in it, the adoring fans would watch it.

new scans!

2010-11-28T21:13:00.002-05:00

A gigantic "thank you" to my good friend Roe from the Dirk Bogarde facebook group for sending me some wonderful photos in the mail last week! First there's this fantastic photo above from the National Gallery in London. I usually prefer his younger photos but this one is just so captivating! I also love the mixed patterns: the checkered pants, striped shirt and what appears to be an insect-print tie?!

I also received this batch of amazing stills from Hot Enough for June! They really capture the feel of the movie, how it is delightfully fun and romantic, but still exceptionally suspenseful! You can see larger versions of all of these photos by clicking the thumbnails in the photo section of my website, here! Thank you Roe!! :)

TCM programming alert!

2010-11-16T23:44:00.004-05:00

The Angel Wore Red will be playing on TCM at 12:30AM EST on November 19th. TCM's site describes the plot as follows, "A priest and a prostitute fall in love during the Spanish Civil War." It's a bit more complicated than that, and, to be honest, not my favorite Dirk Bogarde film, but definitely good and worth giving a watch! :)

Dirk Bogarde Home Videos

2010-11-10T21:55:00.002-05:00

There's a documentary on Dirk Bogarde called "The Private Dirk Bogarde" in which they play a good deal of clips from his own home videos. But they're interspersed throughout the 2+ hour long movie, and usually used as background for someone talking over them. So I thought it would be neat to compile all of the home video clips without the documentary audio! There ended up being almost 30 minutes worth of footage, so I divided the clips up into three separate youtube uploads. The accompanying music is Liszt's Consolation No. 2 in E Major performed by Vladimir Horowitz. If you're interested in viewing the entire documentary, it's available on youtube here.

cute little clip

2010-11-10T04:09:00.002-05:00

I was perusing the Dirk Bogarde documentary "The Private Dirk Bogarde" tonight, looking for clips from home videos when I came across this one that I had to single out & share. Isn't it just the cutest thing ever?! I love that they documented so much of their life on film.. I'd complain that not enough segments are available, but then I realize how lucky we are to even have these!

New tribute video!

2010-11-06T00:46:00.002-04:00

This one is a little more crazy than my last one, but I had so much fun making it, and I think it's really fun to watch too! I tried not to include any of the same clips I did in my first video, but a few snuck in because they fit so well.. only 3 or 4 at the most, though :)

Clips in the video are from: Song Without End, By Myself, Hot Enough for June, Hunted, Sebastian, Despair, The Singer Not the Song, Darling, Archival footage from dirkbogarde.co.uk, Night Porter, The Mind Benders, The Blue Lamp, Modesty Blaise, The Wind Cannot Read, The High Bright Sun, The Servant, Accident, Doctor in Distress, King and Country, Providence and Death in Venice.

The song is Ooh La La by Goldfrapp.

New photos

2010-10-13T16:02:00.005-04:00

A huge thank you to Tom from Motion Picture Gems for this amazing "Desperate Moment" still. I've never even seen this picture before, isn't it great?!

And Kendra from Days in Mayfair and Viv & Larry took this snapshot of a wonderful Dirk Bogarde photo on display at the National Portrait Gallery in England!

You can see larger versions of the first 2 photos here in the photographs section. Just click to view the scans full-size.

Tribute to The Night Porter

2010-09-14T12:32:00.003-04:00

I was very hesitant to watch The Night Porter, since I'm a bit of a movie prude and don't like my films overflowing with sex and nudity -- and I was under the impression that NP was just a porn film in disguise. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally caved in and watched it last month! It wasn't nearly as explicit as I expected, and the film was shot so beautifully that you hardly notice when it is. It's a sad, uncomfortable but beautiful story about a Nazi and a concentration camp prisoner who have a doomed, deep, twisted love for one another.

I made this video last night as a tribute to the movie -- it's set to "I'm a Fool to Want You" sung by Billie Holiday.

All Gone - a tribute to The Servant

2010-09-01T10:40:00.003-04:00

I made this one yesterday.. I've had the idea floating around in my head for the longest time, and finally got around to it last night. This one is more of a tribute to the entire film, so it's not concentrating on Dirk Bogarde as much as my other videos have. Sarah Miles & James Fox take up a sizable chunk of space here. You might notice Wendy Craig is virtually absent, though, but that's just because I didn't like her character.. I'm being ornery :)

I might do another one in the future that's a tribute to Dirk's performance in the film, like I did with Modesty Blaise... but that is another video for another day..

TCM programming alert!

2010-08-27T15:37:00.005-04:00

TCM = Today, August 27th = 4:00PM EST = Libel

Libel on TCMdb
My post on Libel

30 new scans

2010-08-25T10:54:00.003-04:00

I just added 30 new scans to the dirk-bogarde.com photography section! All of the photos added today were taken by Roddy McDowall. You can check out all 30 on flickr or on dirk-bogarde.com. These five are my favorites :)

Modesty Blaise (and a programming alert)

2010-08-17T13:15:00.003-04:00

Modesty Blaise is a hilarious, random, psychedelic, awfully fun film that you do NOT want to miss when it airs on FOX Movie Channel this afternoon at 2pm EST. Dirk Bogarde is outlandishly over the top as a white-wigged villain and Modesty Blaise's arch nemesis. If you miss the whole film, here's a quick little peek at the awesomeness that is Dirk Bogarde in this movie. The genius is in the details.. subtle glances and movements.. taking on a spot-on American accent for a Patton-style speech.. the rhythm of a phrase. And pay special attention to his pronunciation of the word "torture"... it kills me.

There will be more on Modesty Blaise here in the near future... I just had to post a programming alert, but so enjoyed this film that I couldn't bring myself to mention it without going into a little more detail :) I also took about eight gazillion screen-caps from the movie (okay, more like 140, but still..) so I'll share some of those in my next post about MB as well.

New scans

2010-08-17T05:22:00.002-04:00

I scanned and uploaded about 60 new photos tonight! You can view all of them here! My personal favorite is the one at the top of the post, a promotional photo from The Gentle Gunman.

Uncomfortably Near

2010-08-12T16:05:00.000-04:00

I think these words from the moody torch song "Angel Eyes" fit the film Accident to a T. This one scene in particular. I wrote about it here last year, and I think it bears repeating... this scene is so seminal to the film and exemplifies the feeling of discomfort that permeates the entire movie.

Dirk Bogarde's character, middle-aged and married, has a small uncomfortable crush on one of his students, played by Jacqueline Sassard. When he's asked to join her & another student on a little boat trip he reluctantly agrees. The ensuing trip is a combination of lovely cinematography, soft jazz and palpable awkwardness.

Pay special attention to the part when Dirk realizes the proximity of his hand to her thigh and clumsily repositions, tucking his hands under his armpits. The juxtaposition of his discomfort with the beauty and ease of everything going on around him is like gawky poetry.

I put together this little video with scenes from Accident set to Nancy Wilson's Angel Eyes. Hope you enjoy it :)

Top 10 favorite photos!

2010-08-11T22:30:00.000-04:00

There's been this thing going around on tumblr where you pick your top ten favorite photos of one particular star. I already posted these on my Dirk Bogarde tumblr, but they're so wonderful I thought I'd share them here too! So, without further ado, my picks for the top ten Dirk Bogarde photos:

He gazed a gazely stare

2010-08-11T09:16:00.001-04:00

I think that like 80% of what I write on my blogs is pretty lightweight fluff, but one post that I'm pretty proud of is the review that I wrote on The Mind Benders last October. In it I said that Dirk Bogarde's performance was the best of any actor in any movie I'd ever seen. Astonishingly, I think that over the course of the last year the only performances I've observed that could have possibly surpassed this one have all been played by ... Dirk Bogarde.* I obviously think he's a feast for the eyes, but that would just make him my number one movie crush. He's my favorite actor because he is just so good at his job that it's almost incomprehensible. And even if some of his other roles have come close, I still think that this is the best example of his range, depth and skill as an actor. Please check it out if you haven't already :)

And now, here I go again... scenes from The Mind Benders set to David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World. It might look like this week is turning into "David Bowie and Dirk Bogarde Week", but I promise, musical variety is on the horizon ;-D

*Okay, one exception. Oskar Werner. He's pretty darn good.

dirk-bogarde.com

2010-08-10T13:05:00.005-04:00

I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to classic film anniversaries... every February 14th I celebrate the day I became a Frank Sinatra fan (this year was 10 years!) and every December I celebrate the month -- actually don't remember the exact day -- that I first discovered classic films (this year will be 11 years!) and today marks one year since I discovered Dirk Bogarde on TCM's Summer Under the Stars! To celebrate, I'm unveiling my newest project -- dirk-bogarde.com (dirkbogarde.com is taken by one of those websites that puts up lots of amazon and google ads for money-making purposes only. POO.)

Dirk-Bogarde.com has all of my photographic scans, movie screen-caps and tribute videos. I'm constantly adding more all the time so it will be a continuous work in progress. But all of my existing scans, screen caps and videos are already up!

Yay!! :-D

making love with his ego

2010-08-10T06:36:00.001-04:00

In 1960 Dirk Bogarde played the famed composer and pianist Franz Liszt in the sweeping biopic Song Without End. The film portrays Liszt as a 19th century rock star -- at one point a woman quickly snatches up his gloves from the stage in a move that reminds one of Frank Sinatra's bobby-soxers and the Rolling Stones' groupies. And nobody could have played this massive talent with the massive ego better than Dirk Bogarde. He brings an enormous confidence and a brilliant air of arrogance to the role that few other actors could have pulled off.

I know I'm a bit goofy, but I couldn't help but think of Ziggy Stardust while watching the film... so here is my little tribute to Dirk as Liszt as Ziggy...

Dirk Bogarde Week!

2010-08-09T06:36:00.001-04:00

I'd like to announce that this week is officially Dirk Bogarde Week! (wheee!!!)

August 10th marks one year since Dirk Bogarde was featured on TCM's Summer Under the Stars. In Kate World this means one year since I discovered my new favorite actor. So OF COURSE this calls for a celebration!

I'm really really hoping you'll stick around and pop back in throughout the week to check out all of the Dirk Bogarde Goodness that I have in store. Tribute videos, artwork, movie reviews, drop dead gorgeous pictures, new scans and me doing my darnedest to convince everyone how awesome he is!

Usually I like the whole "save the best for last" way of doing things, but I am SO excited about my big tribute video that I couldn't really wait until the end of the week to post it! It's a montage of clips from 15 Dirk Bogarde movies set to I'll Be Seeing You by Francoise Hardy and Iggy Pop. Enjoy!!! :)

TCM programming alert!

2010-08-02T20:56:00.000-04:00

TCM = Today, August 2nd = 9:45PM EST = Darling

Darling on TCMdb

Dirk Bogarde on What's My Line!

2010-07-28T19:21:00.002-04:00

Dirk appears as a guest panelist in the episode featuring Myrna Loy as the mystery guest!

TCM programming alert!

2010-07-22T00:22:00.000-04:00

TCM = Today, July 22nd = 5:45PM EST = A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities on TCMdb

The Wind Cannot Read - Music Video

2010-06-17T00:31:00.003-04:00

I just realized today that I never posted this on the blog before! I made this video a few months ago for my Song of the Week on Silents and Talkies, but completely forgot to post it here, where it really belonged :)

The images are all taken from The Wind Cannot Read, and accompanied by the theme song from the movie, sung by Vera Lynn. I tracked down an old 45 in England on ebay and converted it to mp3 to use for the video. I hope you like it!

Lobby cards from Song Without End

2010-05-27T00:54:00.003-04:00

A gigantic THANK YOU to Tom from Motion Picture Gems for sending me this amazing set of lobby cards from Song Without End!! (Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!)

Victim (1961)

2010-05-23T15:40:00.008-04:00

Before I write about Victim, I'd just like to make a few points about this blog, and how much time I spend (or don't spend) on Dirk Bogarde's sexuality, and why.

