Irene (1940)

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Movie
Original title Irene
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1940
length 101 minutes
Rod
Director Herbert Wilcox
script Alice Duer Miller
production Herbert Wilcox
for RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
music Anthony Collins
camera Russell Metty
cut Elmo Williams
occupation

Irene is a 1940 American musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox . Anna Neagle plays Irene O'Dare, a simple Irish girl who falls in love with Don Marshall, played by Ray Milland , a young man from high society .

The plot of the film is based on James H. Montgomery's musical comedy Irene with the music of Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarty, which was released on November 1, 1919 in New York .

action

Irene O'Dare, who comes from a humble background, works as an employee for an upholsterer . When she is taking measurements for a new upholstery for the chairs in Mrs. Herman Vincent's luxurious estate on Long Island, she comes across Donald "Don" Marshall. The young man is immediately taken with Irene and decides to promote her. So he buys the fashion salon "Madame Lucy" in the background, hires Mr. Smith as manager and anonymously gives the order to offer Irene a job as a model . So it happens that Irene soon shows off clothes to prominent and rich women like Mrs. Vincent. Irritated by her preferred position, the other girls in the salon are hostile to her. When Bob Vincent accompanies his mother to a fashion show, he cannot escape Irene's charm and flirts with her violently.

In order to stage the dresses in the salon even more effectively and to promote sales, Smith succeeded in getting his models invited to a charity ball hosted by Vincent Immobilien. Since Irene had a mishap with the dress that she was supposed to present there, she replaced it with a very unusual blue dress that her grandmother owned and thus attracted special attention. When it comes to a mix-up, because Irene is assigned to an Irish noble family of the same name because of her surname O'Dare, Mr. Smith sees this as a happy coincidence and wants to exploit the fact of the mix-up. For this reason, he rents an apartment on Park Avenue for Irene and provides the young woman with appropriate clothing and fine jewelry. One of the models who envy Irene's success tips gossip columnist "Biffy" Webster, who then makes derogatory hints in his column about how Irene finances her luxury life. Offended and full of anger, Irene then wants to speak to "Madame Lucy" and has to find out that the fashion salon belongs to Don. Angry about the opening and feeling betrayed, Irene agrees to Bob's marriage proposal. On the eve of the upcoming wedding, however, Bob realizes that he does not love Irene, but still Eleanor Worth, with whom he was with before Irene. And Irene also admits that she really loves Don. After the “right” couples have found each other, nothing stands in the way of their happiness.

Production and Background

Filming began in November 1939; on April 23, 1940 the film had its premiere in Portland , Oregon . On May 3, 1940, it was generally shown in American cinemas .

While the film was shot in black and white, the ball scene in which Irene is introduced as Irene O'Dare and appears in a blue ball gown is colored. It ends with the end of the ball and the announcement “The gray light of the morning”. Anna Neagle's bright red hair, which does not come into play in the black and white scenes and contrasts with the blue of the ball gown, made the audience applaud spontaneously as the color sequence began.

According to a report in the Hollywood Reporter in June 1934, the rights to James H. Montgomery's play for another film adaptation were already being negotiated after a silent film based on Montgomery's musical comedy with Colleen Moore and directed by Alfred E. Green was released in 1926 . Jeanette MacDonald took on the role in 1936 in a Radio Lux Theater version.

The musical stage play Irene premiered on November 18, 1919 at New York's Vanderbilt Theater and held the record for the longest-running show in Broadway history with a total of 670 performances. 17 touring theaters in the country had the piece in their program. In 1973 Debbie Reynolds played the role of Irene on Broadway, where she was replaced by Jane Powell after 605 performances , but later returned for another five months.

The London-born actress Anna Neagle was the leading film star in England in the 1930s and 1940s, which she also achieved with the help of producer and director Herbert Wilcox, whom she married in 1943. Neagle was voted Britain's most popular actress seven times in a row from 1945. She worked with her husband in various films, including several Hollywood productions.

Music in the film

The orchestra was arranged by Anthony Collins and Gene Rose, and composers and lyricists were Joseph McCarthy and Harry Tierney. The film features some original Broadway songs like Castle of Dreams , Worthy of You , You've Got Me Out on a Limb , There's Something in the Air, and Alice Blue Gown .

  • Castle of Dreams
played and sung during the opening sequence of the film, in a night club and as part of the overall music
  • You've Got Me Out on a Limb
played on the car radio, at the charity ball, and sung and danced by Stuart Robertson and Anna Neagle
played at the charity ball, sung by Anna Neagle, played during a show, sung by Martha Tilton, sung by The Dandridge Sisters during a skit on a show, danced by Hattie Noel and the Radio City Rockettes during a skit on a show
  • Irene
played and sung by a trio in a night club
  • Worthy of you
  • Something in the Air
  • Sweet Vermosa Brown

criticism

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times found that Anna Neagle, formerly "Vickie" in a few stiff British films, performed the role of "Irene" with surprising ease, dancing gracefully, not singing badly and speaking with a soft Irish accent. In view of this film, one would hardly suspect that she only played the martyr nurse Edith Cavell last year , but rather that she has always played slightly frivolous heroines. With some qualifications, Crowther spoke of some of the jokes made in the film that they had a faint smell of mothballs, which cannot be completely denied to the film as a whole .

Variety spoke of a familiar , but old-fashioned story ,and that Anna Neagle and Ray Milland would fail to fully carry the film .

Awards

In 1941 Anthony Collins was nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Film Music" , but could not prevail over Alfred Newman's film music for the drama with singing Tin Pan Alley .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Irene (1940) Script info at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. Irene (1940) Original Print Information at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  3. a b Irene (1940) Notes at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  4. a b c d Irene (1940) Articles at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  5. Irene (1940) Music at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  6. Bosley Crowther: Anna Neagle Plays the Musical 'Irene' In: The New York Times, May 24, 1940. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  7. Review: 'Irene' In: Variety, excerpt from a review from 1940. Accessed February 2, 2014.