Man without a heart

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Man without a heart
Original title Adventure
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1945
length 135 minutes
Rod
Director Victor Fleming
script Frederick Hazlitt Brennan ,
Vincent Lawrence ,
Anthony Veiller ,
William H. Wright
production Sam Zimbalist
music Herbert Stothart
camera Joseph Ruttenberg
cut Frank Sullivan
occupation

Man without a Heart (Original Title: Adventure ) is an American film drama directed by Victor Fleming from 1945 with Clark Gable and Greer Garson in the leading roles. The novel The Anointed by Clyde Brion Davis served as a literary model .

action

When merchant Harry Patterson 's boat is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during World War II , he and his men are shipwrecked. While Harry remains calm in the face of the disaster, his friend Mudgin panics and asks God for help. He vows to avoid women, alcohol and arguments from now on. Harry finds Mudgin's pleading ridiculous and is accordingly surprised when suddenly a plane appears to save the castaways from certain death. They are finally dropped off in San Francisco . There they extensively celebrate their return in a bar. Mudgin breaks his good intentions and only regrets it a little later. It hits him so badly that he believes he has lost his immortal soul. While the other comrades smile at his fears, Harry recognizes Mudgin's deep feelings of guilt and is therefore determined to help him find his soul again.

Their odyssey takes Harry and Mudgin to a library, where they meet the attractive but reserved librarian Emily Sears. Her charm immediately catches Harry's eye, but Emily's rude and argumentative behavior does not meet with any enthusiasm. Harry quickly turns his attention to her fun-loving friend and roommate Helen Melohn when she also appears in the library. Harry and Helen hit it off right away. When Harry invites both women to a pub, Emily is reluctant to accept.

Harry and Emily finally clash again in the restaurant. However, when Emily breaks her buttoned posture and causes a commotion that causes a violent fight among the guests, Harry is convinced that Emily is the most spirited woman he has ever met. To win her heart, he decides to help her sell her inherited farm outside of town. In the country, they get closer to one another while hunting chickens. When they get into a heated argument that evening, they finally realize how much passion they have for one another.

As a couple newly in love, they go to Reno to get married. When they return to Emily's farm, Harry explains to his bride that he will be sailing his new boat in a few days. Emily, who was hoping for a peaceful family life with Harry, is heartbroken about Harry's plans and files for a divorce immediately. When Harry is already on the high seas, Emily discovers that she is pregnant by him. However, she refuses to send Harry a message and instead retires to her farm.

Meanwhile, an incident occurs in a port in South America in which Mudgin falls into the sea and then dies in Harry's arms. With his last words he announced that he had just found his soul again. Months pass before Harry arrives again in San Francisco and he learns from Helen that Emily is expecting his child. Just as Emily's labor is starting and a doctor is already preparing the birth, Harry reaches her house. After the baby is born, it threatens to die because it does not breathe. When the doctor gives up his resuscitation attempts, Harry steps in desperately and makes his child breathe. Relieved, he goes to Emily's side. Both are ready to try again, and they seal their decision with a deep kiss.

background

Heartless Man was the first film that Clark Gable made after serving two years in the US Air Force during World War II. For his comeback to the big screen, MGM selected Greer Garson as his film partner, who had become one of the most popular actresses in the United States during the war . The studio promoted the film with the slogan “Gable's Back and Garson's Got Him!” (Eng .: “Gable is back and Garson got him!”).

Though audiences had longed for Gable's return, the Heartless Man proved to be a financial flop at the box office. The reviews were also rather bad. Gable himself is said to have been so disappointed with the film that he refused to make another film for more than a year.

Reviews

According to Time , the plot is “a strange mess of farce and parable”, with “slapstick interludes with witty comedy” and “unobtrusive emotion with simple pathos” alternating. The dialogues in turn “keep the tension up” and there are “a number of wonderful sequences”. The "versatile" Greer Garson give her role "shine". But “the constant highlight of the film” is undoubtedly Clark Gable, “who is still playing strong after his return from the war”.

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times said that "by all laws of Hollywood there should have been some kind of nuclear explosion" when MGM brought Greer Garson and Clark Gable together in one film. However, something "went wrong". The scriptwriters had "delivered a shamefully bad script". The "best" that could be said about Greer Garson is that she tried to "act relatively naturally". Unfortunately she is "not successful" with it. Clark Gable, on the other hand, has "played this type of man so often". However, this time he speaks “too loudly” and yells around “far too often”. Annoyingly, he also keeps his hat on far too often.

Craig Butler of the All Movie Guide pointed out in retrospect that the film was judged to be a “failure” at the time, but that it was “actually” a “decent little film”. Clark Gable delivered "a well-nuanced idea". Greer Garson was "lovely" and Joan Blondell and Thomas Mitchell had stolen the show "in some scenes". Victor Fleming's direction is however "mixed" and fluctuates between "pretty good" and some "ineffective" sequences. Even years after the premiere of the film, the film critic Leonard Maltin found that it was a “cumbersome comedy” that “not even” could save the “lively” Joan Blondell.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Troyan: A Rose for Mrs. Miniver. The Life of Greer Garson . The University Press of Kentucky, 1999, p. 195.
  2. ↑ “The story is an odd hodgepodge of farce and parable […] with alternations of slapstick and high comedy, carefully understated emotion, and plain - & - simple pathos. [...] the dialogue somehow holds up under the strain, and there are a few wonderful sequences [...]. Adaptable Cinemactress Garson […] carries off her role with sparkle. But the steady gleam of the picture is the inimitable, jug-eared, perdurable Clark Gable, back from the wars and still going strong. " See Cinema: The New Pictures . In: Time , February 11, 1946.
  3. ↑ “By all the laws of Hollywood, some sort of nuclear fission should have occurred when Metro brought Greer Garson and Clark Gable together in a film. […] But something went wrong […]. The writers provided a shamefully foolish script […]. The best to be said for Miss Garson is that she tries to conduct herself in a moderately natural manner. Unfortunately, she does not succeed. […] As for Mr. Gable, […] he has played scallawags so often […]. Only this time he talks too loudly, shouts 'Ha!' contemptuously too many times and persists in keeping his hat on to an irritating extreme. " Bosley Crowther : Clark Gable, Returned From War, and Greer Garson Seen in 'Adventure,' His First Film in Three Years, at Music Hall . In: The New York Times , February 8, 1946.
  4. ↑ “Judged a misfire at the time of its release, Adventure is actually a decent little film. […] Gable gives a nicely nuanced performance […]. Greer Garson is lovely, and Joan Blondell and Thomas Mitchell steal a couple of scenes quite handily. Victor Fleming's direction is inconsistent, quite good in some sections and ineffective in others. " Craig Butler, cf. omovie.com
  5. ↑ “[…] they both sink in cumbersome comedy […]. Not even breezy Blondell can save it. " Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2006 . Signet 2005, p. 8.