I haven't yet completed all of Dirk Bogarde's autobiographical books, but I think it is safe to say that he spent his entire life publicly denying the fact that he was gay. After he passed away, family members and friends put any speculation to rest and confirmed that the man he lived with for most of his life - Anthony Forwood - was his partner. Because he was so diligent in hiding this, because he denied this part of his life in his books and interviews, I feel strange discussing it here, as if I am in some way betraying the public image that he worked so hard to build.

Additionally, I personally don't think that a person's sexuality has any bearing on their art, and as an audience we should only consider it as a tiny fraction of who they are. That so many Dirk Bogarde sites and pages I've found seem to concentrate on his sexuality, I think, is a disservice to his outstanding talent and remarkable career.

And lastly, I am colorblind when it comes to sexuality. I don't think anyone should be treated differently because they are straight or gay. Much like you wouldn't refer to Clark Gable as a "white actor", you also wouldn't refer to him as a "straight actor". He's simply, an actor. So it should be for gay actors as well. They are just actors.

On occasion, I've received comments on this blog, saying things to the effect of "such a great actor, it's a shame he was gay." Perhaps this is partly why Dirk Bogarde never wanted the public to know. I mean, come on! It's like saying "such a great actor, it's a shame he didn't eat broccoli." It's just a stupid thing to say.

So because I think Dirk would prefer it this way, and because I do not think it relates much to his films, I don't concentrate on that part of his life on this blog. Except for this once.

Knowing what we do now, we can say it was amazingly brave and daring of Dirk Bogarde to take the starring role in Victim, a groundbreaking movie from 1961 that tells the story of a barrister, Melville Farr, who sacrifices his family and career to track down the blackmailer that drove his gay lover to suicide.

Three other films dealing with homosexuality were released around the same time -- Advise and Consent (1962), The Children's Hour (1961) and The Best Man (1964). None of these films were as raw, stark and brutally honest as Victim. While there are scenes in The Best Man that imply Cliff Robertson's character was gay, they were still dancing around the subject, afraid to even utter the word "homosexual". Victim confronts the topic head on -- and more importantly, confronts the archaic laws in England which made homosexuality a crime. In fact, this film brought such attention to the anti-gay laws, that it is credited with helping to overturn them.

You can hear Dirk discussing Victim about 3/4 of the way into this interview --

(copyright The Dirk Bogarde Estate)

Dirk Bogarde gave another interview as part of the publicity for Victim, that I found especially interesting and insightful, considering his own love life. I purchased this on ebay and scanned it so that you can read it. (click images to view larger)

I've read many confused articles about this time period in his career, in which some people say that Victim's controversial subject matter cost him his reputation as a matinee idol and giant film star. But this simply isn't true -- one need only look at some of his lighter roles that followed Victim, like the last installment in the Doctor series, Doctor in Distress, to see that his popularity remained. And Victim marked the first page in a new chapter of Dirk Bogarde's career that included a series of edgy, new-wave films like Darling, The Servant and The Mind Benders, which, I would argue, are among his best.

Sadly, I think that Victim is still as edgy and avante-garde today as it was fifty years ago. In a perfect world, we should have been able to look back on this bigoted time period as old news by now. But like Dirk Bogarde and his character Melville Farr, many people still feel the need to hide their homosexuality as if it was something to be ashamed of -- and being "outed" still seems to be something that can ruin a career. While Victim did help to make homosexuality more acceptable (and legal) in the UK, here in the United States homosexuals are still denied many basic civil rights that are granted to every other citizen. I know that most people can't be swayed on this topic, but if anyone is sitting on the fence, I'm sure that watching Victim would help them to come to their senses.

Scans from Song Without End

2010-05-03T21:28:00.000-04:00

My friend, and fellow Dirk Bogarde fan, Andi sent me the most amazing surprise in the mail! A book of sheet music from the film Song Without End! The book has some fantastic photos inside, so I scanned them to share with you! Thank you Andi! :D

Blithe Spirit (1966) and Little Moon of Alban (1964)

2010-04-29T11:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had the enormous pleasure of seeing the two Dirk Bogarde Hallmark Hall of Fame productions at the Paley Center in New York! Neither show seems to be available on DVD or VHS anywhere else in the known universe (believe me, I have been looking high and low for months!) so I'd been eagerly anticipating the day that I could save up enough money to go to New York and see them.

I decided to watch Blithe Spirit first, since it was the one I was looking forward to more, and I have a hard time with the "save the best for last" theory. It's the story of a writer, Charles Condomine, whose deceased first wife comes back to haunt him after a seance with his second wife goes awry. The psychic was played by an over-the-top, hilarious, Emmy-deserving Ruth Gordon. Dirk Bogarde's character reminded me a lot of (also a writer) Nicholas Whistler, his character in Hot Enough for June. Like Whistler, Condomine seems a rather pulled together fellow until all heck breaks loose and he finds himself in the most unlikely of situations. Dirk approached this role in much the same way, with that endearing frazzled bewilderment and voice-cracking confusion.

The story was written by Noel Coward (score!) so it was dripping with wit and sarcasm. I think Coward is at his best writing dialogue for bickering couples, so it was absolutely delightful to have Coward dialogue for a husband arguing with not one, but two wives!

Clocking in at one hour and 18 minutes, Blithe Spirit was over much too quickly and I wished so badly that I had had the time to play it over again while I was at the museum. (Or take it home on DVD. Come on!!!)

My only complaint about Blithe Spirit is that it would have been even more marvelous if it had been a real movie instead of a tv-movie. To have had a real film crew with real direction and more expensive sets, it could have been an A+ production. Unfortunately, the sets had a very stage-like quality about them, and the camera movement was quite stiff. But really, considering how fabulous Dirk's performance was, how marvelous the story itself is, and how great Ruth Gordon was too, this is really a small technicality.

Next up was Little Moon of Alban. Small disclosure: I'm not a big fan of Julie Harris, and she was the main star of this program. I approached it thinking that maybe she wouldn't be as grating (to me) as she had been in Member of the Wedding, but unfortunately I found her just as annoying in this movie. And she is basically the sole star for the first forty minutes. I really didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as Blithe Spirit, but the opportunity to see a Dirk Bogarde performance that is otherwise not available anywhere else made me overlook my blase feeling towards Harris and the plot.

Little Moon of Alban is the story of an Irish girl who denounces God after her fiance is killed by the English in the Irish rebellion. Despite her obvious doubts, the next thing she does is become a Catholic nurse/nun. (She kept having to explain to people that she wasn't a REAL nun, just a nurse who had taken vows and was dressed exactly like a nun. It was kind of confusing to me, but then I'm not really familiar with Catholic traditions, so maybe it's just me?) Anyway, she becomes a nurse/nun and immediately gets assigned to a hospital for English soldiers. Ouch!

And here (FINALLY!) is where Dirk comes in. Only a few hours before the cease-fire, Dirk and his fellow soldiers are attacked and he is the lone survivor. Barely alive, lying in his hospital bed, he starts an argument with Julie Harris about war, God and belief. Their arguments continue for days as Dirk's condition worsens. Julie keeps trying to get him to believe in God, despite the fact that her own faith is kind of shaky -- something Dirk is definitely aware of. Despite their bickering (or maybe because of it.. you know how movies work) they appear to fall in love and everything comes down to an emergency operation in which even the operating surgeon thinks that there is no hope at all. Unfortunately, you can see the ending coming from a mile away. ANY movie in which a man falls in love with a nun ends with them going their separate ways. Perhaps there might be some modern films that don't work this way, but in everything I've ever seen, this is always the case. It may be sacrilegious of me, but I'm always rooting for them to get together (I'm looking at you, Audrey Hepburn and Peter Finch in A Nun's Story!). In this particular movie, it would have even made sense-- Julie Harris' character didn't actually have a calling to the church, she was basically just seeking asylum from the outside world that had killed her fiance. Discovering a new love that helps her get back into the world would have fit, and wouldn't have been devilish or anything since these nun/nurses get to renew their contracts every year instead of taking one big lifelong vow.

Anyway, Little Moon of Alban was redeemed, for me, by Dirk Bogarde's performance. It was amazing watching this one back to back with Blithe Spirit, because while the first showcased Dirk's enormous talent for comedy, Little Moon was a shining example of his outstanding work in drama. Playing a bitter, agnostic soldier facing his fear of death, Dirk's performance was moving, heartbreaking and - set against a stage-like, cardboard background - real. A fellow Dirk Bogarde fan sent me this review from when it first aired on TV, and I believe "haunting brilliance" describes his performance perfectly!

If you are ever in the New York or Los Angeles area, I highly recommend dropping by The Paley Center to check out these movies (or, if you only have time for one, Blithe Spirit). Admission was kind of tricky, though... typically a $10 general admission ticket gets you one hour in the media room, but both of my programs were almost 1.5 hours long each. You can call ahead of time and request a time extension, or you can purchase $15 research/scholar tickets, which get you as much time in the media room as you need.

I really wish that The Paley Center would start offering their database on DVD. I know they'd probably need to clear it with whoever owns the rights to each program, but it would probably be a bigger money-maker than their admission fees are. If they had offered Blithe Spirit (and, despite my general dissatisfaction with Harris and the plot, Little Moon of Alban because I am, after all, a die-hard Dirk Bogarde fan) for $80 a DVD, I probably would have coughed it up in an instant.

corbis photos

2010-04-03T02:32:00.000-04:00

I just found these photos in the Corbis archives.. I can't believe I hadn't thought to look there before. I especially love the first photo in this batch. I may have to eventually buy the photo so I can have a larger version.

Happy Birthday Dirk Bogarde!

2010-03-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

TCM has nothing planned for Dirk's birthday, however, coincidentally they are showing three of his Doctor movies tomorrow during their medical-themed lineup! If you haven't seen the Doctor films, try to tune in.. they're very sly and witty and quite funny! :)

Libel (1959)

2010-02-23T22:33:00.000-05:00

I'm a pretty smart person, but when it comes to movies I hardly ever figure out the twists before they occur. I know if I put my mind to it, I could.. but I'm usually so caught up in the story that I don't try to figure out what's going to happen while the movie is playing. Such was the case with Libel. I'd imagine some people out there might guess the ending before it happens or figure out all the twists before the movie is halfway finished... but I was surprised every step of the way, as confused and shocked as the screenwriters hoped their audience would be.

The film is about a wealthy British aristocrat, Sir Mark Sebastian Loddon, who sues a newspaper for libel after they print an accusation that he is an imposter. What seems like a simple case of slander actually turns into a case of stolen identity when it's revealed that there were two men -- almost identitcal -- who escaped from a POW camp together, Sir Mark Loddon and the scoundrel Frank Welney. Only one of them returned, and said he was Sir Mark.

As soon as they introduce the character of Frank Welney into the proceedings, you the viewer and all of the characters in the film are suddenly thrown into a sea of doubt. Is Sir Mark actually Frank Welney? If so, whatever happened to the real Sir Mark?

Dirk Bogarde plays Sir Mark Loddon in the present setting, Sir Mark in the prison camp flashbacks, and Frank Welney. Dirk Bogarde is one of those people who sometimes looks completely different from one photo to the next, so while his Sir Mark does look remarkably like Frank Welney, you don't for a minute doubt that these are two different people- not twins or one person playing dual roles. And his present-day Sir Mark looks even different still! It's really impossible to tell just from appearances which man is calling himself Sir Mark Loddon.

Libel has an outstanding supporting cast, including one of my favorite character actors, Robert Morley and Wilfrid Hyde-White (who is always, in my mind, Col. Pickering) and features a pretty impressive performance by Olivia de Havilland as Dirk Bogarde's wife. In a way, her role is connected to the audience in that what she feels, we feel. Close-ups of her reactions to developments in the case are used as hints as to what she is thinking, and what we should think. When she has complete faith in her husband, so do we. And when she doubts her husband, so do we.

