I Take This Woman (1940)

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Movie
Original title I take this woman
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1940
length 98 minutes
Rod
Director WS Van Dyke ,
Josef von Sternberg ,
Frank Borzage
script James Kevin McGuinness
production Bernard H. Hyman ,
Lawrence Weingarten
music Bronislau Kaper ,
Artur Guttmann
camera Harold Rosson
cut George Boemler
occupation

And (without mentioning in the film): King Baggot , Leon Belasco , Joe Bordeaux , Charles D. Brown , Nell Craig , Richard Cramer , Rosina Galli , Edward Keane , Ethelreda Leopold , Matt McHugh , Rhea Mitchell , Natalie Moorhead , Edmund Mortimer , Lee Phelps , Cyril Ring , Syd Saylor , John Sheehan , Charles Trowbridge , Dorothy Vernon and Gayne Whitman

I Take This Woman is an American film drama in black and white led 1940. Director from the year WS Van Dyke . The screenplay was written by James Kevin McGuinness based on the unpublished story A New York Cinderella by Charles MacArthur . The main roles were played by Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr .

action

Georgi Gragore is returning from a short vacation with her lover Phil Mayberry, who is married to another woman. He had promised her to get a divorce, but had changed her mind and left her alone. That's why she now wants to kill herself and jump off the ship, but the doctor Dr. Karl Decker prevented from doing so and received medical care. He is on his way back from a research expedition to the Yucatán . Upon arrival in New York, he advises Georgi to find an activity in which she can do something useful. He also tells her in which clinic to find him. Back home, Georgi is still depressed. When her friend Madame Marcesca advises her to see a doctor about it, she seeks Karl in the clinic. There she can help him with her language skills in treating a patient and starts to work there.

Karl soon falls in love with Georgi. The two marry, although Georgi still has feelings for Phil. At first she manages to avoid Phil. One evening Karl and Georgi meet with Bill Rodgers and Lola Estermont in a nightclub. There Madame Marcesca takes Karl aside to give him Dr. To introduce Duveen, who offers Karl a lucrative position in his private clinic. Shortly after Karl is back with Georgi and the others, Bill's daughter Linda and Phil Mayberry join them. Encouraged by Karl, Georgi gets involved in a dance with Phil. He tells her that he is now divorced and urges her to try again with him. Marcesca notices this and shows her annoyance at this, whereupon Phil says goodbye. Karl, on the other hand, saw how Georgi had lived that evening and wants to continue making this possible for her. In order to be able to finance that, he accepts the offer from Dr. Duveens on.

Georgi and Karl lead a happy life, but Georgi still feels persecuted by Phil. Therefore she visits him on Marcesca's advice in order to come to terms with himself and with him. But Phil gets pushy and Georgi realizes that she only loves Karl. But Karl soon comes to the conclusion that he doesn't deserve Georgi. When a Linda dies after attempting suicide due to a misdiagnosis by a young doctor, Karl takes the blame. He wants to go to China for further research; Georgi should look for a man who would suit her better. To prevent this, Georgi gets Karl's satisfied patients to persuade him to stay. When that doesn't help, she finds several children who also ask Karl to stay. Then Karl realizes that he belongs in his old clinic and at Georgi's side.

backgrounds

Hedy Lamarr had become a star in the United States with her first Hollywood film, Algiers . Louis B. Mayer , who with MGM ran the film company to which Hedy Lamarr was under contract, was determined to make her one of Hollywood's biggest stars with her next film. To do this, he commissioned Charles MacArthur , one of the most renowned screenwriters in Hollywood, to deliver a script. As a director he engaged Josef von Sternberg , who had already made Marlene Dietrich a star. He hired Spencer Tracy , who had just won an Oscar for his role in Manuel , and Walter Pidgeon to star alongside Hedy Lamarr . He also engaged the then very popular comedian Fanny Brice for the role of Madame Marcesca.

However, Josef von Sternberg found the script so terrible that he pushed through a new version that he did himself. But he was not satisfied with the result either. Nevertheless, Louis B. Mayer began shooting. These started on October 18, 1938. Mayer interfered so much in every detail of the shooting that there was constant and loud arguments with Joseph von Sternberg, until he left the set in early November in frustration. He was replaced by Frank Borzage . He revised the script again, for which Ben Hecht was also consulted. At that time, Fanny Brice was replaced by Ina Claire . The shooting continued and lasted until the end of January 1939. Then they were stopped, if only because Spencer Tracy was no longer available because of the shooting for the film Stanley and Livingstone, which began on February 1st . I Take This Woman was postponed even though the premiere had been announced for February 24, 1939. As a result, Lady of the Tropics , rather than I Take This Woman, became Hedy Lamarr's first MGM film, with moderate success.

It wasn't until late 1939 that work on I Take This Woman was resumed. WS Van Dyke was hired as director . He shot the film almost completely from scratch in 23 days. There are only two scenes left of Frank Borzage's version, as well as a few close-ups of Hedy Lamarr. There were also extensive changes in the line-up. Although Louis B. Mayer was able to persuade Spencer Tracy, who was still under contract with MGM, to continue playing, Walter Pidgeon had other obligations and was replaced by Kent Taylor . Ina Claire and Adrienne Ames were also replaced, with Verree Teasdale and Laraine Day taking over their roles .

