After "Gaslight", Ingrid Bergman was all over the cinema, and in 1945, topped herself with "The Bells of St. Mary's" and "Spellbound". She also appeared in this version of a possibly unfilmable novel, strange both on film and on stage later on as a lavish musical flop. This version of the Edna Ferber novel is an artistic misfire, stunning to look at but rather avant- garde and difficult to get through without finding something to laugh at.
There's a lot to admire in this high budgeted potboiler, melodramatic and often over acted and pretentious in its ambitions. Ingrid Bergman takes the dark lady image of fellow Swede Greta Garbo to the max, outrageously absurd in parts and sincere and feminine in others. She's the scourge of a well to do New Orleans family, returning to bury her notorious mother in the family plot. Hooking up with a notorious Texan (Gary Cooper), she longs to break into society and ends up in Saratoga Springs where, thanks to an outrageously Bohemian blackmailer (an absolutely delightful Florence Bates) seems to do just that.
Bergman's constant companions are spooky looking servant Flora Robson (twice as bizarre as she was in "Caesar and Cleopatra") and excitable dwarf Jerry Austin. The lavish Max Steiner score is as important a character as the settings are, but at times, this seems to be striving for camp, not necessarily a good idea. Ripe for parody, I would not be surprised to find that this was spoofed on the Carol Burnett show with Burnett as Bergman, Lyle Wagner as Cooper, Vicki Lawrence as Robson, Tim Conway as Austin and Harvey Korman as Bates.
There's a lot to admire in this high budgeted potboiler, melodramatic and often over acted and pretentious in its ambitions. Ingrid Bergman takes the dark lady image of fellow Swede Greta Garbo to the max, outrageously absurd in parts and sincere and feminine in others. She's the scourge of a well to do New Orleans family, returning to bury her notorious mother in the family plot. Hooking up with a notorious Texan (Gary Cooper), she longs to break into society and ends up in Saratoga Springs where, thanks to an outrageously Bohemian blackmailer (an absolutely delightful Florence Bates) seems to do just that.
Bergman's constant companions are spooky looking servant Flora Robson (twice as bizarre as she was in "Caesar and Cleopatra") and excitable dwarf Jerry Austin. The lavish Max Steiner score is as important a character as the settings are, but at times, this seems to be striving for camp, not necessarily a good idea. Ripe for parody, I would not be surprised to find that this was spoofed on the Carol Burnett show with Burnett as Bergman, Lyle Wagner as Cooper, Vicki Lawrence as Robson, Tim Conway as Austin and Harvey Korman as Bates.