Un vent froid en été

Just watched this movie that I first read about in one of Pauline Kael's books of collections of her movie reviews. I can't remember what she said about it but I don't remember her panning it either. Anyway, it stars Lola Albright-who was one of the stars of the TV show "Peter Gunn" at the time-as a stripper who lives in a good apartment and Scott Marlowe as the 17-year-old kid who has an affair with her not knowing anything about her profession. They both are quite good, especially Ms. Albright, though like some of the other reviewers here, I did think Marlowe seemed a little old to play a late teen. Part of me also thought the ending seemed a little abrupt though that might have been due to the low budget nature of the film and that it's adopted from a novel that probably had a few more additional passages after that end. Still, director Alexander Singer guides the drama fairly well with the help of the jazzy score by Gerald Fried, melodramatic though it may have seemed at times. And Ms. Albright sure turns up the steam every time she appears, doesn't she? So on that note, I highly recommend A Cold Wind in August.

Kael in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," Waters in (I think) "Crackpot." Ever since I saw Kael's comment (circa 1970), I've wanted to see this. I finally tracked down a DVD pirated from TBS. And it was worth the wait. Yes, it's florid and overstated, but so is opera, and this is the film equivalent of "Traviata": older, "experienced" woman, young man who can't deal with her experience. It reminded me of "Who Killed Teddy Bear?" in that it's another film that is much better than it should be. I can't really say that Albright gives a good performance, but it is a great one, at least in its impact. Her lack of depth feels right for this character, more right than a more subtle performance would have been. It's a paradox of this kind of film.

The film is also surprising frank for 1961. No euphemisms here. Even the boy's father understands what's going on, and is amazingly understanding about it. It's adult, not just in its subject matter, but in its refusal to be coy about it.

I do want to point out one problem with the film. Scott Marlowe's character is supposed to be 17, but Marlowe was about 29 when he made this. Albright was only 7 years older, so you don't get the effect of the age difference, and Marlowe just feels too old to be so innocent. But it's not a killer problem.

Lola Albriight had a way about her. Physically, she wasn't unlike the two other most intriguing second-string sex symbols of the period, Angie Dickinson and Sheree North. But what set Albright apart from all the rest was her humor. Humor in a woman is rarely considered as seductive a quality as it is in a man, with L.A., however, it happened to be the case. And what made her (and it) so truly special was that as an actress she made the audience see that it was a defense mechanism for her character as well - a protection against her deepest, darkest emotions.

This is what made her the most smoking hot of Hollywood's post-WW II actresses. And the most criminally under-utilized. And underrated.

Rating: The Movie gets a 6

In her best role: L.A.'s contribution is a 10 for all time.

Composite: 7.5

Lola, if you're out there, I hope you're listening.

I was not yet alive when A COLD WIND IN AUGUST made its initial theatrical go-round, but I suspect that it generated a magnitude of criticism during those less permissive times(in response to its ostensibly unprincipled premise and erotically-charged underpinnings). It's a rather prurient melodrama, but far too gracefully formulated to come off sleazy or sexually exploitive in its portraiture of a brassy mid-life burlesque queen who finds herself in a fiery romantic entanglement with a giddy seventeen year-old boy.

Considering that this film is a product of a far less lenient America, it smolders with audacious sexual intimations which surely raised more than a few eyebrows in '61. Still, it generally approaches its subject matter with sincerity and sensitivity...this is a film of uncommon veracity for its time, and could be mentioned in the same breath as BABY-DOLL, LOLITA, and THE NAKED KISS, films which their era's more priggish types may have found to be of questionable social graces. The makers of these and similarly polemical films should be admired for their fortitude in the face of stifling puritan objection.

Commanding performances are provided by two criminally under-appreciated talents, Albright and Marlowe. They have a unique and entirely believable chemistry on screen which is keynote to the film's success. Joe DeSantis shines as well in the role of Marlowe's cautious but understanding widower father.

A COLD WIND has its share of forgivable blemishes, and it may come off rather stilted, possibly even campy to some with its fifty-year vintage...regardless, it was/is a brave undertaking, professionally appointed and deserving of greater appreciation.

7.5/10

This isn't a movie loaded with big name stars, although Lola Albright and Scott Marlowe both had busy enough careers, but it has a pretty good story to get your interest, and Albright and Marlowe are both pretty good in their roles. This is an "older woman romances younger guy" story. Albright's Iris is a lonely 30-something woman who happens to work as a stripper at a burlesque club. Marlowe's Vito is the 17 year old son of her building's superintendent who enters her apartment one day to fix her air conditioner, after which sparks fly between the two.

The sparks are well portrayed. Albright was excellent and quite captivating as the sultry, sexy seductress who sets her sights on Vito. I doubt any normal 17 year old guy could have resisted her. Marlowe was marginally less convincing as Vito, but still good enough. The evolution of their relationship from what seems to be a mere fling to a full blown love affair is believable (although it seems perhaps a bit abridged) as is Vito's angst when he finds out that his new love is a stripper, and as is Iris's pain when Vito dumps her afterward. The burlesque scenes were - in the context of 1961 anyway - fairly graphic (although tame by today's standards) and the whole movie had an overtly erotic feel to it from beginning to end.

It's a bit grainy at times, and it has the feel of its era, but in subject matter it's ahead of its time and was probably shocking to many when it came out. It's a very enjoyable and interesting movie to watch.