Poll

What's the Best Film by Mitchell Leisen?

Death Takes a Holiday
0 (0%)
Hands Across the Table
0 (0%)
Swing High, Swing Low
0 (0%)
Easy Living
0 (0%)
Midnight
3 (14.3%)
Remember the Night
1 (4.8%)
Hold Back the Dawn
1 (4.8%)
Arise, My Love
1 (4.8%)
The Lady is Willing
0 (0%)
To Each His Own
0 (0%)
Golden Earrings
0 (0%)
No Man of Her Own
0 (0%)
The Mating Season
0 (0%)
didn't Like Any
0 (0%)
haven't Seen Any
15 (71.4%)
other
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 20

Author Topic: Leisen, Mitchell  (Read 8349 times)

roujin

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2012, 03:48:47 PM »

Arise, My Love Mitchell Leisen, 1940

Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland meet up at the end of the Spanish Civil War. The first few scenes are infused with death. Milland was a volunteer and he's about to be executed. Then, out of nowhere, Cobert shows up, a gal ready to make things happen.  Somehow she busts him out and then things get even more interesting. Leisen's film is an odd duck. It's a wartime melodrama, like The Mortal Storm, aware of the evil cruelties of Nazism and the realities of Europe circa 1940, and also a propaganda piece regarding the duty of Americans to help out. Leisen's characters are go-getters, ambitious, restless; they try to step outside of themselves and become ordinary citizens and return to the peace of America, but they simply shut down those impulses. It's a fascinating film, all those moods, careening tonal shifts; comedy, romance, propaganda, Leisen.

Totoro

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #21 on: October 10, 2012, 04:04:46 PM »
Easy Living
A film all about incidents that build atop incidences. In other terms, it's as screwy as screwball comedies get, yet I wish the male actors were less self conscious of this fact; they often seem to be performing a Looney Toons level with ridiculous theatrics and manic mannerisms. Jean Arthur grounds their humor whenever these characters begin circling her. She can go from straight man to the funny man in seconds which complements the turn heavy screenplay in its outrageous moments. Leisen even gives her time to prepare her piggy bank for the ultimate demise. Charming.

Midnight
The expected reaction of your character partner in a basic improv is to say, "Yes and..." to which you add a more or less ridiculous chemical into the mix to progress or restrain the scene that will give the other a challenge to react back to. The first half of Midnight largely deals with the setup so that all hell can break loose in the second. Forget about the particulars of the otherwise standard Cinderella story screwball comedy format, this is a masterpiece of the screwball comedy subgenre. It gets to such great heights of ridiculousness that any other screenwriter would lose the reigns of and flap their arms uncontrollably. Not Wilder and Bracken. Even in the most desperate areas where characters seemingly have no where to go, they break through a wall and offer a new way out for the character to progress. You don't need to have one liners to write great comedy, you just need to be able to handle increasingly ridiculous situations with ease. None of this would be possible without an exceptional cast which Midnight has in aces. The ensemble is operating on a higher level here; a level in which they all own the script and are battling to steal the scene right from under each other. I can't pick a favorite.

Arise, My Love
I was surprised to find just how many years this film spanned. It would be a nice double feature with The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp since both films are about people who have jobs closely entangled with their government in a time where many governments were going through changes due to the cause of wars in Europe during the 1930s. Arise, My Love is ahead of its time in the way that it shows a love story between two incredibly career ambitious people something that is, sadly, rarely present in modern day romantic comedies or dramas. It adds some flavor to the otherwise basic romantic comedy tropes displayed here. The ending is a little bit deus ex machina, yet it was made during wartime and everything needs a dash of propaganda, so it gets a pass.

Totoro

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #22 on: October 12, 2012, 02:56:10 PM »
Midnight (A)
Hold Back the Dawn (B+)
Arise, My Love (B)
Easy Living (B)


roujin

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #23 on: October 15, 2012, 09:11:25 AM »
Think Hold Back the Dawn is next for me.

Antares

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #24 on: October 17, 2012, 09:45:15 PM »
Easy Living (1937) 72/100 - This is one of those films that's been getting a lot of discussion lately as a lost gem of the screwball comedy era. But to be honest, you would think that a screenplay written by Preston Sturges, the Shakespeare of screwball, would be a gut busting ride, but for a few glitches, never finds it's course to classic comedy. It's as if someone at Paramount was given a set of blueprints for how to make a screwball comedy and everyone except Jean Arthur and Luis Alberni was manufacturing their roles to specification. Edward Arnold and Ray Milland spend the first 45 minutes of the film yelling their lines as if high volume made the lines funnier...well... it doesn't. It just makes the proceedings seem a bit amateurish. The film only really gets its footing once Jean Arthur takes up residence at Mr. Louis Louis' swanky hotel. The scenes with her and Alberni are priceless and for my money, Alberni steals almost every scene he's in. That isn't to say that Jean Arthur doesn't carry her weight, quite the contrary, she just radiates in this role. I've never seen her look more beautiful in a film and her performance proves that she was the queen of screwball comedy. It's too bad the first 45 minutes aren't as funny as the last 45 minutes, because this could have been a contender for top screwball comedy of all time. But alas, it's really only worth watching for the reasons I stated.
Masterpiece (100-91) | Classic (90-80) | Entertaining (79-69) | Mediocre (68-58) | Cinemuck (57-21) | Crap (20-0)

