A woman's dreams

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Movie
German title A woman's dreams
Original title Lady in the Dark
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1944
length 100 minutes
Rod
Director Mitchell Leisen
script Frances Goodrich ,
Albert Hackett ,
Edward Chodorov
production Buddy G. DeSylva for Paramount Pictures
music Robert Emmett Dolan
camera Ray Rennahan
cut Alma Macrorie
occupation

A Woman's Dreams (original title Lady in the Dark ) is an American romantic musical film by Mitchell Leisen from 1944, the script of which is based on a story by Moss Hart . Besides Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland, the leading roles are cast with Warner Baxter , Jon Hall and Mischa Auer .

The screenplay is based on Moss Hart's book for the musical Lady in the Dark , music by Kurt Weill , text by Ira Gershwin , published in New York on January 23, 1941. The film received three Academy Award nominations .

action

As editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine "Allure", Liza Elliott is in strict control. Although she has frequent headaches, she does not follow her doctor's advice to give psychoanalysis a try. However, she cannot find the consolation she seeks in her work, as her advertising manager Charley Johnson constantly questions her authority with his mocking manner. Liza's close friend Kendall Nesbitt, the editor of "Allure," believes that Liza's condition also has something to do with the fact that he cannot spend as much time with her as she would like. Ultimately, Liza decides to have therapy with Dr. Alexander Brooks to begin with.

During her first session, Liza remembers that in her last dream she wore a dress in the color blue, which she finds irritating as she does not like the color blue. Liza gets further entangled in her dream and sees Charley paint a portrait of her for a 2 cent coin. The painted picture turns out to be a caricature that Liza turns into a laughing stock. Brooks suspects that Liza is very controlled, but basically very sensitive, and has had a secret desire since childhood to charm others with her kind. When the good-looking Hollywood star Randy Curtis made himself available to photographer Russell Paxton for model shots later that day , Liza triggered unexpected reactions. That night, she dreams of being about to get married to Nesbitt and falling in love with Randy. After telling Brooks about her dream, he says that Kendall is probably a father figure to her and that the real you is still looking. Liza is so angry at this statement that she cancels all further sessions at Brooks.

The next day, Liza has to deal with Charley's resignation, who wants to go to another newspaper as an editor. Although Liza offers him a raise, Charley declines, knowing that she will not step down from her position, which for him means that he cannot move up on "Allure". Although Kendall is now free for Liza and she is pushing, she refuses a wedding with him. When Randy later suggests that he likes Liza's simple appearance, Liza puts on a lavish robe for dinner. Randy confesses his love to her that evening, but this is interrupted by a passionate fan of Randy, whereupon Liza leaves without a word.

Through a drawing by Charley for the Easter issue of the magazine, which shows a circus, Liza falls into another dream in which she is a child attending a circus where Charley is the director. All of a sudden, Liza sees herself as a grown woman who is trapped in a cage and is brought to justice as to whether she is indecisive. Liza sees herself defending herself by singing the ballad of Jenny , the choices of which have always led her astray. Shortly afterwards, Liza hears a melody from her childhood, My Ship , which she always hummed and still hums today when she is worried. When Liza seeks consolation from her father in a dream, he reacts angrily and asks her to take off her tasteless dress.

The next day Liza decides to visit Brooks again and he confirms that the causes of her problems can be found in her childhood. In another dream, Liza's father asks her to sing "My Ship" for her mother's friends. Liza knows that everyone is enchanted by her mother's beauty and grace. Liza feels humiliated because no one can identify a similarity between mother and daughter and therefore cannot sing the song. Shortly afterwards, Liza's mother dies. To help her father in his grief, Liza puts on her mother's blue dress. However, her father reacts with great anger and orders her to take off the dress immediately. This is how the falling out between Liza and her father begins. From this point on, Liza concentrates on school and is invited to the high school prom by Ben, who is considered the prettiest boy in the school. However, Ben shows only temporary interest and the light he brought into Liza life goes out again.

Liza learns from Brooks that she has withdrawn completely as a woman in order not to be injured again, which is also the reason why she is forcing men as superiors to accept her. Brooks suggests that she might only be happy with a man who dominates her. Liza, who has gained new knowledge with this diagnosis, now gently but firmly rejects Kendall's marriage proposal and gives Randy her yes. However, when Randy offers her to run his new production studio, Liza realizes that he, too, is not the man she can be happy with. She then offers Charley a partnership with the option to give up her position completely in the foreseeable future. Charley agrees happily and both soon realize that love is what connects them.

production

Preliminary talks, production notes

The Hollywood Reporter reported that Paramount Pictures , which had already earned rights to the play,outbid Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros in February 1941 tosecure full rights to the play for $ 285,000. That was a record price at the time. $ 115,000 went to theater producer Sam Harris, $ 85,000 to Moss Hart, and $ 42,500 each to composer Kurt Weill and lyricist Ira Gershwin. The studio declined anoffer madeby Howard Hughes to sell him the piece for $ 320,000. According to the New York Herald Tribune , the film scene in which Mischa Auer performs the Tchaikovsky song was cut to shorten the film. Danny Kaye performed the song on stage.

The shooting took place between December 9, 1942 and March 20, 1943, reruns and other scenes were shot on March 23 and 24.

