Nightclub Lilly
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Nightclub Lilly |
| Original title | Road House |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1948 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jean Negulesco |
| script |
Edward Chodorov , Margaret Gruen , Oscar Saul |
| production | Edward Chodorov for 20th Century Fox |
| music | Cyril J. Mockridge |
| camera |
Joseph LaShelle , Norbert Brodine |
| cut | James B. Clark |
| occupation | |
| |
Nightclub Lilly is an American film noir directed by Jean Negulesco from 1948.
action
Jefty Robins, who owns a nightclub and bowling alley on a country road, brings singer Lily Stevens with him from his trip to Chicago . Lily may only have a thin voice, but all the more charisma. Jefty tries to win Lily over in private, but she always kindly but firmly rejects his flirtations. The only person dissatisfied with Lily's presence is Pete Morgan, the manager of the nightclub and Jefty's childhood friend, who, in contrast to this, comes from a poorer background. Pete thinks Lily is overpaid and wants to get rid of her first, especially since Jefty has often employed his current, often changing girlfriends in the nightclub in the past. Jefty tries to foster friendship between the two and orders Pete to give Lily a bowling lesson.
When Jefty leaves town for a few days, Lily and Pete get closer. Pete had put his interest in Lily on hold because of Jefty and therefore hid behind a mask of rudeness. In addition, he revises his prejudices against the singer. Pete and Lily want to get married. Jefty comes back and tells Pete that he had spent the last few days thinking about Lily and that he had now acquired a marriage license. It never occurs to him that Lily might not want to marry him at all.
When Jefty learns that Lily and Pete want to get married, psychopathic traits become apparent in the initially spoiled nightclub owner. When the couple in love are about to leave the small town, Pete is arrested by police officers: Jefty has filed a complaint and falsely claims that Pete stole a total of $ 2,600 from the nightclub's till - but in fact Pete only stole the $ 600 he was still entitled to . The jury found Pete guilty of theft. Before the verdict, an affable Jefty visits the judge and suggests that Pete should only be given a two-year suspended sentence. To do this, Pete had to go back to his old job in the nightclub and be under close observation by him, Jefty - Jefty can thus report every minor offense of his rival to the police. Lily and Pete feel that Jefty has lured them into a trap and that they are at his mercy.
Jefty invites Lily, Pete, and Susie - the lovable nightclub cashier who fell in love with Pete but eventually accepted his relationship with Lily - to a weekend at his hunting lodge near the Canadian border. Jefty gets drunk, plays with his gun and provokes the others. Lily accuses Jefty of taking the stolen money, whereupon he knocks her down. Pete can knock Jefty unconscious, but he fears that his "parole officer" Jefty can put him behind bars for a long time. While Pete and Lily are fleeing, Susie discovers the missing bills in the unconscious Jefty's pocket, proving Pete's innocence in the theft in the nightclub. Jefty wakes up again, shoots Susie in the arm and chases after the couple. Lily is able to take the pistol from Jefty and shoots him in self-defense when he tries to kill her with a stone. Pete, Lily and Susie leave the woods at dawn.
background
Ida Lupino sings four songs in the film: One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) by Harold Arlen and There'll Be Some Changes Made by Billy Higgins and W. Benton Overstreet , also the specially for the film by Lionel Newman written Songs Again and The Right Kind . The film made the song Again a hit in the United States, with cover versions of Vic Damone , Doris Day , Tommy Dorsey , Gordon Jenkins , Vera Lynn , Art Mooney and Mel Tormé subsequently reaching the charts. In one scene, “Elsa's Dream” from Richard Wagner's Lohengrin can also be heard in the background .
Road House , one of Richard Widmark's first films, was a hit with audiences when it was released: With revenues of around $ 2,350,000 million, it was one of the 50 most successful feature films in the US of 1948, according to Variety .
The film was released in Germany on November 3, 1950. The German title of the film, Nachtclub-Lilly , misspells the name of the character Lily Stevens.
Reviews
In his review in the New York Times of November 8, 1948, AH Weiler particularly praised Richard Widmark's rogue performance, who did an "excellent job (complete with manic laughter)". Ida Lupino's singing is convincing and her portrayal in the film is “expertly fragile and passionate”, Cornel Wilde's character is “sedated but muscular-attractive”, Celeste Holm creates her supporting role “funny”. Overall, the basic idea with the love triangle is not really inspired, says Weiler, but the climatic twist and the arguments between the characters are the catalyst for the tension. In addition, the script was written intelligently, which makes the characters "lively and plausible".
The film service writes that nightclub Lilly is a "black crime film with formal and acting highlights." Spencer Selby judged the film to be an "interesting melodrama that has a crisp forties look and is slowly building up to a noir-like climax". Dave Kehr wrote that Negulesco was a "skilled stylist" of noirs in the 1940s. His melodrama Road House has built up a “notable underground reputation”.
Web links
- Nightclub Lilly in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library: Variety (January 1949) . New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company, 1949 ( archive.org [accessed April 12, 2019]).
- ^ Road House (1948) - IMDb Release Dates. Retrieved April 12, 2019 .
- ^ Aw: Adventure Film Arrives at the Mayfair . In: The New York Times . November 8, 1948, ISSN 0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed April 19, 2019]).
- ^ Nightclub Lilly (film service). Retrieved April 12, 2019 .
- ↑ Selby, Spencer: Dark City - The Film Noir, McFarland Classic
- ↑ Dave Kehr: Road House. Accessed April 19, 2019 .