Golden Earrings

I made my earthly debut on September 26, 1947 and according to my parents when they were alive, as an infant I had a particular liking for the song Golden Earrings that came from this film. It served as my best lullaby in those formative months. I wish it had come from a better film than the one it served as a title tune for.

The film's story is told in flashback by Ray Milland to real life war correspondent Quentin Reynolds on a plane to Paris. Milland's got pierced ears which today would not raise a ripple, but back in 1947 was hardly in vogue, especially for a British brigadier.

Back in 1939 Milland went on a mission to Germany just before war was declared to get a poison gas formula from a German scientist of liberal sympathies. But he and partner Bruce Lester get caught, but manage to escape and split up.

Milland's route takes him to the Black Forest where gypsies are known to hang out and Hitler hasn't started rounding them up yet. They became targets for extermination as surely as Jews were later on. He runs into Marlene Dietrich and she teaches him a few survival tricks and a few tricks of another kind. With that kind of distraction, Milland can barely keep his mind on his mission.

Golden Earrings gets very campy indeed, remarkable since Milland and Dietrich did not get along during the making. On that level it's enjoyable, as serious drama it falls real short as an espionage story.

Murvyn Vye is the head gypsy and if Milland ain't got enough trouble with the Nazis, he's got to fight Vye to get Marlene and the help he needs from the clan. It'a all very silly. Vye was making his film debut and he introduces the song Golden Earrings. Vye had come from the Broadway stage where he played Jigger in the original Broadway production of Carousel.

Paramount got it's number one star and biggest recording star in America at the time, Bing Crosby, to make a record of it. Bing's record sold well, but the big hit came from Peggy Lee. I'm surprised that Marlene didn't sing a full version in the film, it's just her kind of material.

Could have definitely helped the film a lot.

Marlene Dietrich play a Gypsy who helps British spy (Ray Milland) during World War II. They try to stop the Nazis from using poisonous gases for war use. They get romantically involved with each other while there on the mission. A nice entertaining movie to watch.

I've watched this film perhaps a dozen times, and yet it always stays fresh with me. I think it's one of the best things Dietrich has ever done. This is a Dietrich you've never seen before. Not a worldly femme fatale, but an earthy, highly engaging woman. The interplay between this uncultured gypsy (Dietrich) guided by the spirit world and the stuffy, establishment rationalist(Milland) is both funny and poignant. Dietrich and Milland are simply wonderful in their roles, and Leisen's direction is subtle and clever. If the story lacks plausibility, who cares? This picture belongs to Dietrich and Milland and the wonderful authenticity they bring to their characters.

Both Ray Milland and especially Marlene Dietrich had given great performances more than once and starred in a number of good to outstanding films, that both stretched them and played to their strengths (consider both important when it comes to acting). While not one of the all-time greats when it comes to directors, Mitchell Leisen in my mind was deserving of far more credit. The story for 'Golden Earrings' also sounded intriguing, so the promise was hardly non-existent let alone small.

'Golden Earrings' happened to be something of a comeback for Dietrich, entertaining the troops during the war meant an absence from the screen. While she doesn't fare badly at all here, she was deserving of a better comeback, in terms of overall quality for the film itself, than this. There have been far better representations of Milland as well. 'Golden Earrings' didn't strike me as an awful film, it is better than said though do agree with the criticisms against it. Great too it is a long way from being, didn't think overall it was particularly good.

Dietrich is 'Golden Earrings' biggest merit, she clearly has fun here and is immensely charming. It is hard to believe that she was absent from the screen at all, it was like she never left. Leisen also does a good job with the director, it is stylish and clever with touches of necessary subtlety. Some of the supporting cast do their best in unsubtle caricatured roles, especially Murvyn Vye.

Visually, 'Golden Earrings' is good looking, with slick photography and designed handsomely and evocatively. The music is both fun and dramatic, if at times obviously utilised. The title song is a memorable one, very haunting. Some funny moments and some poignant ones.

However, the script is a bit of a mess tonally, with a mix of comedy and drama, and in a way that jars at times. The comedy falls on the wrong side of camp, am aware that campness was the intent and was expecting it to be part of its charm but it was done to overkill effect here to the point of exhaustion. Although the poignant moments are there, too often the more dramatic elements veer on the melodramatic. Any suspense is not there enough, and the too often ponderous pace and overlong length are relatively big offenders as to why.

The story gets ridiculous frequently and has the same problems as the script, while the characters never feel real, with the supporting characters being caricatures. Other supporting cast members are bizarre and camp it up to extremes, particularly Bruce Lester. Milland's performance is inconsistent, at times too heavy-weight and at other times too low-key. His chemistry, what little there is of it (hardly any), is never harmonious and reminiscent of a meal with flavours that clash too much with each other. Apparently they didn't get along when filming and it shows.

In summary, watchable but strange. Doesn't turn to gold. 5/10

Marlene Dietrich plays an European Gypsy woman in Pre-World War II Europe. Ray Milland played the British officer Denistoun who is on a mission. Ray Milland and Marlene Dietrich are excellent, entertaining, and enjoyable in the film. The story is fine and could have used more work but the Milland's British gentleman turned Gypsy in order to escape the Nazis does a fantastic job. It's interesting to see a character like Denistoun to transform into a Gypsy. The ending is worth watching the film. The film doesn't address the Nazi war crimes. European Gypsies were also targeted and persecuted by the Nazis during World War II. Still, this film is entertaining to watch and suspenseful. The cast is first rate in the Hollywood studio system factory where films were made faster even with mediocre scripts. Still, this film is one of my favorites with Marlene Dietrich.