Italy in the '60s continued .. Visconti & Claudia

A return to Visconti's operatic melodrama from 1965, VAGHE STELLE D'ORSA (its from a poem) or OF A THOUSAND DELIGHTS or simply SANDRA - which I have written about here before [Visconti, Cardinale, Sorel, Craig labels]. It is a small film in the Visconti canon, overshadowed by those big operatic productions like THE LEOPARD, THE DAMNED, DEATH IN VENICE or LUDWIG. I first saw it when I was 19 in 1965 and then it became unobtainable for a long time. It was great to catch up with it again last year, and it was as powerful as I remembered. The stunning black and white photography by Armando Nannuzzi show Claudia Cardinale at her zenith, along with Jean Sorel as her brother and English actor Michael Craig as her husband.



Sandra and her husband return to the family home, one of those sprawling Italian mansions, in the Etruscan city of Volterra, where family secrets are slowly uncovered, as Sandra has to confront her brother who wants to resume their once-incestous relationship, her mentally ill monther and the crumbling estate and the secret about their father and the war ... Visconti builds it to a powerful climax,and the images still resonate... thanks to Daryl for this new batch of stills.

Dirk Bogarde double bill: those '50s British war movies...

Life during wartime back in the '50s - including a brace of early Bogardes.

THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM. I saw this 1954 war drama as a kid, and it still involves now as it almost plays like a documentary on the wartime air rescue service, who went out in their boats in all weathers to rescue crews from downed planes. Here a plane ditches in the North Sea as Michael Redgrave (carrying a briefcase of military secrets), Dirk Bogarde, Bonar Colleano and Jack Watling spend the film in a dinghy in the Shepperton tank. The rescue boat 2561 is headed by Nigel Patrick and Anthony Steel (in regulation duffel coats and polo neck sweaters) and the lower orders below deck include all the familiar faces: Sidney Tafler, Victor Maddern, Michael Ripper. The men in the dinghy start to deteriorate in adverse weather, a rescue plane also has to ditch and picks up a German, (Anton Diffring of course), while back on land posh wife (Rachel Kempson, Mrs Redgrave) and working class one (young Joan Sims) get a scene each, and there is also a middle-class girlfriend waiting, so class distinctions are as rigid as in IN WHICH WE SERVE. It is all directed at a brisk pace by Lewis Gilbert. Certainly one of the best war movies of the ‘50s.

APPOINTMENT IN LONDON. A marvellous early Dirk Bogarde film I had not seen before, this 1953 film, sensitively directed by Philip Leacock, is one of the better war films of the ‘50s. It seems to be a realistic depiction of Bomber Command, flying their Lancasters on those nightly bombing raids. Bogarde is the Wing Commander who has done more than his share of night flights but wants to continue, he is grounded though by his superiors who feel that fatigue has set in. Bryan Forbes is the young flyer who disobeys orders by letting his girl (secretly his wife) know he is safe after flights, much to Bogarde’s annoyance. Later Dirk has to confront the wife, Anne Leon. Lots of regulars are among the ranks: Richard Wattis, Sam Kydd, Terence Longdon, William Slyvester. Dinah Sheridan is perfect again as the naval officer and her romance with Bogarde, who gets his opportunity to fly again, nicely depicted. As it THE WAY TO THE STARS there is also that bar and hotel next to the airfield. In all, a pleasant surprise. Leacock directed some interesting little films like this, THE SPANISH GARDENER and REACH FOR GLORY (both reviewed here , Bodarde, war labels) before going over to American television directing series like “The Waltons”, “Dynasty” and “Falcon Crest”.



SEA OF SAND. One of those British war movies they turned out a lot in the ‘50s, this 1958 one is rather a companion piece to ICE COLD IN ALEX. Here our motley crew are behind enemy lines tasked to destroy a German petrol dump as part of the North Africa campaign, in 1942. Guy Green keeps it moving nicely and the desert is like an ocean of sand with that crisp black and white photography. John Gregson and Michael Craig lead our men, with Richard Attenborough as one of the squaddies. The usual conflicts arise and sacrifices are made; surprisingly the young 21 year old who confides that his wife had a son a week earlier manages to survive – I had him down as a goner! It is an under-rated, well-made example of the war genre with some splendid moments, and a nice coda at the end.

Back in the '40s during the war those films like IN WHICH WE SERVE, THE WAY TO THE STARS, THE GENTLE SEX, 2000 WOMEN and THE DAY WILL DAWN are still very affecting and were just the ticket then - then came those expensive '60s re-creations like BATTLE OF BRITAIN, OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR and no end of stuff like OPERATION CROSSBOW or WHERE EAGLES DARE!

