Centennial Summer
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Centennial Summer |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1946 |
| length | 102 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Otto Preminger |
| script | Michael Kanin |
| production |
Otto Preminger for 20th Century Fox |
| music |
Jerome Kern , Alfred Newman |
| camera | Ernest Palmer |
| cut | Harry Reynolds |
| occupation | |
| |
Centennial Summer is an American musical film by Otto Preminger from 1946. It is based on the novel of the same name by Albert E. Idell , which was published three years earlier.
action
In Philadelphia the year 1876, the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the find Independence of the United States instead; even US President Ulysses S. Grant drops in. The Rogers family also lives in Philadelphia with their four children Edith, Julia, Susanna and Dudley. Father Jesse is employed by the railroad, but is still working with little success on inventions such as a clock that should show the time in all time zones in the USA. Jesse wants to present his watch to the railroad president Mr. Trowbridge and sends it to him as a parcel, but Jesse's immediate superior Snodgrass intercepts the watch. Snodgrass does not believe in the gimmicks of his employee and demotes him to a post on the night shift with lower pay. This puts the family in a precarious financial position, especially since mother Harriet's glamorous sister Zenia from Paris has suddenly announced that she is. Zenia does not know Harriet's husband and children, as she was a love affair with important men in France for many years. She brought Philippe, the charming nephew of her late husband, who is to be responsible for the French pavilion at the 100th anniversary celebrations as curator .
The two Rogers daughters Edith and Julia fall in love with Philippe immediately. A competition develops in which the self-confident Edith in particular behaves underhand towards her somewhat shy sister Julia. This also affects the gynecologist Ben Phelps, to whom Edith was unofficially engaged, but whom she now ignores. However, Philippe only has eyes for Julia, who because of her knowledge of French also works as a secretary in the pavilion. At first Philippe is making poor progress, but with Julia's ideas the pavilion develops into a success. Edith doesn't want to give up Philippe and tells him the lie that Julia and Ben are lovers. Philippe then turns away from Julia, and a series of misunderstandings arise, at the end of which Julia sadly leaves Philadelphia for her grandmother in the country. Philippe finally goes to the opening party of the French pavilion with Edith, but she has to note bitterly that Philippe still only thinks of Julia. Then she confesses her lie to him.
Meanwhile, Zenia has caused further trouble in the Rogers' household by flirting with Jesse. At the festival in the pavilion, Zenia, who quickly found her way into the high circles of the city, introduced her brother-in-law Jesse to the railroad president Trowbridge as the "inventor". Trowbridge seems interested; But when Snodgrass appears and Jesse is exposed as a simple employee of his station, Jesse starts humiliated on the way home. Harriet is angry about his flirtations with Zenia and doesn't want to talk to him anymore. Finally, Jesse and Philippe sit down in a pub, where they get drunk in frustration. Jesse reveals to Philippe that Julia has fled to her grandmother, and she quickly makes her way there. However, Jesse appears late and drunk for his night shift, whereupon Snodgrass fires him. The next morning, Philippe and Julia return to Philadelphia as lovers, while Edith, after some apologies, wins Ben over again. In the afternoon, Zenia is leaving by train when Mr. Snodgrass shows up and is surprisingly friendly towards Jesse. The reason: Mr. Trowbridge - probably with the intercession of his new lover Zenia - hired Ben again and bought the watch from him. So the 100 year summer ends happily for everyone involved.
background
Centennial Summer is based on a novel by Albert E. Idell published in 1943, which was a bestseller then but is now forgotten. Initially the film was planned without songs, it was not until the success of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's musical film Meet Me in St. Louis that Century Fox decided at the end of 1944 to turn Centennial Summer into a film musical. Contemporary film critics like Bosley Crowther already noticed the parallels between the two films : Meet Me in St. Louis and Centennial Summer are both about a family community and its ups and downs, both play in the "good old days", and both have an exhibition on the subject (here the 100th anniversary, at St. Louis the 1904 World's Fair ), and both were shot using the Technicolor method . The performers of Centennial Summer were not professional singers, which is why they were later dubbed by better voices during their vocal interludes.
The songs written for Centennial Summer were penned by the popular composer Jerome David Kern , who died while the film was being made. He received a total of $ 100,000 for the songs he wrote. Prominent artists, Leo Robin , Oscar Hammerstein and EY Harburg, were also engaged for the lyrics of the songs . For the production design were Leland Fuller , Thomas Little and Lyle R. Wheeler responsible; the costumes came from René Hubert ; Arthur Jacobson acted as Preminger's assistant director ; WD Flick took over the sound engineering; Fred Sersen was responsible for the visual effects. The dance choirs in the film were performed by Dorothy Fox ; Natalie Kalmus was a consultant for the Technicolor process used at Centennial Summer .
Awards
Centennial Summer received two Oscar nominations: All Through the Day by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein was nominated for Best Song , Alfred Newman for Best Score in a Musical .
Reviews
Bosley Crowther found little kind words in the New York Times of July 18, 1946. The film is an obvious attempt to copy Meet Me in St. Louis , but apart from the pretty costumes, Centennial Summer seems "heavy and slow, where the model galloped and danced". Jerome Kern's music is sometimes enjoyable, but it is used poorly because the film lacks good voices and fresh musical dances. “Apparently, Michael Kanin's script, based on the Alfred E. Idell novel, was weak. But director Otto Preminger did little to upgrade it. His Centennial Summer has color, but it lacks exuberance and warmth, ”concluded Crowther.
The Variety was, however, in his criticism in 1946 of benevolent: " Centennial Summer is a delightful musical film, enriched by warbling Jerome-core music." The costumes of the production are complex enough that they clarify the time period, and the director was working at a leisurely style that mixes the elements of music and plot well together. A weakness is the lack of good singers among the actors, although Kern's music and Avon Long's performance would again excuse this. Director Preminger "gets the most out of the material and actors". It is not a "bombshell film, but easy to watch and satisfactory".
In a more recent review, Leonard Maltin gave Centennial Summer two and a half out of four stars. He described the film as a "leisurely, elegant musical" which the "nice Jerome Kern music would help".
Web links
- Centennial Summer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Centennial Summer at Turner Classic Movies - Notes
- ^ Centennial Summer at the New York Times
- ↑ Centennial Summer at Variety
- ↑ Centennial Summer at Turner Classic Movies