A Doll's House

A Doll's House/***(G) Movie Review May 4th, 1973 With the voices of: Nora Helmer: Claire Bloom Torvald Helmer: Anthony Hopkins Dr.Rank: Ralph Richardson Krogstad: Denholm Elliott Kristine Linde: Anna Massey Anne-Marie: Edith Evans

By Kyle Thompson Film Critic

A Doll's House, a play taking place in the household of Torvald Helmer, Nora Helmer, and their three kids, is set during Christmas time in 1879. Being set in the late 1800's, it is a time in which men were dominant over women, and it was socially acceptable for them to be.

As the play starts with a happy, cheerful family, it soon takes a turn for the worst. I believe that it is difficult for people in our era today to understand how things were in that time, and that adds to the opinion I have on the play. I think it is a well filmed, and well thought out play, but I do believe that there are scenes in which the characters act a bit too dramatic for what would actually in those situations.

The play begins to unfold when Nora is called out on forging her rich father's signature in order to receive a loan to pay for her sick husband's trip to Europe in order to recover. The man who wants to bring Nora down, wants his job back at the bank, (Torvald is the higher up at the bank) and wants Torvald to give him his job back, and then some. Nora admits to the forgery, and tries to persuade her husband to give Krogstad his job back. Torvald does not take the bait, and this leads Krogstad to blackmail Nora about the forgery, which is a criminal act she has committed. The play then gets very dramatic when Torvald finds out the motives of his wife, and the climax of the play takes place.

The music, clothing, and speech of the characters is all fit to how they dressed and spoke in the 1800's, which adds a human element to the play. I thought the characters filled their roles well, and engulfed themselves within the play to become the character that they truly were. The camera angles are very good for when the play took place, but the lighting sort of fits to the mood of the play, which is somber and argumentative. Overall, A Doll's House is a very dramatic film that depicts the ideals of marriage in the 1800's in a very realistic way.

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Just as two competing films about Oscar Wilde came out in 1960, so in the spirit of the early seventies a rival version of Ibsen's play with Jane Fonda came out almost immediately after this.

Less cinematic and packing far less star power this is probably the more satisfactory of the two for preserving for posterity a performance of feline intensity by Claire Bloom at it's centre. The cast ironically includes Ralph Richardson who was also in the lesser of the two Wilde films.

Although there have been MANY versions of this Ibsen play (his most famous), this one seems to come closest to doing justice to it. The cast is a great one and includes: Claire Bloom (as Nora); Anthony Hopkins (as Torvald); Ralph Richardson (as Dr. Rank); Denholm Elliott (as Krogstad); Anna Massey (as Krisine Linde) and Dame Edith Evans (as Anne-Marie). Everyone in the cast is well-known as British stage actors and most have done their share of Shakespeare.

This film version was made before Anthony Hopkins was so well known on the screen, and he doesn't stand out here as we are used to seeing him now. But, Claire Bloom dominates the final scene as Nora.

This is a good Claire Bloom/Anthony Hopkins version from the classic play written by playwright Henrik Ibsen about an independient woman's quest for freedom in 19th-century Norway . Nora Helmernn (Claire Bloom) , years earlier , committed a forgery in order to save the life of her bossy husband, Torvald (Anthony Hopkins) . Now she is being blackmailed by Krogstad (Denholm Elliott) and lives in fear of her hubby finding out and the shame such a revelation would bring to his job . But when the truth comes out, Nora is shocked to learn where she really stands in her husband's esteem . As the subjugated 19th-century housewife breaks free to establish herself as an individual.

This is a typical filmed play , and rather stagy , it fills in scenes only referred to in Henrik Ibsen's text . Claire Bloom's performance is interesting in that her Nora displays a self-awareness of the role when she is confronting to her husband, which makes her final scene quite believable . However , Bloom's overall manner is too contemporary for a 19th Century wife. If Greta Garbo hadn't retired, her hoped-for version would have proved unassailable . Worth a look for Claire Bloom's acting , giving an awesome performance of a 19th century liberated woman , along with Anthony Hopkins as her authoritarian husband and similarly other actors also shine . All of them give thoughtful interpretations . Still , the words are there and the play is a strong statement about women's and all people's rights to be human beings. As the rest of the cast is very decent : Anthony Hopkins as Torvald Helmer , Sir Ralph Richardon as dying Dr. Rank, Denholm Elliott as the blackmailer , Anna Massey as Kristine Linde and veteran Edith Evans. Well based on the play by prestigious Scandinavian playwright Henrik Ibsen . In 1878 Ibsen moved from Norway to Rome where he lived for seven years. There he started writing the circle of his 11 last plays that made him classic; A Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the people (1882), The Wild Duck (1884), Rosmersholm (1886), The Lady from the Sea (1888), Hedda Gabler (1890), The Master Builder (1892), Little Ejolf (1894) John Gabriel Borkman (1896) and his last one When We Dead Awaken (1898).

Another version, and with Jane Fonda in the "Nora" role, was released a year later , a moderately successful cinematic adaptation, including gorgeous settings deep in the Scandanavian snow. A Doll's House (1974) by Joseph Losey with Jane Fonda as Nora , Edward Fox as Krogstad , Trevor Howard as dying Dr. Rank , Delphine Seyrig Kristine and David Warner. Filmmakers were correct in assuming moviegoers might not be interested in seeing this material twice. Although Fonda was a relatively good box office draw and magnificent actress; howevever, emerging some controversy regarding her interpretation , as this version misses the target, and was sent directly to US television.

A Doll's House (1973) , rating : 7/10 . Well-worth watching, and, This 'Doll's House' is just as interesting as any filmed play, and sits well thanks to Claire Bloom/Anthony Hopkins , alongside the Jane Fonda/Losey rendition.

One of the two versions of this play filmed in 1973, this 'Doll's House' has a strong cast and looks like filmed theatre - not always a bad thing, and it works well enough here to keep the viewer interested.

Anthony Hopkins, prickly as Torvald; Claire Bloom, delicate and confused as Nora; with Ralph Richardson striking just the right note as Dr Rank. Anna Massey and Denholm Elliott complete the cast and are both very good indeed.

Not really cinema, but perhaps the best of the three versions of Ibsen's powerful play I've seen. In comparison with David Warner and Trevor Eve, Hopkins is just as effective; while Claire Bloom's Nora is sufficiently different from Jane Fonda and Juliet Stevenson to attract our interest and empathy.