L'uomo che amava le rosse

John Justin plays a wealthy Brit who has never forgotten the redhead he met at a party when he was a teenager. He marries and goes along in life until he spots a redhead on a London street, arranges for a tryst at a friends house and embarks on a lifetime of meeting a succession of redheads roughly from 1917 to 1955.

Charming comedy keeps it all light and bubbly and features a solid performance by Justin and a super performance by Moira Shearer, who plays all the redheads. Shearer plays the teenager Sylvia, the cockney secretary Daphne, the Russian ballerina Olga, and the model Colette. It's quite a showcase for Shearer, including a lengthy sequence from the Sleeping Beauty ballet. Roland Culver plays Justin's jovial friend. Gladys Cooper appears toward the end of the film to add the perfect ending touch of irony. Denholm Elliott plays the son. Beautifully filmed in Technicolor, the entire film has the look and feel of something from Powell and Pressburger.

The theme of this film,namely a man who has an obsession about redheads was not very original when made.It was particularly common in the forties.Why even The life and death of Colonel Blimp has this as one of its narrative threads. I wonder if the narration by Kenneth More was in the script or added later.It certainlyvdoes little to add to this film.

John Justin has a brilliant future in the diplomatic service before him..... which he considers throwing away. He has met Moira Shearer and is madly in love. Finally he decides to be sensible, and has that brilliant career. However, he keeps running into beautiful, redheaded women who remind him of his discarded love.

Harold French's last go-around as a movie director is a stage piece in service of Miss Shearer, who plays all the young women who Justin loves, changing clothes and accents to suit each role. It's quite charming, and in the hands of a great actress, would have been a tour de force. As it is, it's a nice conceit, and makes it a pleasant porrait of Justin's character, who, along with best friend Roland Culver, grows older, and more alike.... towards the end, they even move the same way.

Miss shearer had shot to fame as the lead of THE RED SHOES, but her position in the industry was not what it might have been. Ballet dancers, for some reason, have rarely become true stars of the motion pictures, that most kinetic of the lively arts. She was born in 1926, began ballet training at 10, and was dancing at Sadler's Wells by 1942. After 1950, she concentrated more on the legimitate stage,, but while leading roles came her way -- she appeared in three movies directed by Michael Powell -- she appeared in only five films. She died in 2006.

The new title alone of this adaptation of Terence Rattigan's 1950 West End hit 'Who is Sylvia?' made me think of Michael Powell; since it boasts Powell's protege Moira Shearer as four different redheads in the life of one man, compared to Deborah Kerr's three in 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' (with which it also shares colour photography by Georges Périnal and the presence of Roland Culver, here repeating his role from Rattigan's play).

Sadly this particular soufflé gets little chance to rise under the leaden direction of Harold French, and John Justin is plainly no Roger Livesey. But there are odd moments as narrated by Kenneth More - particularly the brief shot of Sylvia near the end - that actually achieve the touching quality it aspires to and which 'Blimp' achieved throughout.

Stars Moira Shearer. She's the original redhead that Mark (John Justin) falls for as a child. Period piece. 1917. and Mark spends the rest of his days pursuing her. or at least any red heads that he can find. and i find it annoying when the narrator keeps breaking in to crack a joke here and there. and the story just goes all over the place, as Mark makes up stories and tells lie after lie to meet up with the redheads he encounters. this one moves quite slowly. the premise is good enough, but the ballet number just brings it all to a halt. and the fact that it takes place in 1917 doesn't help. kind of goes on and on. more long musical numbers. Original play by the twice nominated Terence Rattigan. wrote a LOT of things! some of the music comes from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty. Directed by Harold French. he only directed 31 films, and this was the last full length film before moving into television. beh.