Showpeople (8): Troupers

Whether climbing the ladder of success or basking at the top today's selection of showpeople show how it is done:

Hedda with a starlet / Rock, Tony and RJ Wagner circa '57? / Marlene and Noel in 1959 and Judy and Mickey in '63 are the very essence of show-biz troupers / Kay and Rex in '57 / and young Barbra (with Michael Craig) getting into her stride as Fanny Brice in the London run of FUNNY GIRL in 1966 (I saw that from the front row). Omar got the movie gig though!, and speaking of troupers, here (for TJB) is Susan Hayward as MAME at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas - wish I could have seen that!:

Vaghe Stelle Dell'Orsa, revisisted

For a friend in New York who missed a screening of VAGHE STELLE DELL'ORSA - a repeat of my review from the summer!

Time to catch up with those art house classics I had been meaning to watch, or in the case of Visconti's SANDRA see again after a gap of 45 years .... its been a dim memory since I saw it aged 19 in 1965, so (again) its been terrific to track down a copy now. [It was on YouTube in segments with Japanese subtitles!]. Its original title is VAGHE STELLE DELL'ORSA or OF A THOUSAND DELIGHTS as it was titled for the UK, and it now seems to be titled SANDRA (much easier all round) and now plays like a classic Visconti drama. Sandra Dawson (Claudia Cardinale) and her husband Andrew (Michael Craig) travel to her hometown, the Etruscan city of Volterra for a homage of the locals to her father, a prominent scientist who died in a concentration camp. The long drive in the car during the credits is fascinating. The couple are welcomed by the servant Fosca, and Andrew becomes fascinated with the house. Sandra has issues over the estate with her stepfather and her mentally ill mother (Marie Bell) and misses her brother Gianni (Jean Sorel), who is an aspirant writer. When Gianni appears in the house out of the blue, Andrew unravels a shadowy secret from the past of the siblings. It is Greek tragedy really in the shape of Electra and Orestes... it unfolds as if a dream, (or a typical '60s art movie), interesting seeing Visconti tackle a "small" film here, before moving on to those more opulent titles like THE DAMNED, DEATH IN VENICE, LUDWIG and that final L'INNOCENTE. His follow-up to SANDRA, a 1967 adaptation of Camus's THE OUTSIDER with Mastroianni, is also a very lost title, I don't think we even got a chance to see it in London...

"Vaghe Stelle dell'Orsa..." ("Bright star of the Bear", a poem that is referred to in the text) has a plot about a once incestuous brother and sister (though he wants to resume their illicit relationship) which in the hands of another director could have become a melodramatic soap-opera, but Visconti explores the sensuality and beauty of Claudia Cardinale [often in close-up, and that amazing voice of hers] to deliver an intriguing and quite erotic family drama, peopled with beautiful leads in their mid-60s perfection. The set decoration, as usual, is another piece of art, supported by a classical music soundtrack by Cesar Franck. Good to see English actor Michael Craig here too - five years earlier he was the star of a British comedy UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS and Cardinale had a small part, her first in English probably, as one of the servants!, while Sorel is suitably enigmatic as the wayward brother.

People We Like: Michael Craig

England’s forgotten leading man? Decades before Daniel there was another Craig – that personable leading man Michael Craig – who had a good career in English movies of the ’50s and early ‘60s. His biography illustrates the chequered careers people had back then. Born in India (where his father was in the army) in 1928 and moved to Canada when aged 3 he was back in England by the late 40s and working in the theatre. He secured a Rank Organisation contract and began a good run in movies initially being groomed as a new Dirk Bogarde – Craig plays support to Bogarde in the 1957 CAMPBELL’S KINGDOM.

Other roles of the time included EYEWITNESS, HIGH TIDE AT NOON, a good war adventure SEA OF SAND in 1958, the faithless lover who gets a bullet in YIELD TO THE NIGHT, a tense crime thriller PAYROLL, a Police inspector in the thriller SAPPHIRE, THE SILENT ENEMY, with Belinda Lee in the African romance NOR THE MOON BY NIGHT, plus studio fodder like LIFE IN EMERGENCY WARD 10 and the quite funny UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS (where he has a very funny sequence with Joan Sims), and an airport drama CONE OF SILENCE.

He co-wrote THE ANGRY SILENCE in 1960, one of those strong dramas of the time. co-starring with Attenborough, and MYSTERIOUS ISLAND with Joan Greenwood is a jolly good 1961 version of the Jules Verne classic which still gets played a lot today. There were other leading roles like stepping into Bogarde’s shoes for DOCTOR IN LOVE, and another good drama LIFE FOR RUTH in 1962.

