Six fates
Six fates , also known in Austria as the Manhattan Ballad (original title: Tales of Manhattan ), is a star-studded American episode film directed by Julien Duvivier from 1942.
action
In six episodes, a tailcoat cursed by the tailor wanders from hand to hand.
1st episode
The celebrated theater actor Paul Orman is the first to wear the aforementioned tailcoat at the acclaimed premiere of his latest play. Unimpressed by his success, Orman rushes to his lover, Ethel Halloway, after a brief bow. When he promises to run away with her, Ethel's jealous husband suddenly appears in the doorway. An enormous tension builds up between them, which finally discharges into Orman in a shot from the gun of the horned husband. He acts as if the bullet hadn't hit him. However, he collapses in his car and asks his chauffeur to drive him to the hospital.
2nd episode
Mr. Harry Wilson is about to marry the lovely Diane. On the morning of the wedding, she finds a suspicious love letter in her fiance's tailcoat pocket. Harry's friend George rushes to the distressed man in his tailcoat to save the precarious situation, with Diane realizing that George would be a far more suitable spouse for her.
3rd episode
Charles Smith, a rather unknown composer, has the chance of a lifetime through the master conductor Bellini: He is allowed to conduct his own composition in public. At the last minute, his wife Elsa buys the tailcoat from a second-hand dealer. But the tailcoat is too tight for Charles and will burst at the seams during the concert. When the audience bursts out laughing, Bellini demonstratively takes off his own tailcoat out of solidarity, whereupon the crowd follows his example and Smith's performance is a success after all.
4th episode
Larry Browne, a depraved lawyer, receives an invitation to a former college friends' banquet. With the borrowed tailcoat, he goes to illustrious society and pretends to be a wealthy, successful person among them. When a wallet goes missing, Browne tries to evade a body search, which immediately suspects him. In order not to be denigrated as a thief, he has to reluctantly get rid of his tails. When looking at his brightly colored underwear, those present realize that in reality an impoverished beggar is standing in front of them.
5th episode
see background
6th episode
A burglar is the next owner of the tailcoat. He steals it from a junk shop in order to gain entry into an elegant casino. There the crook suddenly pulls out a revolver , steals the money from the gaming tables and runs away with his accomplice. They try to escape to Mexico by plane . When their pursuers set the tailcoat on fire with several shots, the thief throws it overboard along with the stolen money. Both the tailcoat and the prey end up in an open field. A poor black farmer from a nearby village is the lucky finder. Together with the entire settlement, he is happy about the unexpected financial blessing from heaven. Each resident receives a share and is therefore able to buy new land. The tailcoat, however, which began its existence in the brilliant stage light, ends up as a scarecrow for the poorest of the poor .
background
The film is based on an idea by producers Boris Morros and Sam Spiegel , who were able to hire ten screenwriters at 20th Century Fox to put together at least six episodes for a number of big stars. Morros initially intended to hire a director for each episode, just as studio Paramount Pictures did in the 1930s for the film If I Had a Million (1932). But when Charles Boyer showed interest in the project, he recommended that only one director be chosen, Julien Duvivier, whose French , episodic film Game of Memory in 1937 had been a great success.
Six Fates premiered at New York's Radio City Music Hall on August 5, 1942 and proved to be a financial success at the box office, prompting Charles Boyer, Edward G. Robinson and Julien Duvivier to team up again to direct a similar star-studded film. This resulted in the film The Second Face (1943), which Universal released a good year later. In Germany, Sechs Schicksale first came to cinemas on March 4, 1946, where the film was shown again in 1984.
The fifth episode was filmed with WC Fields , Margaret Dumont and Phil Silvers . Fields played a would-be magician who invades Societylady Dumont's house and causes a stir. However, this episode was removed even before the movie premiere in order to shorten the movie's playing time. The cut version has since been restored by 20th Century Fox.
Because the final sixth episode portrayed African Americans as being too stereotypical, it was often cut for television broadcasts in the United States , which gave the film an even more abrupt ending as the fifth episode had already been removed. These days, American television is broadcasting the film with all six episodes.
Reviews
For the lexicon of international film , Sechs Schicksale was an “outstandingly cast and performed episode film”. The result was “a witty, playful examination of the changeability of human happiness”.
Bosley Crowther of the New York Times found that Six Fates was "one of those rare films" that cleverly deviated from the norm [...] achieved an impressive effect ". Although he is "neither particularly profound nor very haunting", he still manages to "convey a sensitive, prejudice-free understanding of the irony of life". As for the performance of the actor, Crowther particularly praised Edward G. Robinson. This shows "a masterful idea as a penniless who has seen better days". Ginger Rogers and Henry Fonda are again "very amusing" in their episode, while Roland Young, James Gleason and George Sanders "shine" in their supporting roles. Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth and Thomas Mitchell, on the other hand, appeared “a bit slow in the opening sequence” and Charles Laughton overdrew “the pianist who gets his great chance of success”. But all in all, Julien Duvivier staged the film “with astonishing regularity” and “sensitively adapted the moods and motifs of the various episodes”.
Craig Butler of the All Movie Guide saw Six Fates as "one of the better episodic films". As such, he benefits “from Julien Duvivier's confident direction, who combines the different stories in an effortless and surprisingly convincing way”. The main attraction, however, is "the star cast, which has many excellent performances" to offer. In contrast to Crowther, Butler found Charles Laughton "particularly good". In the film, the actor shows “a vulnerability that he otherwise often avoids”. Robinson is "also in good shape" and "makes the best of his scenes". In the end, the “elegantly staged” episode film is “a delightful gimmick for an audience looking for light entertainment”.
Web links
- Tales of Manhattan in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Tales of Manhattan at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Tales of Manhattan at Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Six fates. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 26, 2019 .
- ^ A b Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 138.
- ↑ “ Tales of Manhattan is one of those rare films - a tricky departure from the norm […] achieves an impressive effect. Neither profound nor very searching, it nevertheless manages to convey a gentle, detached comprehension of the irony and pity of life [...]. Edward G. Robinson gives a masterful performance as the bum who had seen better days; Ginger Rogers and Henry Fonda are very amusing […], and Roland Young, James Gleason and George Sanders stand out in minor roles. Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth and Thomas Mitchell are somewhat heavy in the initial triangle and Charles Laughton overplays the pianist who gets his big chance to rise. But, altogether, Julien Duvivier has directed the film with surprising evenness and has matched the moods and tempos of the various episodes with delicacy. " Bosley Crowther : 'Tales of Manhattan,' Starring Charles Boyer, Henry Fonda, Edward G. Robinson, Charles Laughton, at the Music Hall . In: The New York Times , September 25, 1942.
- ↑ “One of the better anthology films, Tales of Manhattan benefits from Julian Duvivier's assured direction, which confidently melds the disparate stories together in an effortless and surprisingly satisfying manner. [...] chief among the assets, of course, is the all-star cast, many of which turn in especially fine performances. Laughton is particularly fine, employing a vulnerability that he often eschewed […]. Robinson is also in fine form, making the most of his big confession scene, as well as his wordless final scene [...]. Elegantly appointed, Tales is a delightful bauble for viewers in search of a light divertissement. " Craig Butler, cf. omovie.com