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Four Star Playhouse: My Wife Geraldine (1952)
The Bittersweet World of Imagination
This episode of 'Four Star Playhouse' series is one of Charles Boyer's masterpieces on the small screen. He displays the character of Mr. Graham, a lonely man living with an imaginary wife. He invents the lie to get a job, but gradually, he begins to withdraw into his illusions. I like the character of Rose (Una Merkel) the landlady because she is so kind and understanding. There is also a wonderful comic touch in some situations adding a cheerful atmosphere to the episode.
This first class drama is remarkably written by Lawrence B. Marcus and brilliantly directed by Robert Florey.
The idea may seem odd and unusual but Boyer's inimitable performance, with the deep passion in his eyes and his resonant voice, amazingly turns the whole story into something quite touching, credible and convincing.
Four Star Playhouse: A Place of His Own (1953)
Turnning A War Veteran Into An Outcast
This episode of the 'Four Star Playhouse' anthology series is a first class drama about the tragic effects of war and how many of the army veterans really suffer after they return home. It is bleak, gloomy, and incredibly painful. Boyer depicts a very sympathetic portrait of a mentally disturbed war Commander with a desperate condition in his estrangement from his family. His sister treats him with coldness regarding him a disgrace . All what matters for her is the reputation of the family and its welfare regardless of her brother's desire to have a little quiet place of his own. His family denies him this wish and declines his request of the money needed. Charles Boyer was always interested in studying each detail of the character he presented, so his immersion in the Commander's character is superb.
The screenplay by John Bagni and Gwen Bagni is excellent. The director Robert Florey added a very gloomy but absorbing atmosphere. Jeanette Nolan is marvelous in her chilling performance . Ellen Corby is so impressive and convincing in her sympathy with the desperate Commander.
Four Star Playhouse: Distinguished Service (1956)
A Distinguished Story With Outstanding Cast
This is one of the most interesting episodes I have ever seen. Charles Boyer displays the character of a successful and famous doctor (Severson) who intentionally commits a grave mistake leading to the death of a patient through a misdiagnosis of a plague case. The episode focuses on the doctor's moral dilemma in his conflict between promoting his medical career and the ethics of his profession. Boyer is as wonderful as ever and he gives a very convincing and impressive portrait of the doctor's character. The screenplay and the direction are excellent, and I appreciate the idea because it focuses on the human conscience in its conflict with such serious moral issues.
Four Star Playhouse: Magic Night (1956)
Magic Night With Magic Performance
In this episode Charles Boyer brilliantly displays the character of an officer who has been committed to his job as an accountant for 25 years. He is desperately in love with one of his coworkers and suffers the neglect of his friends. As the incidents develop the story gets more engaging and interesting. The script is very well written by Laszlo Gorog ,Robert Florey's direction is remarkable and the nice music by Gerard Calvi adds a cheerful atmosphere to the episode. Boyer is as magnificent as ever; he can amazingly reveal his deep inner feelings with great natural talent and his impressive performance is inimitable.
Four Star Playhouse: Something Very Special (1955)
A Very Special Gift From The Unforgettable Charles Boyer
When I watched 'Something Very Special' in archive.org I enjoyed it so much and it was really a precious treasure for me . I was always curious to see how Charles Boyer would behave as a father with his daughter and the result was fascinating. Boyer is really so wonderful and he gives the audience a very special gift through his simple and profound performance. In this episode Charles Boyer displays a very impressive relationship with his 12 year old daughter. He is incredibly warm and kind especially through the deep and rich emotion in his eyes and the tender tone of his voice. He has been away from his daughter for five years and comes back to build a friendly relation with her. The end is so impressive and I appreciate the focus on father-daughter relationship long neglected and forgotten in our life.
Private Worlds (1935)
Private Worlds, Appreciating Human Values
Private Worlds showcases some psychological aspects of the human nature. Dr Jane herself suffers a psychological dilemma after her lover's death ; she is confined through the prison of the past. She is unable to see inside herself as she does with other patients, but Dr. Monet insists on helping her overcome her trouble. The final scene is brilliant when Dr. Jane drops the doll implying her breaking with the past and starting a new life with Dr. Monet. There is another touching scene when Dr. Monet helps the dying old man with praying. It is a well-built melodrama with subtle and impressive performances of the two leads; Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer as well as the outstanding direction of Gregory La Cava. .I think it is to the movie's credit that the choice of the subject with this impressive handling is quite unusual and unique in this time. It also supports women's work and proves her success even in professions mainly dominated by men.