If you're looking for an edge-of-your-seat courtroom thriller, I highly suggest Libel! And if you're just looking for another Dirk Bogarde film to enjoy, look no further than Libel, where you get two Dirk's for the price of one!

Five Dirk Bogarde films on the big screen!

2010-02-21T16:46:00.000-05:00

The Berkeley Art Museum at the University of California is having a Joseph Losey retrospective from March 5th through April 16th! Over the course of the program they'll be showing all five films that Losey made with Dirk Bogarde -- The Sleeping Tiger, King and Country, The Servant, Modesty Blaise and Accident. I'd give my right arm to see this (including the non-Dirk films... especially Time Without Pity featuring a genius performance by Michael Redgrave) so if you live in the area don't let this pass without going to see at least one of the films!

For more information regarding the film lineup and showing times, you can visit the program page here.

Dirk Bogarde has a new fan!

2010-02-21T01:04:00.001-05:00

I was so excited this evening to see Monty's post at All Good Things! After reading about Dirk Bogarde on my Silents and Talkies blog, Monty realized that he had Cast a Dark Shadow saved on his DVR and decided to see what all the fuss was about.... and not only did he love the film, he loved Dirk Bogarde as well! It's so thrilling to know that Dirk has a new fan, eager to see more of his filmography. Please take a moment to read Monty's fantastic review of Cast a Dark Shadow.

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-13T19:07:00.000-05:00

I have a Valentines Day/Dirk Bogarde giveaway over at my Silents and Talkies blog -- hope you'll go have a peek! :-)

Creative Blogger Award

2010-02-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

Thank you to Caitlin at Fire and Music for giving me the Creative blogger award! I am so beyond excited that this particular blog got an award! Compared to Silents and Talkies, this is like my second child that nobody knows exists ;-D Having a blog devoted to only one, or a few, performers is often a thankless job but if you enjoy discovering more about the person you blog about it is incredibly fun and rewarding nonetheless.

I'd like to pass on the award to five other bloggers who have also devoted their time and effort to providing more information on and insight into specific performers.

1. Cliff at Warren-William.com
2. Matthew at The Marx Brothers Council of Britian
3. VKMFan at Gingerology
4. Kendra at VivandLarry.com
5. Alexis at Ingrid Bergman Life and Films

***

Here are the rules and regulations:

1. Copy the logo and place it on your blog. Okay, I skipped this part, mainly because I refuse to call it the Kreativ Blogger Award. I hope whoever created (sorry, I mean kreatid) the award doesn't hunt me down and make me give it back.

2. Link to the person who nominated you for this award. Check!

3. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. I already did this on Silents and Talkies -- click here if you're interested in reading them :)

4. Nominate 7 other bloggers, and post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. Sort of check, I nominated five.

5. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated. Check!

6. Make Kate happy by calling this the Creative Blogger Award as you pass it along!! ;-D

Some photos from my latest scans

2010-02-11T19:12:00.000-05:00

in Cast a Dark Shadow

with Brigette Bardot in Doctor at Sea

with Hermione Baddeley in the play Jezabel

with Leslie Caron in The Doctor's Dilemma

I added 33 new scans to my flickr set today -
to see them all click here.

The Wind Cannot Read (1958) Part II

2010-02-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

I should begin by saying that I am a real girly girl -- I like movies that are corny, sentimental and dramatic, and I'm not ashamed to say so! And this movie is very corny, sentimental and dramatic.

I should also point out that when it comes to movies, I have a knack for suspension of disbelief, and I think that's a necessary quality when it comes to enjoying films like The Wind Cannot Read. Sure, there are a bunch of plot twists that would be close to impossible in reality, but that's why this is a movie and not a documentary. Some movies require you to forget reality -- and in my opinion that often makes them more enjoyable.

Now, with those two disclaimers out of the way I'll tell you a little about the film. It takes place in India during World War II. The British are teaching some of their soldiers Japanese so that they can interrogate Japanese POWs in India, and Dirk Bogarde is selected as one of the students. Complications ensue when Dirk falls head over heels for his language teacher, Yoko Tani. Their courtship at first is almost embarrassingly awkward, yet awfully adorable. It blossoms into an epic love, one that reminded me of Doctor Zhivago, Cold Mountain and Now Voyager; that unearthly attachment between two people that makes war and torture seem like a walk in the park compared to the agony of separation.

The movie starts out relatively slow, but the last half of the movie is an emotional roller coaster. I actually cried more than once (real tears streaming down my face, not just watery eyes, mind you!) and felt my stomach doing somersaults during the war scenes. I actually felt exhausted when the movie was over. But a good exhausted-- this was a fantastic movie, and watching it was a very enjoyable experience.

I really believe, though, that it would only be enjoyable if you were able to suspend all disbelief and just let yourself get whisked away into the fantasy of the movie. I think an imagination is one of the best things a person can have -- without it life would be so dull. I'd hate to watch this movie and only see the unrealistic flaws. I only bring this up because after being overwhelmed by the movie I whipped out my Dirk Bogarde book by Robert Tanitch. The book has a little synopsis of each movie, photos and original reviews from the time the movies were released. I usually like to read the original reviews because Tanitch doesn't seem to be much of a fan of Dirk Bogarde (why he wrote a whole book one someone he obviously doesn't like escapes me) but this time I peeked at what he wrote anyway. When describing a particular scene (which I won't mention because it gives away the plot; Another stupid thing about this book.) Tanitch writes, "[it] was so improbable as to be silly." He also wrote, "The wind cannot read, and on the evidence of this script, she cannot write either."

I'll be the first to admit that there are cliches in the film, and some of the plot twists you can see coming from a mile away. But Tanitch doesn't seem to grasp that this is an unrealistic epic love story, not a documentary about World War II. You expect different things from different movies, and you need to appreciate this film for what it is: a lovely, hopelessly romantic chick flick that requires suspension of disbelief.

As for the reviews from the film's release, there was one that really nailed Dirk Bogarde's matinee-idol style of the 50's, though I personally disagree with his use of the words "too much". In it, the author (from the Sunday Express) states that Dirk Bogarde "still offers too much of the wry smile, the imperceptibly quivering stiff upper lip, the spaniel pathos in the eyes." This is actually a perfect description of his characteristics during this time period, but they were fitting, not excessive, considering his popularity with the female fans, and the fact that roles like this one are supposed to be sort of fantasy figure for the bobby-soxers. And despite his swoon-worthy facial mannerisms that seem to have irked the male film critics of the time, Dirk Bogarde was definitely already showing signs of the awesome talent he'd become in the early 1960's.

"Be there a heaven on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this."

I took 30 screen shots in all, to see them click here.

The Wind Cannot Read (1958)

2010-02-11T02:37:00.000-05:00

Tonight I watched The Wind Cannot Read, a wartime love story set during World War II. It was an amazing film, but I'm saving the review for tomorrow when I have a clearer head. It's quite an emotional movie and having just finished watching it, I think if I tried to write a post right now it would seem too dopey and mushy. It was definitely made during Dirk Bogarde's matinee-idol period -- something I kind of forgot about since I've been watching so many of his new-wave 60's movies lately. Being a bit of a fangirl myself, (oh, who am I kidding, I'm a really big fangirl!) it was neat to see him in such a romantic role.

So, anyway, in lieu of a post tonight, here are some pictures from The Wind Cannot Read that I scanned from my Dirk Bogarde Fan Star Library biography. My favorite is the one at the top of the post!

Case Closed : The elusive Blithe Spirit (1966)

2010-02-10T22:23:00.000-05:00

I've been doing quite a bit of detective work recently, trying desperately to track down a copy of the 1966 TV Broadcast of Blithe Spirit. I e-mailed F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre, who wrote a review of the broadcast on imdb. He graciously e-mailed me back right away, letting me know that he had seen it at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles.

If you aren't familiar with the name, The Paley Center is a media museum where you can view and listen to thousands of tv and radio broadcasts that aren't available anywhere else. For the cost of a ticket you are alotted one hour of viewing time -- it's up to you if you want to watch a one hour program or multiple short features. Members get longer viewing times and usually have a shorter waiting time before getting to see or hear their programs.

I've been to their New York City location about four or five times so far (I usually choose to view my favorite episode of Jack Benny with Barbara Stanwyck guest starring as part of my alottment, since it's not available anywhere else) and you better believe I'm planning another trip. Mr. MacIntyre saw the program 10 years ago, so just to be on the safe side I searched the Paley Center collection database to make sure Blithe Spirit was there. And it is! Here's the link to their listing.

I'm planning to go see it in March (I need to save up some money for train fare & tickets, not much since I only live about 1 hour away from the city, but still..) and I'll definitely post a review when I'm finished! Unfortunately, the Paley Center is a little like Las Vegas... what happens there, stays there. None of the programs are available for purchase, and you obviously can't take pictures either. It's a shame, since after hours of exhaustive research I couldn't even find one single screen shot of a scene from Blithe Spirit on the internet.

My hope is that with sites like Hulu becoming more popular, the Paley Center will someday decide to put their database online. Even if they offer their library like Netflix Instant Watch, where you need to pay a subscription fee to see or hear their programs, it would be so wonderful for people who don't live near LA or NYC.

So, the search is over... for now. Once I see it, I'm sure I'll be even more desperate for my own personal copy :)

Sebastian (1968)

2010-02-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

I finally (finally!) watched Sebastian last night -- I've been meaning to for well over a month and just never seemed to find the time. But it was definitely worth the wait. I don't want to give away much of the plot, since it's nice to discover what's going on yourself, but I will say that it's a suspenseful, intriguing, very entertaining film with fantastic 1960's fashions and camerawork and, as usual, an outstanding performance by Dirk Bogarde.

I've been drawing a huge blank when trying to write reviews lately, so please pardon me if that last paragraph is the extent of my review. I hope these FIFTY screenshots will make up for that ;-D

To see the rest, click here.

Blithe Spirit

2010-01-25T18:36:00.000-05:00

I'm desperately seeking a copy of the 1966 television broadcast of Blithe Spirit, starring Dirk Bogarde. If anyone knows where I can find a copy can you please let me know? Thanks! :)

Programming Alert

2010-01-14T13:25:00.000-05:00

TCM = Today, January 14th = 2:00PM EST = Cast a Dark Shadow

Cast a Dark Shadow on TCMdb

Programming Alert

2010-01-05T00:22:00.000-05:00

TCM = Tomorrow, January 6th = 12:00AM EST = Darling
(To clarify, this is 12AM overnight between Jan 5th and Jan 6th)

Darling on TCMdb

Some photos from my latest scans

2010-01-03T01:08:00.001-05:00

With Peggy Evans in The Blue Lamp

With Susan Stephen in For Better For Worse

with Dinah Sheridan in Appointment in London

These were scanned by me from
Dirk Bogarde: The Complete Career Illustrated

For more scans, click here.

The Password is Courage Trailer

2009-12-15T18:13:00.000-05:00

I'm watching this one pretty soon, and finding the trailer on YouTube has made me even more excited about finally seeing it!! Enjoy! :)

Hot Enough for June movie stills

2009-12-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

On ebay I won some great original 8" x 10" glossy promotional photos from the American release of Hot Enough for June (strangely retitled for American audiences as "Agent 8/34") and they just arrived in the mail today!! I immediately scanned them, and here they are! :)

Did you know....

2009-12-06T19:16:00.000-05:00

Dirk Bogarde was cast as T.E. Lawrence in a 1950's biopic that never came to fruition.

Here is an excerpt from Bogarde's autobiography, Snakes and Ladders, which explains his enthusiasm about the part and ultimate disappointment when the film was called off.

"...Anthony Asquith arrived with a beautiful script by Rattigan on Lawrence of Arabia.

