1948: Letter from an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls)

1948: Letter from an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls)
Guess when it comes down to it, I'm still a romantic.  And an idealist, too.  Put these two things together in a film, particularly in the following order, "idealistic romance", and I could be in big trouble. Then, add to it by mostly keeping this "idealistic romance" from being realized, and I'm in even deeper.    


You could call the above my version of a synopsis for the Ophuls film.  It also helps explain why this film has as devastating an emotional effect on me as any film ever made. 


But that's not all.  Take the elements above and add to it one of the most operatic of all directors, the master Max Ophuls, and you've got a real doozy.  It's my favorite Ophuls film (although I do have a few gaps), my favorite Joan Fontaine film (and that's saying a lot), and without a doubt my favorite film of 1948.  And, if it came out in any year that decade, other than '40 or '42, I would say the same.

Other contenders for 1948: One of those years with a number of major titles that I've never seen.  These are:  Frank Borzage's Moonrise, John Ford's Fort Apache, Vincente Minnelli's The Pirate, Abraham Polonsky's Force of Evil, Leo McCarey's Good Sam, Fei Mu's Spring in a Small Town, Andre De Toth's Pitfall, Michael Powell's The Red Shoes (I know, embarrassing!), John Ford's Three Godfathers, Preston Sturges' Unfaithfully Yours, Robert Flaherty's Louisiana Story, and Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.  I need to re-watch Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night.  It's one I've struggled with for some reason in the past. And, although I would consider none of these close runners-up, I do really like Howard Hawks' Red River, Luchino Visconti's La terra trema, Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thief, John Huston's Key Largo, John Farrow's The Big Clock, and Orson Welles' Macbeth.


10/16/10 I watched Vincente Minnelli's The Pirate.  Gene Kelly and Judy Garland are terrific and magical, but it's not quite top-tier Minnelli in my book.  The story's a little too frivolous and most of the songs not as memorable as they could be.  


10/16/10 I watched Abraham Polonsky's Force of Evil.  A masterful noir that seems like one of the two or three biggest influences on The Godfather and on Scorsese's style.  It also seems like a key film to the noir texture found in many of the early French New Wave films.  A masterpiece.  


10/20/1 I watched Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.  I'm not as knowledgeable of Shakespeare's work as I'd like, but this one is far more contained than Olivier's Henry V.  And I think this containment really helps Olivier.  His flights of fancy pop, and his embodiment of Hamlet truly wonderful.  


10/21/10 I watched John Ford's 3 Godfathers.  An unusual and a bit tedious film from Ford.  But it does have a nice existential moment or two.


10/25/10 I watched Fei Mu's Spring in a Small Town.  It's a film I knew almost nothing about by a director I knew even less.  It has an interesting style, part Ozu, part neorealist.  And it has some nice, poetic chords and suggests strong erotic undertones once or twice.  But all in all, I found it to be a little too repetitious, with very little to keep me fully connected.


10/25/10 I re-watched Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night.  Finally, I understand all the fuss.  It's an incredible debut and now up there among my favorite noirs.  Bowie and Keechie's chemistry is amazing, and there's something tremendously compelling about both Granger and O'Donnell.  Ray keeps things moving and shows off his inventive eye in a number of different scenes.  And he demonstrates that he has a real poetic connection and understanding of the outdoors.  A wonderful fatalistic build-up near the end rounds up a very, very good film.  


10/26/10 I watched John Ford's Fort Apache.  Fonda's turn as a tough General is memorable and strong.  And some of the suspense Ford creates between the Apaches and the cavalry is strongly felt.  But overall, I can't always connect to Ford's hokey taste in music and lack of subtlety.  


11/2/10 I watched Preston Sturges' Unfaithfully Yours.  It's a stylish but very cold Sturges, lacking much of his fun zaniness.  A bit tedious, I found.


11/4/10 I watched Michael Powell's The Red Shoes.  Powell believed in beauty.  And Powell believed in art.  And this is about as beautiful a film about art, creation, and the artist's life as any I've ever seen.  Walbrook and Shearer's performances are otherworldly.

3/14/11 I watched Robert Flaherty's Louisiana Story.  Interesting that I always thought this was a documentary when it's actually a narrative filmed in a documentary manner.  Flaherty keeps the process very fluid and unobtrusive, and I enjoyed seeing my home state presented in such an authentic way.  But it lacks verve.  I wish Flaherty had found a way, equal to the best neorealist films, to punch up the drama.   I also wish the non-professional boy playing the lead was a little stronger.


3/16/11 I watched Frank Borzage's Moonrise.  The strongest film yet I've seen from Borzage. It's melodramatic, but the casting's perfect, and Borzage's ability to tell a story psychologically is crisp and effective.  It's a near masterpiece, ambitious, extremely well-conceived, controlled, and almost always achieving its intent.  


7/15/11 I watched William Dieterle's Portrait of Jennie.  A very strange mix of supernatural melodrama.  Original but not very satisfying.


3/31/12 I watched William Wellman's Yellow Sky.  A noir western with some moments of extremely strong atmosphere and unrelenting darkness.  Nice to see Peck in the role of a bad guy, and Baxter is extremely powerful in her role.  A little loose, at times, but an interesting watch.  

11/16/13 I watched Jacques Tourneur's Berlin Express.  Twisty and not easy to follow at first glance yet still containing many examples of Tourneur's underrated greatness.  One I will have to revisit at some point to give a full assessment.  For now, I will say of interest yet requiring an additional, extremely attentive look.

12/14/21 I watched Cy Endfield's The Argyle Secrets.  I saw a very poor print and was not near as impressed as I was with Endfield's 1950 film The Sound of Fury.  This one does not seem to have the same level of character development.  I'm not positive about the subtext but as I experienced it, it was little more than a lean and mean noir.