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
Knowing The Unknown Or Being In The Dark?
Night Has a Thousand Eyes explores deep thoughts about precognition and how far people are right in their eagerness to know about the future and whether they will be happy and content after their knowledge or not.
Edward G .Robinson's performance is incredibly impressive with his desperate appearance and the deep grief in his eyes. Gail Russell is also very touching with her tender and quiet face. The remarkable cinematography contributes much to the bleak atmosphere of the movie, and the brilliant direction of John Farrow manages to introduce such an absorbing thriller that leaves you at the end pondering the issue of people's fondness of precognition and how far this makes them happy when their curiosity is satisfied.
I think the concluding message is that man is really happy as long as he is ignorant of the future because he can not interfer with fate and if he tries he will always lose because he is helpless, and sometimes knowing the future incidents in man's life is really unbearable.
The Reckless Moment (1949)
The Reckless Moment: Exploring Significant Human Aspects
What attracts me most in this simple and engaging thriller is its human aspects. There is a sincere devoted mother, Lucia Harper, with her solid endeavours to protect her impetuous daughter and save the reputation of her family. It also showcases how a man can be terribly affected by the circumstances around him; Donnelly becomes a criminal when he is neglected by his mother. I wonder why Donnelly is not given another chance; he could have been a good person and it was not too late for him to start over, so I think the end is unfair for him. It is not reasonable that a man, who proves to be good through the incidents of the movie, is fatally injured in an accident and furthermore confesses a murder he did not commit..
There are many factors that contributed to the success of this engaging movie; the solid direction of Max Ophüls, the brilliant screenplay by Henry Garson and Robert W. Soderberg, Joan Bennett's excellent performance, James Mason is good but Bennett is more impressive , and Burnett Guffey's cinematography is remarkable with the scary dark and shadowy scenes.
All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
'You're caught in the net and you don't even wish to escape'.
I quote this line from Pierre's worthy advice for Henriette to leave the house before it's too late.Unfortunately she declined the advice and insisted on staying bringing catastrophic incidents on the whole family including the man she loved.I think that Henriette didn't really love Le Duc but she only admired his character as being decent gentle and a kind father. If it were a real sincere love Henriette would have left the house as soon as possible saving the children and the man she loved the tragic incidents that happened later.
Charles Boyer's natural gift of subtle romantic performance remains insuperable.He stole the scenes whenever he appeared on the screen and the scene of his dying was really a masterpiece.I wonder why he is underappreciated and one can rarely find critics discussing or analysing his work.In fact the whole atmosphere of the movie is enchanting and captivating.I must admit that I am caught in the spell of the movie, especially Boyer's magic performance, and I never wish to escape.
Max Steiner's music has its own spell revealing the tortured and unattainable love between Henriette and Le Duc.It is also wonderful in the few moments of joy and happiness especially the scenes of Henriette and the children.A remarkable scene where Steiner's score is superbly employed is when Henriette is running downstairs to meet Le Duc and the children.
I respect Boyer so much as a leading actor and also for his insistence not to do any abuse to a woman especially in the scene when he kills his wife. The director,Anatole Litvak, is so genius when he suggests Boyer fixes his furious and chilling eyes on his wife:,an option that's far more frightening than any violent act.It's to Boyer's credit that he managed to make the audience sympathize with a killer, I myself doesn't know how Boyer can make us totally forget he is a murderer. Another point here is Boyer's amazing ability to gift the audience with the infinite kindness and tenderness through his eyes ,and at the same time he uses them to reveal such horrible feelings towards his wife.
There are some prominent actors in this movie and they are real stars in their performances; Harry Davenport as the de Praslin groundskeeper Pierre, Walter Hampden as Pasquier, Ian Keith as DeLangle and Fritz Leiber as father Gallard. In fact their natural talent is stunning!