Although this could, under no circumstances, by termed Family Fun, to my delighted astonishment the Studio agreed. (Looking back from this distance it might just have been a ploy to shut me up.) This was to be no monumental epic, rather the straight-forward, if there could be such a term applied to such a man, story about Lawrence, starting in Uxbridge and ending with his still-unexplained death on the lovely country road to Clouds Hill. I had never, in my life, wanted a part, or script, so much. Asquith spent a lot of time helping me to put aside my very serious doubts about my ability, my physical resemblance (nil) and my acceptability in such a role. Locations were found and King Feisal offered us his entire army.

Mr. Davis insisted that an hour should be cut from the three-hour running time; this was reluctantly agreed to, and Script Conferences started daily, almost hourly. Wig fittings, costume fittings and intensive research now occupied my time entirely. I thought of nothing else but the man I was to represent, which was a word that Puffin Asquith and I agreed on mutually rather than the word "be". I could never "be" Lawrence, but we both felt that it could be possible to offer a portrait of the man to a public generally in ignorance of his stature. I read every book available on his work and life, wrote to his friends, received warm and encouraging letters in return, especially from Geoffrey Woolley who even sent me unpublished letters and a mass of deeply considered information, and quite lost my own identity in what the Americans call a period of total immersion.

So lost was I in preparation and absorption that I took little, if any, notice of what was going on around me: all I could think of was the strange blond wig which was slowly, and carefully, taking shape in Make-Up, and the probable starting date in the desert of April 7th. I didn't take any notice at all of what was happening about the Studios, which is why I was so completely unprepared for Olive Dodd's cool, impersonal, business-voice on the telephone on Friday, March 14th at six-thirty precisely to announce that "Lawrence" was now off...."

A scene from Accident

2009-12-06T04:16:00.001-05:00

This is one of my favorite scenes from Accident, which I described in my post a few weeks ago. Dirk Bogarde's character, middle-aged and married, has a small uncomfortable crush on one of his students, played by Jacqueline Sassard. When he's asked to join her & another student on a little boat trip he reluctantly agrees. The ensuing trip is a combination of lovely cinematography, soft jazz and palpable awkwardness.

Pay special attention to the part when Dirk realizes the proximity of his hand to her thigh and clumsily repositions, tucking his hands under his armpits. The juxtaposition of his discomfort with the beauty and ease of everything going on around him is like gawky poetry.

Some photos from my latest scans

2009-12-03T16:02:00.000-05:00

This one is my new favorite,
also my desktop background on my laptop.

with Kay Kendall, one of his dearest friends

with Lilli Palmer

with director Joseph Losey

These were scanned by me from the book The Films of Dirk Bogarde.

Programming Alert

2009-12-01T00:04:00.000-05:00

TCM = Today, December 1st = 3:00PM EST = So Long at the Fair

So Long at the Fair on TCMdb

Programming Alert

2009-11-24T01:34:00.000-05:00

TCM = Today, November 24th = 10:30AM EST = Cast a Dark Shadow

Cast a Dark Shadow on TCMdb
My review of Cast a Dark Shadow

Did you know....

2009-11-22T17:09:00.000-05:00

Dirk Bogarde was disc jockey for a radio program on the BBC in the 1950's. He chose Fred Astaire's "I'm Old Fashioned" as his signature song, and played a mix of tunes from the 1920's and 1930's.

oh-so-British

2009-11-21T17:02:00.001-05:00

me + boredom + access to Photoshop + a new Dirk Bogarde blog = this

Hot Enough for June (1964)

2009-11-20T16:53:00.000-05:00

As you might recall, a little over a month ago I received a gigantic order of Dirk Bogarde DVDs. Before they actually arrived in the mail, I was planning on having a Dirk Bogarde spree and watching them all at once. But when they came I chickened out. I realized that there are only so many DB movies available, and I really should ration them.

The one that I kept eyeing, putting in my dvd player and taking back out again-- trying to put off until the last minute because it looked SO good that I wanted to save it as long as I could-- was Hot Enough for June.

Hot Enough for June is a James Bond spoof from 1964. It begins with an agent turning in the shoes, passport and belongings of another agent who was killed in the line of duty. Right away we find out that the agent was James Bond.

Instead of recruiting a professional spy to take 007's place, the British government decides to pluck someone from the ranks of the unemployed. Enter unemployed (and unpublished) writer Nicholas Whistler, played by Dirk Bogarde.

Whistler enjoys the life of the unemployed writer, and does everything he can NOT to get the job offered to him at the unemployment office. He shows up for his appointment late, puts his feet up on the desk of his potential employer, jokes about getting out of army service and confesses that he had no real formal education. Despite all of his efforts, Whistler is hired. As far as he knows, he's some kind of executive at a glass manufacturing company. Little does he know that he's about to go on a top-secret Government assignment behind the iron curtain (or "the thing" as he hilariously refers to it in the film.)

While Hot Enough for June is a spoof of a James Bond film-- with the espionage, bikini-clad love interest and cold war theme, it also had elements of Hitchcock films like North by Northwest, with the innocent bloke getting mixed up in a huge conspiracy.

Typically, spoofs can be either really good or really, really bad. If the laughs are played up too much, it stops being a spoof and just becomes farcical nonsense. But Hot Enough for June struck the perfect balance between a real plot, with real suspense and real intrigue - and the comedic flourishes that made it such a fun film.

Dirk Bogarde was perfect playing Nicholas Whistler -- he was at once clever in getting himself out of all the sticky spy situations and yet rather bumbling and confused about what was going on around him. A few of the hilarious moments come when he is trying to find out who his contact is in Prague. His code phrase is "Hot enough for June", to which his contact should answer "but you should have been here last September." He approaches a few people before finally finding the right man, and his attempts at finding a way to work that phrase into the conversation are laugh-out-loud funny.

The plot also makes use of the suspense-film cliche where a man on the run has to keep changing his clothes to stay a step ahead of the police. Stealing a jacket, or changing hats with someone in a bar so that his appearance won't match the description on the Wanted signs. Dirk Bogarde goes through seven different outfits during his time on the lamb, a few of which are absolutely hilarious to see.

The supporting cast was no less fantastic-- Robert Morley plays the employer, a slightly inept, amusing, and easily amused man who connives DB into accepting the job. Sylvia Koscina is a really charming actress, and I'm sure makes the film a delight for male fans to watch. (Sorry you guys but 99% of my screen shots were of DB. I did include three of Sylvia for you, though!)

After finishing the film last night at 5am (!!) I put it on again to listen to as I dozed off to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I started it over again and laid in bed watching the whole film before eating my breakfast. I could easily watch it again tonight, but I won't... I'm going to give the Dirk Bogarde films a rest for a few days.

Rationing time again.

In the end, I'm glad that I waited to watch the film. I had very high hopes for it, and it thouroughly exceeded all expectations -- it's definitely my #2 favorite DB film (The #1 spot will, I'm sure, always belong to The Mind Benders)

I took over 30 screen shots from the film.
You can view them in my flickr set here.

Accident (1967)

2009-11-07T13:07:00.000-05:00

Last night I watched Accident -- it's described in the movie poster as a love triangle between four people (not sure how that's possible) but it's even more complicated than that. It's actually a love "triangle" between six people.

*****

Stephen (Dirk Bogarde) - a middle aged philosophy tutor at Oxford, married with two kids and one on the way. Hopelessly in love with the foreign exchange student Anna.

Charley (Stanley Baker) - Stephen's best friend - a middle aged professor, married with three kids, sleeping with the foreign exchange student Anna.

William (Michael York) - an aristocratic student, one of Stephen's pupils. In love with Anna.

Rosalind (Vivien Merchant) - Stephen's wife.

Laura (Ann Firbank) - Charley's wife.

Anna (Jaqueline Sassard) - The foreign exchange student at the center of the love polygon.

*****

The movie opens with the sound of an awful car crash happening in the distance, while the camera focuses on Dirk Bogarde's house. He runs out to see what happened and finds William and Anna in the car. William is obviously dead, and Anna has minor injuries. The rest of the film is a flashback of how they all met and what led up to the accident.

The trailer for Accident:

I was incredibly excited to watch this film since I loved The Servant so much -- this was made with the same writer-director-actor team of Harold Pinter, Joseph Losey and Dirk Bogarde.

I really loved everything about this movie, especially Dirk Bogarde (obviously) but I have to say that the star of the film was Harold Pinter's script. The dialogue (and deliberate lack thereof- many, many awkward pauses) was absolutely superb. One of my favorite exchanges from the script:

Charley: [reading from learned journal] A statistical analysis of sexual intercourse at Kolenzo University, Milwaukee showed... that 70% did it in the evening, 29.9% between 2 and 4 in the afternoon and 0.1% during a lecture on Aristotle.

Aged Professor: I'm surprised to hear that Aristotle is on the syllabus in the State of Wisconsin. [imdb]

I just thought that was hilarious. The dialogue, even when oozing with sharp wit, was delightfully frank and real. Often the camera comes in when characters are already in mid-conversation, and leaves before the conversation has finished. The audience is left to deduce what was going on. To me, it was like the bits of conversations you hear when you're out -- maybe in a restaurant you hear two women whispering about their husbands, or a man walking down the sidewalk arguing about business matters on his cell phone. Both in real life, and in Accident, you don't know the full context and history of the people whose lives you're intruding on- you just get a small glimpse.

Every line of dialogue in Accident is fantastic, but often it's the scenes without any dialogue that pack the most punch. In one particular scene, Dirk Bogarde comes home drunk from a meeting in London to find Anna and Charley using his house for a rendezvous. He stares at them for a while, they exchange about two sentences, and then he walks into the kitchen to make scrambled eggs. The entire scene lasts about ten minutes but there couldn't have been more than ten sentences. Instead of giving us words to indicate what's going on, we're instead presented with the tense visual of Dirk Bogarde scrambling eggs in the foreground- obviously perturbed by the reality that his best friend is sleeping with the student that he is lusting after - while the lovers wait in the background. Words just aren't necessary.

One of the complaints that I read about this film before watching it was that there wasn't a single sympathetic character in the lot, but I actually found Dirk Bogarde's character to be very sympathetic. He can't be blamed for having feelings for his student - in one scene he looks like he's positively writhing in pain from the guilt. And his character was sweetly pathetic in many ways. While Anna flirts & succumbs to the advances of William & Charley, she never lets Dirk Bogarde lay a hand on her - the embarrassment he feels is almost palpable. He has a slight clumsiness throughout the film that should resonate with anyone who isn't a natural social butterfly.

When asked to join William and Anna on a little boat trip, he hesitantly agrees but is obviously uncomfortable the entire time, especially when he's aware that his arm is dangerously close to Anna's legs. He carefully raises his arms and tucks them under his armpits to avoid any accidental touching. The awkwardness of the situation is really enough to make you blush, as if it were happening to you.

I really thought this was a marvelous movie, but it is very 1960's and it's an acquired taste if you prefer the rapid-fire dialogue, clean innocence and shiny perfection of films from the 30's and 40's. You can watch the full film on YouTube here.

Also, Robert Leeming wrote an excellent review of Joseph Losey's work in England that includes some great insight into Accident - I highly recommend reading it before you watch the film.

Update:

I'm always anxious to read what other people have to say about a movie, but only AFTER I've written a post, since I don't want any of the other information seeping into what I want to write. I just finished reading some of the reviews on imdb and I just loved this one quote from a review, and had to share it:

"As Pinter said in a 1966 interview: "So in this film everything is buried, it is implicit. There is really very little dialogue, and that is mostly trivial, meaningless. The drama goes on inside the characters." In the published screenplay his directions for one scene indicate that "the words are fragments of realistic conversation. They are not thoughts..." and what comes across is the brilliant contrast between the nondescript, mundane, day-to-day attempts at communication between the characters combined with a hard look at the underlying reality of the characters' situations. Nothing is like it seems to be." - From commenter John Webber

The Mind Benders (1963)

2009-10-22T23:43:00.000-04:00

I think that generally there are two kinds of films -- films that you watch and films that you experience. The Mind Benders is definitely the latter. And during a month when "scary" is defined as monsters and ghouls, this movie scared me out of my wits without one hint of the supernatural.

