Lydia

Merle Oberon stars in the title role of Lydia who seems to have all the young gallants of the turn of the last century just champing at the bit. But it's now 1941 and we meet Merle as an old spinster woman who is quite the well known public philanthropist. She never married, but not that didn't have plenty of chances.

Four of her old beaus have gathered at the invitation of one of them Joseph Cotten who was the son of the butler John Halliday in the home where Oberon grew up. Cotten is now a respectable physician and the others he's invited are George Reeves a nightclub owner, Hans Jaray a blind concert pianist, and a sea captain Alan Marshal.

Merle loved them all in her own way, but couldn't quite commit to any of them. All of them saw a different Merle in their salad days.

I'm thinking that the film lost a great deal in translation from the original French movie Dance Program which was also directed by Julian Duvivier. It would almost have to be the case given the far stricter censorship that we had as opposed to the French.

Lydia is entertaining and good enough and the cast performs their roles well. But the film is a bland romantic concoction, I'll bet the original French is much better.

When the film was finally released in Duvivier's native France ,it did not meet critical favor.I personally find little fault with the opinions expressed."Lydia" is a confused cold work.Duvivier's great American movies are not "Great Waltz" or "Lydia" .They were yet to come:"tales of Manhattan" and "Flesh and fantasy" are immensely superior to the aforementioned efforts.

"Lydia" is supposed to be a remake of "Un Carnet de Bal ",Duvivier's indisputable masterpiece.But the two works are worlds apart.I would go as far as to write "Lydia" is to "Carnet de Bal" what "The long night" is to "Le jour se lève" .But Carné's chef d'oeuvre was remade by Anatole Litvak whereas Duvivier redid himself.

Actually "Lydia" reminds me of Duvivier failed film "Untel Père Et Fils " ;it's a hodgepodge : a grumpy granny with a golden heart, a sailor ,the Civil War(?) , a blind pianist ,the sad fate of blind children during the nineteenth century, the good lady whose life is not empty cause she creates a house for these unfortunate kids (a permanent feature of the French cinema of the era : see also "Le Voile Bleu"-remade as "the blue veil" - and "Péchés de Jeunesse").

Nothing is left from the original work,the Madeleine of Proust of the French cinema: and showing Merle Oberon with her three beaus (and the fourth is not far away)does not make up for Marie Bell's spleen,solitude and nostalgia on the banks of the lake.One should also add that the male characters are not really interesting.

Orson Welles was a great Duvivier fan and it's probably the reason why Joseph Cotten is part of the cast.Later,Welles would borrow the female star of "Au Royaume des Cieux" (Suzanne Cloutier) from Duvivier for his "Othello".

The best of this movie is its pictures:the ball is nicely filmed ,although a bit kitsch;the snowy landscapes are enhanced by a refined cinematography.

The sound of my copy is rather lousy. The music ,which is intrusive,often drowns out the actors' voices.

I do not know what would allow for such a low rating on this movie.. In my opinion the acting is excellent . The story is a romance unequaled and unique. The writing is as beautiful in some places as if it were poetry. I contest that this is one of my favorite movies and anyone who has loved, loved and lost or is capable of such, should certainly watch and judge for themselves.

Here Oberon shines. The story is slight, yet gives Oberon time to revel in the Ben Hecht/Samuel Hoffenstein dialogue. Oberon plays Lydia, a woman who is searching for love. The film is framed by a reunion, with Lydia as an old woman. She is reunited with the four fellows that have chased her throughout her life. All four actors do their best with their roles, but none standout. They mostly just stare longingly at Oberon for the duration of the film. None are given much consideration or motivation other than as a lovers for Oberon can push around.

Other than Oberon, Julien Duvivier, the director, is the real star. His direction makes the most out of the simple plot. Certain scenes stick out more than others. The scene when Michael (Joseph Cotten) and Lydia run into the ball of Lydia's imagination, in slow-motion is very memorable for its dream-like feel. Also, when Frank (Hans Jaray), the blind pianist plays for the blind children, the scene is framed very beautifully. Also Miklos Rozsa's Oscar-nominated score is very good.

A pretty good drama that suffers from a necessary but clumsy framing device with the reunion, as well as a third act that doesn't jell well with the rest of the film.

(1941) Lydia ROMANTIC DRAMA

American English speaking version of the 1937 movie ""Un Carnet de Bal" co-written and directed by Julien Duvivier. Like Hitchcock rebooting "The Man Who Knew Too Much", Yasujirô Ozu and Frank Capra rebooting their movies to name a few, this is Duvivier remaking this time starring Merle Oberon as the title character, Lydia as she details and recounts four different relationships with four different men of Hans (Frank Andre), Bob (George Reeves), Richard (Alan Marshal) and Michael (Joseph Cotten) from different times starting from the year of 1897. Resorting to the conclusion that it did. I liked the unique style of this that could have had a stronger payoff.