Love nights in Seville

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Movie
German title Love nights in Seville
Original title The Loves of Carmen
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1948
length 99 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Charles Vidor
script Helen German
production Charles Vidor,
Rita Hayworth
music Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
camera William E. Snyder
cut Charles Nelson
occupation

Liebesnächte in Sevilla (Original title: The Loves of Carmen ) is an American film adaptation of Prosper Mérimée's novella Carmen from 1948 with Rita Hayworth in the leading role.

action

Seville in 1830: the young dragoon Don José succumbs to the charms of the beautiful and crafty gypsy Carmen. This already has numerous admirers and is all too open to new fleeting adventures. Although the otherwise superstitious Carmen is prophesied by an old gypsy that she will die at the hand of the man she truly loves, Carmen does not allow herself to be dissuaded from meeting Don José in secret. When they are surprised together in their love nest by another admirer of Carmen, José's Colonel, a bloody argument breaks out. The colonel dies on José's sword after Carmen tripped him.

By necessity, José and Carmen flee to a gypsy gang in the mountains and begin a life as an outlaw. When the leader of the gang, Garcìa, unexpectedly returns after serving a prison sentence, José learns that Garcìa is Carmen's husband. Immediately the jealousy flares up in him. A bloody fight between the two men becomes inevitable. After a long struggle, José manages to strike down his rival with a knife. Thereupon José becomes the leader of the gang, which carries out daring attacks on travelers. But over time his guilty conscience plagues him, for which Carmen increasingly despises him.

Carmen finally finds a new object of desire in the handsome bullfighter Lucas. She rarely shows up with the gang and José, which is why the latter becomes suspicious and follows her to the bullring. There he confronts her. He begs her to come back to him, but she refuses and mocks him. Blind with rage, he pulls out his knife and plunges it into Carmen's heart. At the same moment a soldier spots him and shoots. José is fatally wounded and falls into the arms of the dying Carmen.

background

Love Nights in Seville was the fourth and final collaboration between Rita Hayworth and her favorite director Charles Vidor . It was also the first film to be co-produced by Hayworth's production company, the Beckworth Corporation, which gave Hayworth both co-determination rights and shares in the profits. In addition to her lifelong boyfriend and frequent screen partner, Glenn Ford , Hayworth hired her father Eduardo Cansino to help choreograph the traditional Spanish dances, her uncle José Cansino, who can be seen in a dance scene, and her brother Vernon Cansino, who is in a small supporting role as a soldier was used.

The outdoor shots were taken at Lone Pine in California and around Mount Whitney . When someone noticed to director Vidor during the shoot that the area did not correspond to the authentic landscapes around Seville, he said: “So what? Once people see these beautiful mountains and the natural landscape, they won't complain that the scenery doesn't match the storyline. "

Love Nights in Seville premiered in the United States on August 23, 1948 , where critics praised the achievements of Rita Hayworth and cinematographer William E. Snyder . Glenn Ford, on the other hand, is generally considered miscast in his role as Don José. In Germany the film was released on August 31, 1951.

Reviews

The lexicon of international films described Love Nights in Seville as "a routine and refined Hollywood version of the Carmen novel with a seductive and spirited Rita Hayworth in the lead role". As far as the “atmosphere and setting” is concerned, however, the film is “not very convincing”.

“There has never been a more fascinating or seductive gypsy woman like Rita Hayworth plays her role here,” said Weekly Variety at the time. The entertainment offered by Hayworth's portrayal "should guarantee long queues in front of the movie theaters". Bosley Crowther of the New York Times , however, wrote that, despite her "exuberant and obvious charms", Hayworth does not have "what it takes to play the role of Carmen". Their portrayal lacks momentum, so that the figure of a “slut” created by Merimée in “this theatrical and clumsy farce” appears too “lacquered and bland”. The dances and a song are also "pretty, but boring".

The Hollywood Reporter said that the story of Carmen "had never been staged in front of such an elaborate backdrop". Above all, "the artistry of the scenery, the exquisite details of the costumes and the breathtaking splendor of the Technicolor colors" managed to bring a breath of fresh air into the story of Mérimée. Rita Hayworth's Carmen is also "exactly the way the role should be played - strutting, posing, devilishly clever and as beautiful as the dawn". In comparison, Glenn Ford's "attempts" as Don José are "less successful", but one cannot blame him for that. Despite the make-up and costumes, "his appearance corresponds to that of a schoolboy on his first visit to a peep show".

In retrospect, Craig Butler of the All Movie Guide also classified Glenn Ford as a bad cast. He could simply “not convey the self-destructive obsession that his role demands”. Rita Hayworth, according to Butler "one of the few real love goddesses on the screen and a good actress at that", could "not let some of the weak points of the dialogue be forgotten", but she is "so enchanting that most viewers can hear the theatrical words out of her Will ignore your mouth ”. As soon as she dances in the film, “she fills the screen with the vitality and cunning that characterize her role”. "William Snyder's magnificent camera work [...] captured it in all its stunning beauty". All in all, the combination of Hayworth and Snyder is enough "to just cover up many of the film's flaws". The film critic Leonard Maltin found only "Hayworth's beauty" in "this colorful, but ordinary" film adaptation worth mentioning.

Awards

At the Academy Awards in 1949 , the film was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Cinematography in a Color Film. Cinematographer William E. Snyder could not prevail against Joseph A. Valentine , William V. Skall and Winton C. Hoch , who were jointly awarded the trophy for their work on Johanna von Orleans .

Further film versions of the novella

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “So what? After seeing these beautiful mountains and all this natural scenery, people aren't going to quibble about the scenery not matching the story locale. " Charles Vidor quoted. after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 176.
  2. ↑ Love nights in Seville. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 27, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ "There has never been a gypsy so fascinating or so tempting as Rita Hayworth makes her character here, and the entertainment it offers is the exploitable sort which should have long lines outside the theaters." Quoted from Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 176.
  4. ↑ “With all due regard for Rita Hayworth's abundant and evident charms, […] it must be surmised that the lady simply hasn't got what it takes to play the role of Carmen […], so that the slattern is conceived by Merimée a lacquered and lifeless creature in this stagey and stolid charade. Even a couple of dances and one song are pretty but dull. " Bosley Crowther : Rita Hayworth Essays the Role of Carmen in Columbia's Film at the State . In: The New York Times , September 3, 1948.
  5. ↑ “The saga of the Spanish beauty has never been played against such a lavish backdrop before. […] The artistry of the settings, the exquisite details of the costumes, and the breathtaking grandeur of the Technicolor […] breathe considerable vitality into the ancient Carmen melodrama […]. Rita Hayworth's Carmen is just as the character should be played - trutting, posturing, fiendishly clever, and, as beautiful as the dawn. Glenn Ford's attempts at Don José are less successful, through no fault of his own. For all the makeup and the costumes, his appearance remains that of a schoolboy on his first visit to a peep show. " The Hollywood Reporter quoted. after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 176.
  6. ↑ “[...] he cannot supply the self-destructive obsession that the role demands. […] Hayworth, one of the screen's few genuine love goddesses , and a fine actress to boot, […] can't overcome some of the dialogue, but she's so bewitching that most viewers will ignore the stilted words coming out of her mouth . [...] when she's given the opportunity to dance, she fills the screen with the vitality and venom that mark her character. William Snyder's glorious cinematography catches her in all her stunning beauty, and the combination of Hayworth and Snyder are enough to overcome - just barely - many of the film's flaws. " Craig Butler, cf. omovie.com
  7. ↑ "Hayworth's beauty is all there is in this colorful but routine retelling." Leonard Maltin , cf. tcm.com