Conventional monster movies always give me the spooks, but I'm only really petrified when the terror in a film seems like it could actually happen - or when the main character is so dreadfully afraid in the film that you become just as afraid yourself. The Mind Benders deals with one of the most frightening experiences that man could suffer through- complete isolation. Isolation from sight, sound, touch, taste, smell and human contact. The experience is made so real, so absolutely horrifying that I actually felt sick to my stomach at one point. Now this might not seem like a selling point, but it is. I was so engulfed in this film that I want to pop the disc in my dvd player again tonight. I want to be with it again, to see it again. I'm not a sadist or anything- the film isn't torture. While it has it's unsettling moments, it is actually incredibly moving and really makes you think.

The film opens with an elderly scientist committing suicide by jumping off of a moving train. Next to his body they find a suitcase filled with cash, apparently the money he was given for leaking top-secret scientific information to the Communists. What seems like a simple open-and-shut case of treason is actually much, much more complicated. The scientist, Dr. Sharpey, was working on a disturbing project called Isolation in which he was attempting to find out what happens to the human brain when all of the senses are taken away. The guinea pigs in the study were Dr. Sharpey himself, and his colleague, Dr. Longman-- played by Dirk Bogarde.

Longman realizes that the only way to prove that Sharpey wasn't the kind of man who would commit treason is to show that once you go through "Isolation" you don't come out the same man. The only way to prove this is to go through Isolation himself. While the plot seems to be about espionage and proving someone's innocence, it really isn't. It's about what makes us human, and how fragile that something is.

I can't tell you how much I want to go into more detail about the plot and the twists, and how DB's character progresses throughout the film but I think that if I had known any of that before I watched it, the intensity of the movie would have definitely been blunted. You need to see this film fresh for the first time, with no preconceptions and no spoilers, in order to full appreciate it. One thing to look out for, though-- Dirk Bogarde's eyes before and after Isolation. They seem to get darker in color, but they don't. It's not a special effect; it's a cold, icy look -- and it is remarkable.

This was by far, hands down the best DB performance I've seen so far. I don't know how he didn't have a nervous breakdown while acting this part. He is so emotional and intense it is almost incomprehensible. When I first discovered DB back in August, I had no idea how much talent he had-- I thought he was a handsome, skilled actor and that I'd like to see more of his films. I am so glad that I followed through, because I think his might be the single best performance I've seen by an actor in my entire life. It was absolutely brilliant, and I think that it actually enriches my life to have seen him in this movie.

I loved this film so much (can you tell?) that I really wanted to write the most brilliant blog post ever about it, but I'm so tongue tied (or keyboard tied, as it were) that I can't express myself. Good films do this to me, they knock all of the wordiness out and just leave me gaping and staring at the screen. Since I watched it last night, I've gone to sleep, woken up, eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner, worked and had fun. But inside I am still gaping and staring at the screen. It has a hold on me and I think I need to watch it again tonight. I'm sorry, I mean I need to experience it.

***

Netflix has the film in its database, but it doesn't have it available to rent yet. You can buy it on amazon here or on ebay here. It's pretty cheap (about $4) and well worth every penny!!

Or if you're broke & desperate, email me and I'll make you a copy from my tape. I want everyone who's interested to see this movie, it's really one of the best films I've ever watched.

The "after Isolation" eyes

I took over 20 screenshots from the film--
to see the rest, click here.

A cure for what ails you

2009-10-21T18:53:00.000-04:00

Whether you are suffering from depression, boredom, the flu or bogardeitis (the excessive desire to watch Dirk Bogarde movies) I have the perfect medicine for you -- The Doctor series.

Made between 1952-1963, The four films in the Doctor series follow a young Doctor Simon Sparrow (DB) as he experiences the ups and downs of joining the medical profession. Each film is a blast with beautiful innuendo and that biting British wit that you don't find in American comedies.

The one thing that can be a bit befuddling is the lack of continuity. The same actors appear in every film, but Dirk Bogarde is the only person who played the same character in all four installments. James Robinson Justice's character Sir Lancelot Spratt (a big, burly and grumpy doctor) appears in three of the films -- but in the second movie he is named Captain Hogg. Simon Sparrow seems to be engaged to a different woman at the end of each film, but she isn't mentioned in the next movie. And while DB is a shy, introverted student who is almost afraid of women in the first three, he is a full-fledged womanizer in the last movie! Maybe the fact that these were released with a span of at least two years between each one, they hoped the audiences would just forget what had happened last time..

Doctor in the House is the first Doctor film, which introduces us to Dr. Sparrow - a first year medical student who is inexperienced in medicine and love. The first one is actually my least favorite. Usually sequels are pitiful, but I think that in this case the series improved with each installment. I attribute that mainly to the script and the fact that the characters were more finely tuned in the later films.

Another reason for the progressive improvement of the series is that Dirk Bogarde was given the opportunity to act in more substantial, challenging films after his first turn as Dr. Sparrow. Up until this point he had been type-cast as seedy young hooligans, often in low budget pictures with so-so scripts. Personally I think he excelled in these roles, but it is obvious that his talent improved tenfold after he was really given the chance to show his acting chops. Doctor in the House was such a rip-roaring success that DB was offered more prestigious roles from then on.

Doctor at Sea is the second film in the series. After being scared away from his previous job by a homely, and overly amorous, woman, Simon Sparrow gets a job as the doctor on a ship. An under-stocked supply cabinet, sea-sickness and reluctant patients are just a handful of the problems that he has to deal with at sea. One particular scene when DB tries to extract a tooth from a scared shipmate is laugh-out-loud hilarious! Of course, his bad sea voyage changes course when a buxom beauty joins them on board. Doctor at Sea stars a really young brunette Brigette Bardot as DB's love interest. This was her first English-speaking film, and she sings a really cute song when she makes her entrance.

Don't they look cute together?

In Doctor at Large we get the first glimpse of Simon Sparrow: the wolf. He's still kind of pathetic at it, but he does convince a woman to spend a night in a country hotel. Granted, things don't go as planned- but he's trying! He doesn't become a bona fide wolf until the last film, when the 1960's are in full swing and staying overnight with your girlfriend is much more acceptable anyway. This film sees Dr. Sparrow through a series of jobs - from a swank doctors office where he treats Maharajahs and movie stars to a small country practice where he is paid with stolen fish. His girlfriend from the first movie is back, but there is no reference to them having ever dated. It's one of the funniest Doctor movies, but the girlfriend thing is kind of confusing.

My favorite was Doctor in Distress. You can definitely see that this is now the swinging sixties in London-- the women's outfits are fantastic and Simon Sparrow has THE most awesome couch in history.

The plot revolves around Sir Lancelot Spratt's discovery of love. Now an expert on the subject, Simon Sparrow dispenses advice on how to hook the girl. The story is much more cohesive than the other three films, and rather than just barking and being grumpy all the time, Spratt is quite a teddy bear in this one. Simon Sparrow deals with some issues at the hospital, but the situation which causes the most distress is a dinner party with beautiful, but aggressive, Swedish twins. (Yup, it's the sixties.) The twins are just two of the really fun characters in this movie- it's filled to the brim with great supporting roles. And if you look carefully, Richard Briers (Tom Good from The Good Neighbors, my favorite Brit Com!) plays a student intern in the first few minutes of the film!

The couch!!!

It seems fitting that DB made his last Doctor film the same year that he made The Servant. The Servant represented a new chapter in DB's career-- the roles from here on in were much edgier and avante garde. And so he ended his long stint as a matinee idol by playing the same character that started it all, Doctor Simon Sparrow.

Dirk Bogarde - Artist

2009-10-19T00:53:00.000-04:00

According to my Fan Star Library biography (I haven't purchased an official biography yet, sue me!)

"On D-Day itself, which was June 6, he was among the first troops to land in Normandy, and as a result of the rather rough crossing of the English Channel his sketch book was rather damp. But he just had to do a bit of sketching, and found a piece of blotting paper which he used instead.

Two of his D-Day sketches were later bought by the British War Museum. Two others went to America."

DB's mother had hoped he would consider studying to become a commercial artist, definitely a more reliable career than acting. Despite his insistence to become an actor, it is obvious from the artwork posted on the Dirk Bogarde Estate website that he certainly had the talent to be a professional artist if he had chosen that path. All of the artwork featured on the site is exceptional, and it displays the same kind of skill that you see in sketches by Picasso or Van Gogh. Some of the drawings are from his wartime service, some are random doodles and some were used to illustrate his several books.

Oh, right-- he also wrote books. Tell me, is there ANYTHING this man could not do??

For more art, click here.

Damn the Defiant! (1962)

2009-10-11T22:48:00.000-04:00

As you can probably tell by how few and far between my Dirk Bogarde film reviews have become, I have resorted to rationing. I thought I only had a few more films left to view, so I wanted to make sure that I didn't watch them all in one spurt. Luckily, I found someone that had more than 15 Dirk Bogarde films I thought were unavailable, and I'm expecting them in the mail this week! Now I can binge instead of ration ;)

While I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Dirk Bogarde (hereto after referred to on this blog as DB) stash, I watched Damn the Defiant!, which was described on Netflix as a British version of Mutiny on the Bounty. It really wasn't.

I actually thought it was better than Mutiny on the Bounty. (I'm referring to the Clark Gable version, I've never seen --nor do I care to see-- the Marlon Brando version.) Alec Guinness stars as the soft spoken, gentle Captain Crawford. DB is the blustery, brazen and hard-nosed Lieutenant Scott-Padget. (A name that was really fun to hear them repeat over and over. Just say it aloud, isn't it a fun name? Scott-Padget!) While the Captain thinks that his crew works better if they aren't pushed too hard, the Lieutenant prefers to brow beat the poor men, and punish them for even the slightest wrongdoing. And Lt. Scott-Padget has a history of undermining the Captains of ships he has sailed on before-- a trait that reminded me very much of his character in The Servant. Perhaps it was this role that made the producers of The Servant realize how perfect DB would be for that part.

There are a few things that make this movie completely different from Mutiny on the Bounty. First of all, the Captain is a teddy bear! No Charles Laughton is he. The real problem child on this ship is DB, whose very presence makes the crew mutinous. Additionally, the crew remains committed to serving their country despite their mutinous intentions. And one more thing. This movie will literally make you sea sick. The camera constantly bobs up and down, from side to side as if you're standing on the boat with the actors. It makes for great technique but you might want to take a Dramamine before viewing!

(You can see how lopsided the camera is in this shot.)

This also contained some of the most graphic episodes of violence that I've seen in a film from this period. There were quite a few battles scenes that turned my stomach (I mean in addition to it already being upset from the rough seas.) Nothing like a modern slasher, mind you, but enough to be a little disturbing.

Damn the Defiant! is definitely one of my favorite DB movies. As ruthless and sadistic as his character was, I couldn't help but like him! Perhaps it has something to do with how devastatingly handsome he was in this movie... just maybe...

Seriously!!!

Dirk Bogarde Darling pic spam

2009-10-05T18:58:00.000-04:00

I re-watched Darling recently and realized that when I wrote my post about a month ago I hadn't included any screen shots from the film. Tsk tsk! Well, I rectified that today, taking some of my favorite shots of Dirk Bogarde! Here ya go...

(This one is my favorite)
(And Lolita has to include this in her next
smoking men blog post!!)