Craig also did a lot of television and theatre (left), and a good leading role was opposite Susan Hayward in STOLEN HOURS in ’63, and co-starring with Claudia Cardinale (who had a small part in his UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS) in Visconti’s intense drama SANDRA (or OF A THOUSAND DELIGHTS or VAGHE STELLE DELL ORSA) in 1965 [which I have already written about here, as it was a pleasure to finally see it again recently]. He co-starrred in LIFE AT THE TOP and had a supporting role in Losey’s MODESTY BLAISE where he is fun trying to unzip Monica Vitti in that cat suit!

With Cardinale and Jean Sorel in Visconti's SANDRA (OF A THOUSAND DELIGHTS) in 1965:


Then a prize leading stage role which I saw in 1966 (when I was new in London): opposite that new star Barbra Streisand in the London production of FUNNY GIRL – where he is an ideal Nicky Arnstein. His programme page is below (click to enlarge):



He then went on work with Julie Andrews as one of her suitors in STAR!, that 1968 box office disaster which was enjoyable for all the wrong reasons. He was in the film of that great stage play I enjoyed at the OId Vic: THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN in 1969 and lots more television roles including that laughable series TRIANGLE which really was so bad it was good and had a cult following! but working actors keep working: Losey and Visconti one year, an Amicus horror compendium the next; there was of course that new crowd to compete with - Alan Bates seemed to be getting all the choice parts... [Bogarde, More, Todd etc were all in the same boat, with Dirk heading off to Europe.]

Australia beckoned for Craig with movies like THE IRISHMAN in 1978. Michael still resides there and is more or less retired now but still works in items like MARY BRYANT in 2005.

Most personable young actors starting out get 10 good years if they are lucky and then continue in lesser parts, and Michael certainly had a decent career at that interesting time from the mid-‘50s to the mid-‘60s working with a lot of my favourite people. It's always a pleasure to see him. Below: STOLEN HOURS with Hayward.

Next: Claire Bloom, Julie Harris, Glynis Johns, Flora Robson, Billie Whitelaw, Trevor Howard, Anita Ekberg, Stephen Boyd, Alan Bates, Peter Finch, maybe even Laurence Harvey.
Previous: David Hemmings, Stewart Granger, Michael Redgrave, Genevieve Bujold, Kay Kendall, Joan Greenwood, Gladys Cooper, Capucine, Romy Schneider, Anouk Aimee, Francoise Dorleac, Lilli Palmer, Alida Valli, Silvana Mangano, Ingrid Thulin, Stanley Baker, Belinda Lee, Dolores Gray, Janet Leigh, Jeffrey Hunter, Jean Sorel, Vittorio De Sica etc. as per labels.

Back to art house ...

Time to catch up with those art house classics I had been meaning to watch, or in the case of Visconti's SANDRA see again after a gap of 45 years .... its been a dim memory since I saw it aged 19 in 1965, so (again) its been terrific to track down a copy now. [It was on YouTube in segments with Japanese subtitles!]. Its original title is VAGHE STELLE DELL'ORSA or OF A THOUSAND DELIGHTS as it was titled for the UK, and it now seems to be titled SANDRA (much easier all round) and now plays like a classic Visconti drama. Sandra Dawson (Claudia Cardinale) and her husband Andrew (Michael Craig) travel to her hometown, the Etruscan city of Volterra for a homage of the locals to her father, a prominent scientist who died in a concentration camp. The long drive in the car during the credits is fascinating. The couple are welcomed by the servant Fosca, and Andrew becomes fascinated with the house. Sandra has issues over the estate with her stepfather and her mentally ill mother (Marie Bell) and misses her brother Gianni (Jean Sorel), who is an aspirant writer. When Gianni appears in the house out of the blue, Andrew unravels a shadowy secret from the past of the siblings. It is Greek tragedy really in the shape of Electra and Orestes... it unfolds as if a dream, (or a typical '60s art movie), interesting seeing Visconti tackle a "small" film here, before moving on to those more opulent titles like THE DAMNED, DEATH IN VENICE, LUDWIG and that final L'INNOCENTE. His follow-up to SANDRA, a 1967 adaptation of Camus's THE OUTSIDER with Mastroianni, is also a very lost title, I don't think we even got a chance to see it in London...