In a later interview, Leisen claimed that Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich had completely rewritten the script. Leisen also pointed out that producer Buddy G. DeSylva had insisted that Rogers' song My Ship (music and text by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin ), which Liza sings in a park shortly before her high school graduation, be cut from the film .

Raoul Pene Du Bois , Edith Head and Mitchell Leisen were responsible for the costumes . Models by Valentina, Norell , Adrian and Falkenstein can be seen in the film.

Hans Dreier took over the supervision of the construction of the film buildings. Farciot Edouart made the special camera shots. Wally Westmore did the makeup.

According to Variety , the film was produced in Technicolor at great expense.

Appointment modalities

According to more recent sources, the film rights to Moss Hart's musical Lady in the Dark , in which Gertrude Lawrence played the role of Liza Elliott, were originally owned by Alexander Korda . The same sources also pointed out that Moss Hart had drawn on personal experiences with psychoanalysis in his musical drama. According to an article in the New York Times , the PCA urged director Mitchell Leisen to change Liza's relationship with the married Kendall so that it was more a sentimental than a romantic relationship and insisted that the character not portrayed as overly feminine by Russell Paxton.

Macdonald Carey was initially cast to take on his role as Dr. Brooks, whom he played on Broadway , repeated in the film. However, he withdrew from the project after receiving a draft for the military, as did producer David Lewis , who had already drafted. Marjorie Rambeau was in discussion for the role of Maggie Grant . Slavko Vorkapić , a specialist in special effects, worked on the film but declined to be named in the opening credits. Paramount reportedly negotiated with Fred Astaire to return to filming with Ginger Rogers; since the two of them last appeared in a film five years ago.

Music in the film

- Music and text by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin -

  • One Life to Live
  • Girl of the moment
  • It looks like Liza
  • This is new
  • The Saga of Jenny , sung by Ginger Rogers and choir
  • Artist's Waltz , music and text: Robert Emmett Dolan
  • Suddenly It's Spring , music: Jimmy Van Heusen , text: Johnny Burke,
    danced by Ginger Rogers and Don Loper
  • Dream Lover , music: Victor Schertzinger , text: Clifford Gray

Publication, costs

The film premiered on February 9, 1944 in Hollywood, then on February 10, 1944 in cinemas in the USA and on February 22, 1944 in New York. In May 1944 it was published in Brazil, in February 1945 in Mexico, in April 1945 in Portugal, in July 1945 in Argentina and in December 1945 in Sweden. It was first seen in Turkey and Finland in 1946, in France in 1947, in Denmark and Spain (Madrid) in 1948. In Austria it was published in 1951. He received further publications in Belgium, Greece, Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany.

The cost of the film was approximately $ 2,581,567.00.

reception

criticism

A Los Angeles Times critic stated that the film could be described as a happy mix of Freud and Walt Disney . The acting, the colors and the unusual theme are all together the real stars of Lady in the Dark.

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times spoke of a grandiose multi-million dollar drama that is presented in breathtaking costumes and brilliant décor and for which moviegoers could be more or less enthusiastic. Crowther said he couldn't remember seeing such an overwhelming glitter and sparkle on the screen. Not only are the picturesque dream sequences of fantastic elegance, but also with the other pictures one could assume that Raoul Pene Du Bois borrowed from the sky with its stars. The critic complained that the original script had been cut badly and that important things had been left out, and that musical passages had been shortened.

Dennis Schwartz of Ozus ' World Movie Reviews said it was an elaborately produced adaptation of Moss Hart's Broadway play. Schwartz said the film missed its target because the new cast had ripped its heart out, which was mainly attributable to Paramount boss Buddy De Sylva. Anyone who has seen both versions knows what they mean.

The criticism of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) confirmed the film's charming production numbers with good songs by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, but that doesn't really help because there are too many sexual innuendos and ambiguous situations.

Leonard Maltin from Movie & Video Guide summarized his criticism in the sentence: "Fascinating but ultimately rather cumbersome."

British film critic Leslie Halliwell said: “Luscious style and often amusing version of the Broadway musical, although the film lacks most of the songs. Regardless of its shortcomings, an excellent example of a studio production showing a romantic comedy typical of the 1940s. "

Awards

The film was nominated for an Oscar in three categories at the Academy Awards in 1945 :

Aftermath

Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland repeated their roles in a broadcast on the Lux Radio Theater on January 29, 1945. In a second Lux ​​adaptation, which aired on February 16, 1953, Judy Garland and John Lund took the lead roles.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lady in the Dark (1944) see screenplay info at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ Lady in the Dark (1944) see trivia at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Lady in the Dark (1944) see notes at TCM (English). Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  4. ↑ Lady in the Dark (1944) see original print info at TCM (English)
  5. ↑ Bosley Crowther : Lady in the Dark with Ginger Rogers In: The New York Times, February 23, 1944 (English). Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  6. ↑ Dennis Schwartz: Lady in the Dark sS homepages.sover.net (English). Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  7. ↑ Lady in the Dark sS archive.usccb.org (English). Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide , 1996 edition, p. 717.
  9. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide , Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 573.
  10. ↑ The 17th Academy Awards | 1945 sS oscars.org (English)