(This one is my second favorite)

Esther Waters (1948)

2009-09-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

Esther Waters (1948) is a film in the tradition of Madame X, The Secret of Madame Blanche and The Sin of Madelon Claudet. Like these other films, the heroine of the story is a proper young woman who finds herself in a very improper situation. Stories about fallen women are often really fun to watch, especially when the woman becomes really spunky and witty to compensate for her misfortune. Unfortunately, in this film Esther continues to play the part of a deer-in-the-headlights innocent through all of her troubles, and her righteousness and piety began to wear on my nerves a little by the end of the movie.

In this story, Esther Waters (Kathleen Ryan) is a very religious maid embarking on work in a new household. Quickly she learns that the horses in the stables are being bred for racing (betting!! the horror!!), and the maids she has to associate with like to read salacious literature aloud in their spare time. Disgusted by the sinful activities around her, she befriends her employer's wife, who is also deeply religious and advises Esther to accept the sins of others as long as she remains good herself.

She also befriends stable groom William Latch (Dirk Bogarde in one of his first film roles) an ambitious young man whose family used to own the land he now works on before his father gambled away their capital. Despite the misfortune that had befallen his family before, Latch believes he is very lucky. He plans to win enough money betting on the horses to eventually buy a pub, become a bookie and earn back his family's land.

After returning from a very successful day at the races, the employers throw a massive party to celebrate. William Latch takes Esther as his date, and the moonlight, fireworks and romantic canoe ride on the lake all swell to make Esther completely forget what a rigid moralist she is.

I think you know where this is going by now. Our heroine Esther is now with child, but every time she tries to tell Latch, something gets in the way. Have you ever noticed how often this happens in movies?

Jane: "Tom, I have to tell you something. It's very important."
Tom: "Yes, Jane, what is it?"
Jane: "You might not be very happy about it."
Tom: "What is it?"
DOORBELL

Tom: "I don't think you'd like the real me."
Jane: "What do you mean, the real me?"
Tom: "Well, I'm not who you think I am. I'm.."
FIRE!!

Jane: "Can I come over? I have to tell you something."
Tom: "Can you just tell me over the phone?"
Jane: "No. I have to tell you in person. It's important."
TOM'S FRIEND ALREADY KNOWS AND TELLS HIM BEFORE JANE GETS THERE.

Anyway, back to the movie... Latch runs off with another woman because he doesn't know that poor Esther is in a family way. This leaves her all alone in the world with their child. She is now faced with the consequences of being a poverty stricken unwed mother.

I won't spoil the rest of the movie, except to say that Dirk Bogarde shows up again after about six years have passed. To show that a great length of time has passed, this film utilizes another annoying plot trick. Despite the fact that Esther looks exactly the same as she did the last time they met, Mr. Latch has really grown up! I mean, he has a mustache!

I can't even begin to count how many films there are in which men grow mustaches to show that time has passed! I think a simple "six years later" title card would suffice -- and that would have left Dirk Bogarde's face looking ridiculously handsome instead of ridiculous. His angular, boyish features just don't mesh well with a bushy mustache.

The Singer Not the Song (1961)

2009-09-16T12:41:00.000-04:00

eh-hem. John Mills AND Dirk Bogarde in one film. JACKPOT!!

In The Singer not the Song, John Mills plays a Catholic priest who arrives in a small Mexican village to take over for the retiring priest. The village is controlled by Anacleto, the town's bad boy played by a leather-clad Dirk Bogarde.

Dirk Bogarde is well known for acting in daring movies, such as Victim - another movie he made the same year as this one, which dealt with homosexuality and actually paved the way for archaic homophobic laws in England to be repealed. This movie deals with perhaps an even touchier subject: atheism. I can't actually recall ever seeing a movie which dealt with this subject before. It's a very taboo topic, even now. While we have quite a few openly gay politicians, there is only one openly atheist politician in the whole country. So for Dirk Bogarde and John Mills to star in a film that dealt frankly with athiesm is, to me at least, as daring as it was for Dirk to star in Victim.

The film is groundbreaking, but it's not entirely without convention. John Mills, as the priest, is still the good man. Dirk Bogarde, as the atheist, is still the bad man. But both actors gave performances that made the one dimensional good vs. evil characters more nuanced. The priest has to fight with his inner demons to remain a chaste, pure man. The atheist who cannot trust anyone places his trust in a man of the cloth.

I think that whether you are an atheist or a devout Christian, you will see your own beliefs reinforced in this film. The film doesn't condemn atheism (this actually took me completely by surprise. I was expecting Anacleto to fall down on his knees, repent, and become a monk by the end of the movie -- something that would be typical in most films from this era) but it also doesn't comdemn Christianity. It forces nothing down your throat, just leaves the matter up in the air for you to decide.

In all honesty, I doubt this film would be released in America today, despite the fact that its message about religion is one of ambiguity not condemnation. I read recently that American theaters won't be distributing a new movie about the life of Charles Darwin for fear of protests. Certainly if a film about evolution (a subject that is discussed in science classrooms across the country) can't make it into theathers, I highly doubt a movie about atheism would!

The one funny thing about the film is that, like in The Spanish Gardener, almost all of the Mexican characters are British. This didn't bother me so much, though, as the fact that the one girl in the story (whose parents are both British and who grew up in Mexico) speaks with a French accent! Where did that come from?!

Well if I didn't scare you away from watching the movie, you can view it on YouTube here. Really, I highly recommend it -- if only to see Dirk Bogarde looking so dashing in his villanous bandit costumes :)

Oh! One more thing... yesterday I found that one of the movies I reviewed recently, Cast a Dark Shadow, is available in full on YouTube! It was a really great film, but not available on DVD. So if you have some free time you should definitely watch it!

The Woman in Question (1950)

2009-09-14T17:31:00.000-04:00

You have to go out of your way a little to see this film -- it's available on VHS here and on DVD here. But it's well worth it, trust me!

The Woman in Question begins with a little boy finding a dead body in an apartment. This triggers a series of interviews and flashbacks in which each of the suspects in the murder are interviewed and give their own account of what REALLY happened. It reminded me a lot of Rashomon, which also came out in 1950.

But this movie was so darn clever, I think it even out-does Rashomon. In each flashback, the deceased woman, Jean Kent, is portrayed in whatever light the suspect saw her. Subsequently, this film has her playing a darling devoted wife with an upper crust British accent, a loose, scruffy fortune teller with a heavy cockney accent, and the most lovely, beautiful, gentle woman in the universe. All seen through the eyes of the people who might have killed her.

SUSPECT #1: Mrs. Finch (Hermione Baddeley)
Relation to the deceased: House maid and mother of the little boy who finds the body
Opinion of the deceased: Glamorous, giving and kind
Motive: I'm not actually sure she has one. Though they sort of treat her as a suspect in the film, I think her purpose is more to advance the story.

I LOVED this character. Hermione Baddeley has to be one of the best British character actors ever. In the beginning, the police are trying to question her son, who found the body. She's hilarious as a doting mother who answers every question before her son gets the chance. She's also a typical busybody who has an opinion about everything and everyone.

SUSPECT #2: Catherine Taylor (Susan Shaw)
Relation to the deceased: Sister, and potentially the lover of the dead woman's husband!
Opinion of the deceased: a wench with no respect for her sick husband
Motive: Her sister has tried to prevent her marriage to Bob Baker (aka. Suspect #3!)

Susan Shaw had two characters to play: the catty, overly-made-up slutty sister in Mrs. Finch's account, and the beautiful, delicate lady in Bob Baker's account.

SUSPECT #3: Bob Baker (Dirk Bogarde)
Relation to the deceased: Possibly a former flame, definitely a former vaudeville partner and Catherine's fiance
Opinion of the deceased: Nice at first, but then she becomes a meddling horror!
Motive: The deceased was trying to prevent his marriage to Catherine.

When Dirk Bogarde first entered the film (quite a way in, unfortunately) he had the strangest accent... I couldn't actually tell what he was trying to do until someone mentioned that he was an American! (Hence that all-American name Bob Baker, right?) It must be a hard accent to master because poor Dirk definitely didn't sound American. He'd get a word right every once in a while but the British accent just kept slipping back in. I'm not sure if this was just written into the script to account for his trouble with our dialect, but he confesses to his fiance that he was actually born in Liverpool and just made up the whole American thing for his stage act.

Despite my initial confusion about his accent, he played the part brilliantly as always. His character shows up in four of the different accounts and so he also had to play four different versions of one character. My favorite was Mrs. Finch's account, in which he is a cowboy-hat-wearing American (ha!) cad.

SUSPECT #4: Albert Pollard (Charles Victor)
Relation to the deceased: A friend who owns the pet shop where she gets her parrot and fixes up anything that needs fixing around the house.
Opinion of the deceased: The most lovely, beautiful creature that ever walked on this earth.
Motive: Perhaps she didn't love him back...

Mr. Pollard was such a sweet little man. In one scene, Mrs. Finch gets flustered when Catherine and Bob angrily come busting into the house to see Jean Kent. She runs over to Mr. Pollard to get him to kick them out, and he just stands there, sheepishly, until they leave. No courage at all. But! In Mr. Pollards account, he storms into the house and demands that Catherine and Bob leave PRONTO! It was so cute.

SUSPECT #5: Michael Murray (John McCallum)
Relation to the deceased: Boyfriend/Fiance
Opinion of the deceased: a loving, devoted fiance... until he finds her with another man!!
Motive: He found her with another man!!

This is the only character that is one dimensional -- he is portrayed only in his own recollections, nobody elses. He does a splendid job, though, and is cute as a burly Irish sailor.

***

The Deceased Woman

Jean Kent is brilliant in this film. She plays five different versions of one single woman, each of them completely unique. It's amazing how she played the same character from five totally different perspectives- and each incredibly convincing. The most amazing thing about this is that her appearance changes in each flashback as well.

in Mrs. Finch's account, as the saintly tenant

in Catherine's account, as the scummy wench

in Bob Baker's account, as the seductive business partner

in Mr. Pollard's account, a vision of loveliness

in Michael Murray's account, perhaps the most
normal, down-to-earth version of the bunch.

The Servant (1963)

2009-09-10T14:36:00.000-04:00

Last night I watched "The Servant" (1963) starring Dirk Bogarde and Sarah Miles. This is one of those films that leaves you staring at your television, mouth agape, wondering what the heck you just saw. It is eerie, uncomfortable, unsettling, disturbing and FANTASTIC.

The movie begins with an unconventional job interview -- Hugo Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) arrives to find his potential employer (James Fox) passed out drunk on the floor. Now, Barrett is quite the interesting fellow -- he is at once reserved, shy and deferential and cocky, domineering and forward. The character is so incredibly complicated it's no wonder that Dirk Bogarde won the BAFTA film award as best actor for his performance.

The film is really presented in two parts. The first half is sort of coy -- you get an idea of what's going on in the plot, but it isn't entirely clear, and it isn't especially sinister. Then the second half just hits you like a ton of bricks! It's dark, heavy and definitely not coy.

One of my favorite things about the movie was the use of reflections -- I didn't take screenshots of all of them (there were too many!) but my favorites included this fish-eye mirror in the drawing room. It was the perfect way to depict the twisted, fun-house kind of shennanigans going on inside this house.

This wasn't my favorite Dirk Bogarde film (that honor still belongs to Darling, though this came very close) but I think it was my favorite performance. His character doesn't evolve in the film, it is revealed. In the beginning, Barrett is a devoted manservant, eager to cook meals and carry trays. But little by little he becomes a bit bossy. The walls should have red and fushia wallpaper. The master shouldn't have fresh flowers in his bedroom. He doesn't approve of new cushions for the couch. And you know, he really could use a maid to help him out around the house -- and his sister is just the girl for the job.

As the film progresses, Barrett gets stronger and stronger while James Fox's character gets wearker and weaker. By the end of the film, Barrett has shown his real character, a far cry from the meek, eager servant we met at the beginning. Really, the transition is stunning. Furthermore, it is amazing that Dirk Bogarde really does not have that much dialogue or screentime at the beginning of the film. Yet whether he is physically on camera, or simply lingering in the thoughts of the other characters onscreen, his character is a constant presence in the movie.