"Vaghe Stelle dell'Orsa..." ("Bright star of the Bear", a poem that is referred to in the text) has a plot about a once incestuous brother and sister (though he wants to resume their illicit relationship) which in the hands of another director could have become a melodramatic soap-opera, but Visconti explores the sensuality and beauty of Claudia Cardinale [often in close-up, and that amazing voice of hers] to deliver an intriguing and quite erotic family drama, peopled with beautiful leads in their mid-60s perfection. The set decoration, as usual, is another piece of art, supported by a classical music soundtrack by Cesar Franck. Good to see English actor Michael Craig here too - five years earlier he was the star of a British comedy UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS and Cardinale had a small part, her first in English probably, as one of the servants!
To add in the next few days: first looks at Antonioni's IL GRIDO, Bergman's THE MAGICIAN, Truffaut's LE PEAU DEUCE...

Hardly a likeable film or one which one would want to return to right away, Antonioni's IL GRIDO has be one of the bleakest views of the human condition ever, more so than say UMBERTO D or AU HASARD BALTHASAR, as it shows the downward spiral of Aldo, the workman abandoned by the woman he loves. It is though totally compelling to see now, Antonioni's last before L'AVVENTURA and those films showing the ennui of the Italian monied classes. Here we are, comparatively speaking, in the lower depths of society - workmen and women in rundown towns along the muddy banks of the Po river.

Aldo has lived with Irma the woman he loves for 7 years and they have a daughter, he thinks they will get married when news arrives that her husband, working in Australia all these years, is killed - but for Irma (Alida Valli) it is over - she may even have a new man already. Uncomprehending Aldo (Steve Cochran, the playboy and tough guy of American films, ideally cast here) after beating her in public takes to the road with their daughter Rosina in tow, as they wander from town to town. First he returns to Elvira (Betsy Blair) his previous love who would take him back, but not when she discovers he only came back because Irma threw him out ... then he takes up with Virginia (the oddly named Dorian Gray, who it seems was dubbed by Monica Vitti, her first association with Antonioni) who runs a petrol pump station. Aldo and the daughter settle for a while but this too peters out, as he moves on to prostitute Andreina. He sends the daughter home to Irma and is now on his own as he seems to give up on life and has no interest in living. The film comes full circle as he returns to the factory where he used to work, sees the daughter entering a strange house so he looks through the window and sees Irma with a new baby. She sees him and follows as he enters the factory and climbs the tower. The cry of the title IL GRIDO is Irma's scream as Aldo walks towards his destiny .... there are the usual Antonioni touches with landscapes, the spaces and lack of communiation between people (Irma can hardly articulate her feelings why she does not want Aldo any more and he can only resort to violence). Its powerful and affecting and certainly paved the way for the films which followed....

Ingmar Bergman's THE MAGICIAN is a baroque tale of a bizarre troupe of travelling players in the Victorian era led by a mute Max von Sydow who may be a magician, or a hypnotist, or even just a charlatan. This is a Bergman film I had not seen before - my Bergman canon includes THE SEVENTH SEAL, WILD STRAWBERRIES, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT, THE SILENCE, PERSONA, CRIES & WHISPERS, AUTUMN SONATA and his wonderful 1975 opera film THE MAGIC FLUTE (we loved that back in the '70s) and FANNY AND ALEXANDER. [I had no interest at the time for his other '70s films like THE TOUCH, SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE or THE SERPENT'S EGG, but I liked his 1970 London production of HEDDA GABLER with Maggie Smith so much that I went to it twice - it was dazzling theatre with the cast clad in black against those red walls...]

THE MAGICIAN (or THE FACE) is a fascinating puzzle from 1958 with terrific photography like those shots of the carriage emerging from the forest with the light shining through the trees... Vogler (Sydow) and his wife Ingrid Thulin (who dresses as a man, as part of the act), and the old crone who may be his grandmother and their florid manager arrive in a new town and are halted by some petty officials who see an evening's entertainment in making the entertainers do their act to see if they are suitable for the public. They certainly get more than they bargained for, particularly Gunnar Bjornstrand as Dr Vergerus, the officious medical advisor who is fascinated with hypnotism and magic rituals and would dearly love to perform an autopsy on Vogler to examine his brain, eyes etc. There is an old drunk whom they pick up en route, who finally dies. Bjornstrand gets to do his autopsy but surely would have realised which body he was examining? Vogler's face is a mask - once the wig, beard and make-up are removed the real Von Sydow emerges, and is an interesting contrast with the silent brooding Vogler in that this new persona is just a money-seeking actor. Other characters also change: the serving wench Bibi Andersson joins the party as the manager stays behind. The town official and his wife, mourning their lost child, also re-discover each other, and Vergerus gets the biggest surprise of all .... its brilliantly photographed, Sydow and Thulin shine as ever, and the Bergman players are a pleasure as usual. The ending seems rather rushed though - certainly a Bergman worth seeing but maybe not one of his key works - it could almost be marketed as a superior horror film. Next on my list will be THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY...