Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16620 in VHS
• Released on: 1998-01-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Customer Reviews

WHAT SOPHISTICATION LOOKS, SMELLS AND SOUNDS LIKE
Now that movies have degenerated into (male) car crashes, or (female) dike-rap, one returns to films like this one to try to imagine what all of Cole Porter, Cary Grant, Edward and Wallis, Duke Ellington and Fred Astaire were all about. It isn't enough to say, merely "Style;" Camp has pretty much sullied that word for two generations, now. But style -- or that combination of concept and high finish that a furniture manufacture calls The Bogart Look -- exists, or existed, once, and one can see it here, live and bubbling like a genie of mirth climbing out of a champagne bottle.

The plot is simple enough: a beautiful European jewel thief on the run accidentally meets and falls in love with a naif but excruciatingly handsome American guy in a very good suit. They go through the choreography of flirtation in back-lot Southrn Spain, surrounded by a stellar crew of supporting players with wonderful accents.

Dietrich, again in her version of the Dolores Del Rio look, wearing a dress nobody else in the world could wear, sits at the piano and accompanies herself in the song, "You've Got That Look." It is too insane! It is wonderful. It's a performance you'd have paid a hundred bucks (in 1940's money) for in a good New York hotel boite, but Lena Horne or Eartha Kitt or even Hildegarde would have given it to you.

This is all about the Romantic Feature Film as comic art. It ought to be required reading for all the film wanabees who hope to direct, and somehow get the chance, but turn out low-brow drivel like When Harry Met Sally. You can (and maybe you should) watch this movie over and over, the way you enjoy anything rare and precious. Like the Marx Brothers comedies, it has healing power, and pre-war value.

Every element in it is expertly integrated. It's a short movie, really, but so perfectly realized you have the impression of having had either a convincing halucination, or a true life experience.

Champagne for the eyes.

desire for Marlene
This was Marelene Dietrich's last money-making film for Paramount Studios during her original time as a contract player. She had just left Josef Von Sternberg, her mentor,(or he had left her) and the public was beginning to tire of her. In this film she seemed more relaxed, more at ease, and seemed to be having a lot of fun during this film, not to mention looking absolutely gorgeous in each costume. Gary Cooper, with whom Dietrich had made her American film debut in 'Morocco', was again her co-star, and again the chemistry worked. This had to be one of the most beautiful couples ever rendered in black-and-white film.
The story and plot centers around a stolen and then lost strand of pearls, and Dietrich's(the thief) efforts to get them back from an innocent man(Cooper), on whose person she hid them in order to escape. All works well in her plan until she finds herself falling in love with him, and he with her. There's always
something to mess up every well-laid plan, eh?

Anyway, this film greatly benefits from the producer, Ernst Lubitsh, and his famed "Touch". there is a lot of real, adult humour in this film without going ribald. Lots of excellant photography and gorgeous costume work, and Dietrich and Cooper being themselves. What more could you want?

THE PEARL NECKLACE...
Madeleine du Beaupre steals a pearl necklace from a Paris jewelry firm and rushes by car for the Spanish border. On the road, she zooms past Tom Bradley, a young American engineer on vacation, who is also heading for Spain. At the border, going through customs, Madeleine drops the pearls into Tom's coat pocket; he gets safely through....Cooper stated back in 1930, after making MOROCCO with Dietrich, that he wouldn't make another picture with her. It was found out later that what he meant specifically, was that it was their director - Josef Von Sternberg - that he didn't care to work with again. Paramount had wanted to team Cooper with Dietrich immediately after their successful stint in MOROCCO but Cooper balked at the idea for some time. In 1935, Coop was asked if he'd be willing to co-star with Dietrich in THE PEARL NECKLACE - this film's working title - and he readily agreed. Gary and Marlene make a good pair; his quiet, well-mannered countenance complimented her sophisticated style perfectly. Cooper brings a freshness and humour to his role; he's charming as the the naive lad from Detroit - the idyllic typical American male of the 1930's - and he seems to be having a great time to himself. DESIRE'S story really isn't much, but the production has panache, and the way the two stars handled their roles make this a film to view more than once. Look for a 49 year-old Bill (Fred Mertz) Frawley in his role as Mr. Gibson.