Adrian was responsible for the costumes in I Take This Woman , and Cedric Gibbons and Edwin B. Willis for the production design .

I Take This Woman premiered on February 2, 1940 and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .

reception

Reviews

I Take This Woman received almost consistently bad to very bad reviews. The problem is identified as the story, which is described as ordinary, obvious, boring, and mixed up. But the production history is also given as a reason.

The actors are mostly taken under protection. The reviewer of Harrison's Reports thinks that the fact that Spencer Tracy is in the act is the best that can be said about the film. Hedy Lamarr, on the other hand, has few options to do anything other than look good. According to Variety , the two show a classy performance in tough conditions. Craig Butler, on the other hand, sees a superficial and unconvincing performance from Hedy Lamarr. Spencer Tracy is better, but it is certainly not one of his best performances. Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times says it was absolutely too much to expect that any one cast could have saved anything. Veree Teasdale still looks best, she creates funny moments, even if that is not always appropriate.

As an overall impression, Harrison's Reports gives the film only mild entertainment value, Variety sees that what could be saved has still been saved, but that this is still insufficient for top entertainment. According to Craig Butler, there isn't much to be said for the film unless you see connection errors. Leonard Maltin found the film disappointing. Frank S. Nugent said it was the film from 1938 to 1940 that had been the most operated on. Unfortunately, the patient died as a result. Given these reviews, Sanderson Beck spoke of an underrated problem comedy.

Grossing results

The cost of producing I Take This Woman was estimated at $ 1,271,000. On the other hand, the information about the financial result of the film is quite different. In their book, The Hollywood Hall of Shame , the Medved brothers speak of a loss of $ 1.5 million. Sandra Brennan simply said the film failed at the box office, and Derek Winnert sees a loss of $ 325,000. Stephen Michael Shearer, on the other hand, says in his biography of Hedy Lamarr that I Take This Woman brought in the costs and even a small profit, but not fast enough for Louis B. Mayer. He is referring to the contemporary journal Box Office Digest , which actually showed the film at its Hundred Per-Centers , i.e. films that have grossed in their costs.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Lorraine LoBianco: I Take This Woman (1944) Articles. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved June 16, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e I Take This Woman (1944). In: American Film Institute . Retrieved June 16, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c Stephen Michael Shearer: Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr . Thomas Dunne Books, New York 2010, ISBN 978-1-4299-0820-7 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed June 16, 2019]).
  4. ^ A b Sandra Brennan: I Take This Woman (1940). In: AllMovie . Retrieved June 16, 2019 .
  5. ↑ I Take This Woman . In: Motion Picture Herald . January 14, 1939, p.  36 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed June 16, 2019]).
  6. ↑ a b c d Stephen Michael Shearer: Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr . Thomas Dunne Books, New York 2010, ISBN 978-1-4299-0820-7 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 26, 2019]).
  7. ↑ I Take This Woman. In: filmportal.de . Deutsches Filminstitut , accessed on June 16, 2019 .
  8. ↑ a b c d “I Take This Woman” with Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and Verree Teasdale . In: Harrison's Reports . February 10, 1940, p.  23 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed June 16, 2019]).
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g Craig Butler: I Take This Woman (1940). In: AllMovie . Retrieved June 16, 2019 .
  10. ↑ a b c d I Take This Woman . In: Variety . January 31, 1940, p.  14 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed June 16, 2019]).
  11. ↑ a b c d Frank S. Nugent : THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'I Take This Woman,' With Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr, at the Music Hall, and 'Honeymoon Deferred,' at Palace, Among Four Films Opening Here . In: The New York Times . February 16, 1940 ( online on the New York Times pages [accessed June 16, 2019]).
  12. ↑ a b c Derek Winnert: I Take This Woman ** (1940, Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, Verree Teasdale, Kent Taylor, Laraine Day, Mona Barrie, Jack Carson) - Classic Movie Review 7379. In: DerekWinnert.com. July 31, 2018, accessed June 16, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's 2013 Movie Guide: The Modern Era . Signet, New York 2012, ISBN 978-1-101-60463-2 , pp.  1268 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed June 16, 2019]).
  14. ↑ Sanderson Beck: I Take This Woman. In: San.Beck.org. Retrieved June 16, 2019 .
  15. ↑ I Take This Woman in the Internet Movie Database (English) . Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  16. ^ Harry Medved, Michael Medved : The Hollywood Hall of Shame - The Most Expensive Flops in Movie History . Angus & Robertson, London 1984, ISBN 0-207-14929-1 , pp. 213 ( online at Archiv.org [accessed June 16, 2019]).
  17. ↑ The Hundred Per-Centers - Spencer Tracy . In: National Box Office Digest . 1940, p.  59 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed June 16, 2019]).