Last year I saw an interview with Harold Pinter on Charlie Rose (re-aired after he passed away) and was very enchanted with him -- I've wanted to watch one of his plays or films ever since, and I'm very happy that this was the first one I got to see. He wrote the adapted screenplay for the film, and if this is any indication of his style I am just itching to see more! Pinter also wrote Accident (which, like The Servant, also stars Dirk Bogarde and was directed by Joseph Losey) so I can't wait to see that now!

A lot of movies can make you cry, laugh or smile gleefully at the end. But it takes a really special film to leave you staring at your television, mouth agape, wondering what the heck just happened.

Can I just say, I want to BE Sarah Miles. Really.

A 22 year old turns into a 1958 teeny bopper...

2009-09-08T20:45:00.000-04:00

When I'm at the grocery store, I always look laughingly at the teeny bopper magazines on the newsstands. I wouldn't buy one of those if it was the last thing on earth to look at. I cringe at the thought of thumbing through People magazine, or keeping up with the current celebrity gossip...

HOWEVER...

Give me a 1958 copy of a teeny bopper magazine and I turn into just as much of a drooling fan-girl as a modern teenager does with a brand spanking new copy of OK! (Which, I guess, is kind of sad because I'm a few years removed from being a teen now...)

Anyway.. I'm sure by now you've become acquainted with my new obsession with Dirk Bogarde. On my quest to find his DVDs, I came across a 1958 copy of "All About Dirk Bogarde" on ebay. It's a tiny little fan magazine (obviously made for his swooning bobby-soxer fans) published at the height of his matinee idol days. Seeing as how this is not available on amazon, or anywhere else on ebay, how on earth could I pass it up for only 8 pounds?! (Yup, I bought it from England!)

It finally arrived today and I just couldn't contain my excitement. I scanned almost every single image in the magazine! Here are a few of my favorites:

(You can view the rest -- all 39 of them -- in my flickr account)

I had an art show in New York this weekend (a grueling show, for which I had to get up at 4am for three consecutive days) so I decided to take a little mini-vacation this week. I can't afford to go anywhere, so I'm going to stay in and watch a bunch of movies! I have almost ten Dirk Bogarde films to see now (thanks to Netflix, YouTube, Amazon and Casey!) plus I have what seems like a million recorded DVDs that I haven't finalized since Feburary, which I really have to catch up on!

I know you're all probably sick of this by now, but I'll probably write about the Dirk Bogarde films I watch... I haven't really gotten myself hooked on any one actor since Dana Andrews about three years ago. Speaking of Dana Andrews (who for the time being will belong solely to Millie. Your welcome.) two of his films are on TCM in the next week or so, and both of them are films I've never seen! Very exciting!!

Okay well sorry about this super-blabbering post but, like I said, I got up at 4am for three days in a row and I'm still not really lucid. Better go get some grapefruit juice...

Cast a Dark Shadow (1955)

2009-08-31T11:59:00.000-04:00

One of the things I hate about being a classic film fan is that everything I like is locked in time. If two people did not make a movie together, they never will. If their filmography includes 3 films (eh-hem, James Dean) that's all it will ever include. We're stuck with what we have, we can't wish for a collaborative match made in heaven. For instance (and I'm just grabbing this one out of thin air, of course) Alfred Hitchcock will never make a movie starring Dirk Bogarde.

This is one collaboration that I really wish I could go back in time to arrange.

In Hitchcock films, the male lead usually falls into one of two categories: innocent, average man gets caught up in a crime or conspiracy (i.e. North by Northwest and The Man Who Knew Too Much) or a suave, debonair charmer is actually a psychopathic killer (i.e. Stage Fright and Shadow of a Doubt)

In Cast a Dark Shadow, Dirk Bogarde plays Teddy Bare, a young bluebeard married to a much older, much wealthier woman. The film puts on no pretenses: Teddy is a murderer. By learning this so early in the film the tone is changed completely. Instead of wondering "did he kill her?" or "who killed her?," questions which dominate typical mysteries, this film asks "will he get caught?" and "will he kill again?" But what really makes this film oh-so-Hitchcock is the character of Teddy Bare -- a suave, debonair charmer who is also a psychopathic killer.

Like most Hitchcock characters in this mold, Dirk Bogarde is one heck of a sweet talker. Since you already know what a cad he is, you're amused, not repulsed by the sticky-sweet manner he puts on when trying to impress. Okay, maybe this is just me, and I have some kind of psychological problem, but I always end up rooting for these guys. When he is wooing Margaret Lockwood, a brash rich widow, you KNOW the whole time that he had just killed his previous wife for her money. You KNOW that he is a fortune-hunting heel! You KNOW that he will probably kill Margaret Lockwood. But who are you rooting for? Dirk Bogarde.

I've always loved this trick in Hitchcock films. The killer is so alluring, so fascinating that you can't help but be charmed yourself! Dirk Bogarde played this type of role so well, I sped over to imdb as soon as I was finished watching it to see if he and Sir Alfred had ever made a movie together. It's such a shame that they didn't, because I could easily see Dirk Bogarde being a Hithcock regular. Now if only I could figure out how to go back in time...

Lyrics for Lovers

2009-08-30T17:32:00.000-04:00

On the Dirk Bogarde Estate website, they have the entire album that he recorded in 1960. It's available on CD (you know I'm buying it.) but for free you can listen to the whole thing via this link. Before you listen, a word of warning: he does not sing. It's spoken-word set to music. I happen to like spoken word music (like Charles Boyer's LP Where Does Love Go) but it's an acquired taste. I always used to think it was silly, but it's grown on me.

I really love discovering when actors recorded music, books on tape or spoken word albums, especially actors whose voices are as essential to their acting as their mannerisms and appearance.

I've tried to explain my tastes in vocals before, but nobody ever seems to really understand me -- I'll try it here and see if anyone can make sense of what I have to say :) In music and movies (and life I guess) I like deep voices with some gravel in them. This is why Frank Sinatra is my favorite singer -- if you put on headphones, turn off the lights and close your eyes you can almost feel like you are falling into his voice. His voice reaches into eternity, it just seems like it could go on forever into space. It's so full of depth. And so this was one of the first things I noticed about Dirk Bogarde, too -- he has one of these voices. It's very deep and not entirely smooth. He also speaks with a certain flourish that translates marevelously into these spoken word songs.

Well, I really hope you'll enjoy these! As for me, I'm listening right now!

ps. Thanks Nicole for the picture!!

UPDATE: Just One of Those Things is my favorite -- I hadn't listened to the whole thing when I wrote the post, but I just finished and thought I'd let you know :)

The Sleeping Tiger (1954)

2009-08-29T11:53:00.000-04:00

The Sleeping Tiger is about the repressed wife of a renowned psychologist who reluctantly agrees to let her husband take in a criminal as their house guest, in an effort to rehabilitate him. The DVD I purchased is one of those crummy Alpha movies, always a really bad copy with a jumpy screen. But what I love most about them is the way they describe the films, hoping to grab people who might not normally buy a classic movie:

a devoted wife...
untamed passions...
a deadly web of sin!!!

One word of warning about this particular copy, though: DO NOT look at the back of the DVD case before watching the film. They have a still image of the last scene in the movie which is a dead giveaway to how it ends. Stupid, stupid stupid...

Anyway! On to the film! I really enjoyed this one. Alexis Smith, who plays the buttoned-up housewife, always excels at these "cool on the outside, boiling on the inside" kind of roles. Her stony facial features and icy blonde hair convey a rigidity that works so well for characters like this one. The only downside was that she had the awful 50's haircut that old ladies still sport today. For some reason it was sort of distracting..

Alexander Knox plays the husband. In every film I've seen him in so far, he plays this type of character - calm, highly intelligent and usually a little oblivious. I have to add, one of the things that I've enjoyed most about watching these Dirk Bogarde films is rediscovering a lot of my favorite British character actors. Hugh Griffith (who plays Audrey Hepburn's father in my favorite caper, How to Steal a Million) plays an Inspector who is determined to prove that Dirk Bogarde belongs in jail.

On the surface this movie might seem like a typical b-budget psychological drama. It has all the parts that such a picture would require: love triangle, crime, sleazy nightclubs, psychology and lust. But (oh, you probably knew I'd say this, didn't you?) Dirk Bogarde really elevates the film to a new level. If you read the part of his character in the screenplay, chances are you would imagine a very heavy-handed, melodramatic performance. In one scene (in the beginning, don't worry!) he grabs the maid's wrist and knocks a tray full of dishes out of her hand after she refuses to bring him a cup of coffee. In other hands, this would have looked petty and overly dramatized. But the way that Dirk Bogarde brings the scene to life is realistic. Instead of a demented criminal who terrorizes the maid you can begin to see hints of the tortured soul that was driven to crime because of an awful childhood.

Childhood trauma is what lies at the heart of this film. A lot of movies have dealt with the subject (one of my favorites is Hitchcock's Spellbound) but this one was very different. I might have trouble explaining this, but here goes... In most films with this subject matter, you have two parts: a psychiatrist and a criminal. Throughout the film, the criminal keeps acting mean and brooding while the psychiatrist slowly picks apart his brain to figure out what caused him to do whatever he did.

Now in this film, I think you can see how childhood trauma affects what the criminal is doing before any insight into his past is ever actually uncovered. It's as if Dirk Bogarde really lived his character's life, had those childhood memories and was storing them inside while acting. His movements and decisions betray his steely, hard exterior and show us a scared little boy.

Interestingly, Bogarde's character isn't the only one with a bad-childhood problem. Turns out the Mrs. is also the product of a broken home. This little tidbit, relvealed in the beginning of the film quite in passing, is worth remembering as you watch. While Dirk Bogarde is slowly being cured from his mental anguish by the psychiatrist, the sleeping tiger (all those childhood memories stored inside) are awakening in Alexis Smith.

The Spanish Gardener (1956)

2009-08-28T11:07:00.000-04:00

I had every intention of watching "A Tale of Two Cities" last night, but after getting cozy in bed with some grapefruit juice, turning off the lights and pressing "play" I realized that Netflix had replaced my damaged "A Tale of Two Cities" DVD with.... ANOTHER damaged DVD!! I tried watching the first twenty minutes, regardless of the screen freezing every few minutes, but I just couldn't watch a movie this way. I'm sending it back again and hopefully the next disc will finally work!

So I dragged myself out of bed and got my laptop to watch "The Spanish Gardener" on YouTube. (Link)

The film is about a stiff British foreign diplomat (Michael Hordern) who has basically secluded his son (Jon Whiteley) from contact with other people, in a selfish move to keep him to himself. He doesn't go to school or play with other kids, and since his mother doesn't live with them, his only adult role model is his stuffed-shirt father. All this changes when they move into a Spanish villa and take on a gardener, played wonderfully by Dirk Bogarde.

I wasn't as impressed with this film as I was with the other three Dirk Bogarde films I've watched so far, but this had nothing to do with his performance. There were just a couple little things that bothered me. First, the film is about the "Spanish" gardener, but he's actually British. In fact, everyone in Spain is British. They are slightly tanned, but speak with perfect upper crust British accents. When a director decides that he is not going to make all of his actors speak with accents, I think he should also decide to relocate the setting of the film. This could have easily taken place on the English countryside. Just a few tweaks in the plot about the father's profession and it would have worked ship-shape. But anyway, this didn't bother me THAT much, just a little bit at the beginning (and gave me a chance to voice my stupid pet peeve about fake accents in film)

Something else, however, DID bother me a lot. I feel so awful saying this, but it seems like I really don't like child actors from the 1950's that much. There's just something about them that irks me, especially when they are like 8 or 9 year olds, the toddlers are a little easier to take.

