Let's Fold Scarves

This could never be one of my favourite films - in fact, I'd be happy not to see it again - because essentially it boils down to a character being mentally (and physically) tortured. The writers of the source material, Boileau-Narcejac, also wrote the novel on which Vertigo was based which also has two characters being tortured.

It is brilliantly made but it is all rather heartless (oh, I am clever). What adds an even more macabre aspect to it is the fact that Véra Clouzot died in real life from a heart attack. How horrible is that?

They don't make them like this any more. Times have moved on and what was shocking and exciting and other, simply isn't anymore. We just don't need steamy, overwrought melodramas like this.

It is a period piece but didn't feel outrageously dated. It wasn't at all horrible to watch because the acting was natural and unstilted, and the camerawork wasn't static. It only really felt old because the story was so blooming ancient. The best performance was from Tallulah Bankhead and there were some unusual outdoor scenes: these location shots did ensure it felt different on that front from most Hollywood productions of the thirties.

By the way, I think I'm going to enjoy spending time at TCMdb.

I am conflicted about liking this film. I have taken great exception to The Philadelphia Story because of its sexism and yet I manage to accept the racist attitudes of this film as being a product of its time and carry on regardless.

I know why - it's because I'm not black. So when Irene Dunne makes a silly face and does a funny dance, that's what I see. Except she's imitating black people doing a shuffle dance which once, I'm pretty sure had a different, offensive, name. And when she appears on stage wearing blackface, I accept that by acknowledging that that sort of thing used to be on our TV screens up until the late 70s.

Andy wondered if the racist elements were why the film wasn't on DVD which seems plausible because otherwise it is a great film.

Oh dear, what a weaselly word "otherwise" is.

In the film's defence, it does tackle miscegenation which was daring and missing from the 1929 version.

On a different note, I came across a fantastic fan site devoted to Dunne which is a treasure trove of material about her. Kudos to the site owner, she has done an awesome job. Maybe I'll stumble across the equivalent for Claudette Colbert or Jean Arthur one day.