Totoro

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #25 on: November 01, 2012, 07:45:48 PM »

Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941)
Olivia De Havilland! Olivia De Havilland! Olivia De Havilland! Obviously, her performance and her performance alone makes the picture, though Charles Boyer handles a complex character with a sly ease rarely seen on celluloid. It is DeHavilland who, much like her sister Joan Fontaine, can handle silent character beats like a bird can flap its wings; it's second nature to these girls to just completely own their characters even when they aren't doing anything in particular. I totally bought DeHavilland as this totally innocent ingenue who comes into the "love" life of Boyer's character who has meticulously planned to use her in his effort to cross the American border and become a citizen. Wilder and Brackett use their reverse narrative style seen later in Double Indemnity that allows Boyer's character to simultaneously regret and retell his actions in ensnaring the unlucky girl in his trap and, by doing so, ensnaring his own heart into the trap unwittingly as well. We get a lot of insight into the mind of those universal bastards we know now these days as "players", yet we are given hope as the redemptive power of love is shown once the two go off on their post marital honeymoon which bears similarities to that of Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans or even last year's Certified Copy as the couple are both playing ever evolving roles against each other in order to either repulse or propel themselves closer to each other. It's a game where only one side knows the rules! Minor quibbles would focus on the subplot that loosely ties the theme of the film about a Russian couple who want their baby born in America. It's a throwaway detail that could of been removed or have been made into its own film, sadly it was absorbed into this one, shortening the amount of lovely time we get with Boyer and DeHavilland. As previously stated, it's only a minor problem, it doesn't ruin the film for me.


No Man of Her Own (Mitchell Leisen, 1950)
If there was ever a movie that was almost completely ruined by a final minute, deus-ex-machina style plot twist, this would be the biggest and best example. Through a series of mishaps that claim the lives of a married expectant couple, Stanwyck plays a woman who is believed to be the pregnant wife of said married couple because Stanwyck's character herself is pregnant out of wedlock. She goes along with the role and is accepted into her "late husbands" family since the husband was on his way to introduce his new wife to his family, yet slowly but surely her past comes to haunt her in more ways than one. Is John Lund related to Ryan O'Neal? I did a double take and checked several times to see how old O'Neal actually was, because they look remarkably the same. The film itself is expertly crafted. A running motif in the movie is the sound of a train passing (the accident that claimed the lives of the couple occurred on the train) so when she throws the letter in the fire place that reveals who she really is, we hear the train sound in the distance as the paper hits the fire. A third act situation also requires use of the train to dispose of guilt. Stanwyck is in fine form here who does anything she can to preserve her and her son's well being. The smallest of details are under microscope here. The movie is squirm-in-your-chair heart pounding and dark as night film noir. Now if only the ending reflected the unnerving mood that was held throughout...
« Last Edit: August 06, 2020, 01:50:18 AM by 1SO »

1SO

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #26 on: January 03, 2013, 01:51:46 PM »
Easy Living
Saw this for Jean Arthur, who delivers at 100%, and Edward Arnold, who screams and pratfalls at 150% and lands around 75%. I recently watched Thirty Day Princess co-written by Preston Sturges and full of his verbal wit. This one, to which Sturges receives full writing credit, has very little of it, but an awful lot of circus clown pratfalls. I continue to not be on board with Mitchell Leisen, whose screwball is too screwy, often losing sight of the ball. Luis Alberni is the Hotel Manager who constantly tosses his slang together like a messy salad. It's the kind of bit Roberto Benigni would juggle, and like a SNL sketch it's not very funny the first time and less so 80 minutes later. The secret ingredient to screwball comedy is the appearance of sophistication, something I haven't found in Leisen's films. Even the one I like.
My Rating: * * 1/2
Mrs. 1SO'S Rating: * * *


Mrs 1SO - "Does Jean Arthur know how adorable she is? I know she's an actress, but does she realize?" This was said before the scene with the piggy bank.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2019, 01:08:27 PM by 1SO »

sdedalus

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #27 on: January 03, 2013, 02:00:11 PM »
Hmm, I don't know how to do that...
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Sandy

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #28 on: January 03, 2013, 02:05:04 PM »
I never thought I would give away my copy of a Jean Arthur film, but I did that one. I knew I would always choose something else of hers to watch instead.

1SO

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Re: Leisen, Mitchell - Director's Best
« Reply #29 on: January 12, 2013, 10:56:58 PM »
The Lady is Willing
The premise quickly sets up solid screwball fun. Marlene Dietrich plays a flighty actress who discovers an abandoned baby and takes it to her penthouse. Fred MacMurray is a pediatrician who detests kids. She needs to marry to keep the baby and he needs funds for research involving the breeding of thousands of rabbits. As two halves of a couple they help each other with individual obstacles (ex-wife, seductive actors) and eventually grow together. This is all fine. Some of it is even hilarious. (After kicking a female con artist in the rear, Dietrich's assistant enters with perfect timing and asks "Who's that lady who just flew by?") However, a silly misunderstanding sparks a strange case of the serious followed by a protracted health scare. The comedy dies and the characters aren't meaty enough to work as real human beings. Oh well.
RATING: * *

My wife (who had the same reaction) made one of the funniest pop culture observations I've heard in 5+ years of marriage. After listening to Marlene Dietrich do a musical number, she commented "When she sings she sounds like a female Bane."