It just so happens that the main character in this movie is not Dirk Bogarde or Michael Hordern, but Jon Whiteley. He's actually the same kid who was in Hunted, the Dirk Bogarde film I watched two nights ago. But this movie was made about 4 years later, giving Jon ample time to grow into that awkward child-actor phase that seems to get on my nerves.

In so many ways, this movie reminded me of Shane. First of all, they both center around a young boy's idolatry of a hired man. Also, they both have child actors that kind of get on my nerves, AND they both feature said child actor cooing the hired man's name over and over and over. "Shaaane, come back Shaaaane" or "Jose! Jose! Come back Jose!" Okay, I get it- their names are Shane and Jose! Sheesh.

I really like the kids in 1930's and 40's films, like Jackie Cooper, Margaret O'Brien, Natalie Wood, Scotty Beckett and Virginia Wiedler. But when the 50's came in, they started hiring kids that have too much of a pretense of wide-eyed innocence and not enough character. All of the kids I mentioned, from the 30's and 40's, had personalities and some chutzpah. I guess it fits in the bigger picture of 1950's life, with suburbia, Leave it to Beaver, pearls, a new conservatism and Spam.

A little disclaimer before I continue: Yes, there are some really good 1950's child actors so please excuse my generalization. Also, I think that Jon Whiteley's performance in Hunted was stellar, I just wasn't fond of him in this film.

Despite my overwhelming wish throughout the film that the boy would just magically disappear, I actually enjoyed the movie. Michael Hordern gave an excellent performance as the boy's stodgy and emotionally stunted father. I kept trying to place him throughout the first 30 minutes or so before I realized that he is Jacob Marley in the 1951 "A Christmas Carol"! I've never seen him in anything else, and I was pleasantly surprised to see him here.

Dirk Bogarde's role as the Spanish gardener Jose worked really well, regardless of his accent. He played the part with a very even temper and self-assuredness that fit him like a glove. In a particularly melodramatic part of the film (I won't give any more details because it is near the end) Dirk Bogarde overcomes the heavy-handed direction and stirring music, being very understated and calm.

One of the most interesting contrasts throughout the film is between Jose and the father. Whenever even-keeled, relaxed, tanned and athletic Jose is standing next to the father - pale, ancy, agitated and jealous - you can see who has the upper hand, regardless of wealth, social stature or position. This poor gardener is more of a man, and has more love for life than the rich aristocrat.

Hunted (1952)

2009-08-27T12:18:00.000-04:00

I continued my discovery of Dirk Bogarde last night with "Hunted" (1952) (available on YouTube here) Ten years ago when I first started liking classic film, I kept a little diary where I would write down the names of my favorite stars. If I saw them in one film and found them impressive, I'd scribble their name down in the book, with one tally mark representing how many films of theirs I had seen. Only when it reached three tally marks (three films) could that person be an "official" favorite. (I was 13, okay?!) It may seem really silly now, but I wanted to make sure that the one performance wasn't a fluke-- this person was really good!

Well "Hunted" is now my third Dirk Bogarde film. While I don't keep to that same rigid formula for choosing my favorite actors anymore, there's still a part of me that thought, after watching this film last night, that Dirk Bogarde is now an "official" favorite.

The film starts off with a little boy (Jon Whiteley) running away from a burning house. He runs into an abandonded basement and finds Dirk Bogarde standing next to a dead body. Dirk Bogarde abducts the boy and sets out on the lamb.

The film is very dark and definitely has that distinct British post-war cynicysim. But it's also incredibly touching. The little boy is an orphan, abused by his adoptive father. Dirk is a sailor with an unfaithful wife and a family that cares more about keeping up appearances than his own well being. Both neglected and hurt, the two forge an unlikely bond throughout the course of the film. I really love movies that show the human side of people who commit crimes. Too often a murderer or thief is portrayed in a completely evil light, with no reason, conscience or feeling. In this film, we see how Dirk Bogarde's character was led to commit his crime because of circumstances and environment, because of pride and honor. At heart, he is really a softy who just wanted a fairy-tale sort of life with the woman he loved.

The most touching scene in the film takes place about 30 minutes in. Dirk Bogarde and the kid are getting ready to go to sleep and the kid asks for a bedtime story. Reluctantly, Dirk Bogarde starts off telling a silly fairy tale. But once he brings up the princess, in his eyes you can see that he's thinking about his wife. The fictional story slowly turns into his own biography; about his wife's betrayal and the events leading up to the murder. It's heartwrenching to watch him, as his face slowly gets twisted from thinking about his crime.

I read an excerpt this week from Bogarde's book "Snakes and Ladders" about his approach to acting and the camera. He said:

‘It’s what the cinema is all about ... you depend on the thought for the lens ... that is the thing that takes the back of your head right off; and if you’ve got nothing in there, sweetie, it’s going to show that you’ve got nothing in there. You can do anything you like with your face - turn it left, right, twitch, lift your eyebrow, but it’s not going to work because nothing’s really pulled it up. It’s not a question of technical tricks; something has to be happening inside.’

I don't see this too often in movies, but Dirk Bogarde really mastered the technique of thinking on film. It's almost all in the eyes, too. If you watch the film on youtube, look out for the scenes when he's listening for footsteps, or trying to hide without being seen. In these scenes especially you can see his thought processes in his eyes - you can see the fear etched in his face. It's incredible!

Up next on my Dirk Bogarde agenda is The Spanish Gardner (also on YouTube) assuming that my Tale of Two Cities DVD doesn't arrive first -- I had intended to watch it two days ago but the Netflix disc was damaged :(

Hope you guys don't mind me documenting my Dirk Bogarde adventures, I'm just so excited about discovering his films that I feel almost compelled to write about each one!

Movie posters from Darling

2009-08-26T19:20:00.000-04:00

After SP asked in the comments of my last post if I owned the poster pictured (and I reluctantly answered "no") I got to wondering if the poster was actually for sale anywhere. So I went to my favorite movie posters sites and found these charming posters, all for around $15 each (It doesn't say if they are originals or not) -- personally I want the first one!

Darling (1965)

2009-08-26T10:37:00.000-04:00

On a quest to watch every Dirk Bogarde film at my disposal, I realized that I had recorded the film "Darling" in Februrary during 31 Days of Oscar. I'm a fan of Julie Christie, and she won the Oscar as best actress of 1965 for her performance in this film, the same year that she starred as Lara in one of my favorite epics, Doctor Zhivago.

As further evidence of my complete ignorance as to who Dirk Bogarde was, I chose Laurence Harvey as the co-star when scribbling down the stars of the film on my DVD. I am not a big Laurence Harvey fan (I am dreadfully sorry if anyone is a fan! Please don't hate me!) but I apparently thought he was more important than Dirk.

I can't really put into words just how much I liked Dirk Bogarde in So Long at the Fair -- there was really something about him that said "Kate, I am going to be one of your favorite actors in about a week's time. Really, I am!" I just knew from watching that one picture that I would enjoy anything with the name Dirk Bogarde above the title. Yesterday I spent (some would say wasted..) the better part of my day searching for Dirk Bogarde movies on Amazon, Ebay and YouTube. If you're as interested as I am in Dirk, you'll want to check out this great link that I received in an email about my previous Dirk Bogarde post -- Click here to visit the official Dick Bogarde site, which contains so much information you won't know what to do with yourself! The audio from an album he recorded in the 60's, illustrations and watercolors (he was a great artist!) anecdotes about his films and loads of fun stuff to sift through.

I capped off my day (albeit at 2:30AM!!!) with Darling. Robert Osborne introduced the film by saying that it portrayed the characters with such detail you'd almost think this was a documentary, not a fictional story. And he was completely right. Julie Christie and Dirk Bogarde gave such depth to their characters, I was actually starting to believe that they were real.

The film is about a young married woman (Diana, or "Darling") who falls in love with a slightly older married man. (Dirk Bogarde as Robert) Diana is superficial, young and slightly kooky while Robert is fun, intellectual and painfully handsome. (Sorry, I had to say it again.) Also, I was literally turning green with envy over how many books he had. I'm a sucker for a big library.

All of the advertisements and reviews I read before seeing the film seemed to indicate that this was a film very similar to Barbara Stanwyck's Baby Face. An unscrupulous woman who will bed any man if it gets her more fame or more money. But I think this is a really shallow interpretation of the film -- Julie Christie's character was actually a lot deeper than you would think. Her jumps from man to man aren't rooted in an insatiable hunger for power but in an insatiable hunger for happiness. Her quest for serenity with life takes her through two marriages and two beaus. One of those beaus, unfortunately, is Laurence Harvey.

All of the scenes with Harvey were a little too much for me, and seemed kind of out of place. At first he seems like a narcissistic cad with a relatively boring, square life. The next thing you know he's taking Julie Christie to a strange 1960's style party in Paris where really, really bizarre things happen. I don't even know how to describe them! I'm not opposed to swingin' 60's scenes in the movies, but up until this point the film had seemed to me to be a very deep character study, with amazing insight into human behavior and love.

Or maybe I was just upset that Dirk Bogarde wasn't onscreen as much at this point....

Anyway, despite the little segue into the psychedelic Paris of the sixties, I ended up enjoying the film immensely. In fact, I think it's one of my favorite movies now. I swear, Dirk Bogarde's character will just break your heart in pieces. And, despite what any of the reviews may lead you to believe, your heart will ache for Julie Christie's character, too.

There were just too many things about this film that I loved to list them all. The film also dealt brilliantly with the hypocrisies of the idle rich, the definition of what true happiness really is, sacrifice, and the public misconceptions about celebrity.

I highly recommend seeing it -- I do think it's on DVD (hint hint!) As for me, I'm going to go add some Dirk Bogarde movies to my Amazon cart and hope they get here very quickly. Move over grapefruit juice, I've got a new obsession!

Wait... YOU are Dirk Bogarde?!

2009-08-24T19:07:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but there is a certain type of actor that I don't like. For you it might be any actor who played in 1940's swashbucklers, or 1960's spy movies. For me, it's any actor who played in a B-movie crime film from the 1950's. Edmund O'Brien personified this whole genre of acting to me. They are typically heavy-set, sweaty men with slicked-back hair and oversize shoulder pads. (Before Edmund O'Brien fans jump down my throat, I'd like to point out that I think his performance in The Barefoot Contessa was exceptional -- he is fantastic as a character actor, but a romantic leading man he was not.)

So two weeks ago when I saw that Dirk Bogarde was going to be the star of the day during TCM's Summer Under the Stars, I realized I'd have to find an alternative channel to watch... Dirk Bogarde was just another 1950's American B-movie crime film star. Big shoulderpads and lousy acting was not what I was in the mood for.

Whoa! Hold the phone!! THIS is Dirk Bogarde?!?!?!

What the heck was I thinking?!

Dirk Bogarde is NOT the Edmund O'Brien type. In fact, he's the complete opposite. Dashing, handsome and oh-so-British. Unfortunately, I avoided TCM almost all day before I finally consented to watch "So Long at the Fair" around 6pm. Imagine my surprise when Dirk Bogarde finally showed up onscreen! Oh, what I had missed all day!!

As you can probably already tell by my devotion to John Mills, Trevor Howard and Alastair Sim, I have quite a soft spot in my heart for British actors. Now please add Dirk Bogarde to this list, and move him to the top, pronto!

Since I missed out on Dirk Bogarde day, I've added his movies to my Netflix queue (a pitiful amount are on DVD in America, by the way) and signed up for TCM reminders for the few films of his they are showing in the next four months.

I can't really go into a depth about how great of an actor Dirk Bogarde is, because as of yet I've only seen him in one film. But what I CAN say is that any time you have a preconceived notion about an actor or actress, give them a shot before you rule out their films for good. It may just turn out that the sweaty, greasy lug is actually quite the debonair bloke!