tpanebia

I came across this movie only as an inclusion in the Carmen Miranda Collection, and I am commenting here for those in the same situation, who are wondering if this is worth having.

As for Carmen: she sings one number, "Chico Chico (from Porto Rico!)", which features a lot of dancing with the chorus. The main drawback as far as Carmen is concerned is that the film is in black and white, and we are deprived of some of the gaudiness and festiveness that we expect from her participation in a movie. I know that Technicolor was expensive, but it seems bizarre for Fox to have made black and white musicals after the public came to expect color, and to cast the colorful Carmen Miranda in them! A better number was excised from the movie, but included in the Special Features --- Carmen wears her famous outfit with the phallic lighthouse atop her head (which lights up on the downbeats at the end of the song), and the number is done in a burlesque style on a runway. Carmen gets quite a bit of dialogue in this movie, and is actually integrated into the plot, not just a nightclub performer as in some films (like "Down Argentine Way"). I wish she were given more musical numbers to do, though. One funny bit (five seconds long) has Carmen's character, "Chita," disparagingly mimic Carmen Miranda!

The movie itself is watchable and has some fun moments, but on the whole suffers from a bland cast. Vivian Blaine lacked the spark of an Alice Faye or Betty Grable, the other Fox stars of the day, and came across as brittle and not particularly likable. The leading men, including Perry Como, were also uninteresting, and there is even a misogynistic undertone to the movie, with male characters bragging about beating their girlfriends to keep them in line. There is something wince-inducing about seeing bland Perry Como threaten to beat his girlfriend, who gets turned on by it! As for the music, there are a couple of serviceable numbers, but they are reprised to death -- I found myself muttering "oh no, not this one again" by the middle of the movie. Como and Blaine's "Hubba Hubba" duet was the only number which for me was fresh and fun, and not overdone.

In general, this is not a terrible or unpleasant film, but is not one many would want to rewatch. As another commenter noted, the melodrama seems to take over at times, and for me, the characters are not sympathetic or likable enough for me to get drawn in by the non-musical aspects of the plot. If you are wondering whether this adds anything of value to the Carmen Miranda collection --- in my opinion, it is only a very minor addition.

The many comparisons in these comments to the far superior 1995 mini-series with Ehle and Firth are quite apt, but I would also add that this adaption has little resemblance to Austen's book! What is present here is a lovely setting and a mushy romance, but that is not what Austen wrote. This version eliminates all the satire, all the wit, that are the hallmarks of Austen. Almost every character is likable in this film! Judi Densch portrays Lady Catherine as appropriately imperious and snobbish, but her portrayal misses the humor: Lady Catherine is an idiot, a higher-class Mrs. Bennet, full of nonsensical observations and overtly stupid, though no one tells her as much. The Bennet family is erroneously portrayed as endearingly eccentric and lovable, but again, that is not consistent with Austen's novel. Mr and Mrs Bennet are horrid parents: one is detached and neglectful and the other is selfish and a miserable role model for her daughters. Blethyn and Sutherland's benign Bennets are far from the creations of Jane Austen. This movie portrays the Bennets as good folks, but a bit on the trailer-trash side. Mrs Bennet was loud and vulgar but did not have animals running through her house nor would she have allowed her daughters to eat like pigs at a trough, as they do in this movie: she put on airs and lived above the family's means. You'd never get this impression from this adaptation.

The DVD's interviews of several cast members are quite telling. The actor playing Darcy says that Darcy isn't proud, but shy. Did anyone tell him what the name of the novel is? It wasn't "Shyness and Prejudice"! The actress playing Mary Bennet gushed about how wonderful it would be to be a Bennet in real life, as though this were "Little Women." She had no sense that her character was intended to be offensively moralistic and foolish. Similarly, Blethyn and Sutherland went on about what good parents the Bennets were, Blethyn remarking that Mrs Bennet was a good mother to have married off three daughters! Brenda dear: Elizabeth and Jane married IN SPITE of Mrs Bennet's repulsiveness to their suitors, not BECAUSE of her, and Lydia's marriage to Wickham, which WAS the result of Mrs Bennet's poor influences on her daughter, is a disastrously bad marriage! In short, this is a poor movie because it took all the wit and humor and social commentary of Austen and made it into a cheesy romance flick. The first Darcy proposal was a gem: it looked more like Wuthering Heights than Pride and Prejudice, with the characters out in a storm, their emotions being tossed about with the wind. Where did Austen write such a scene? Elizabeth despised Darcy at this point of the story, but in the movie, she seems ready to jump his bones. Knightley was badly miscast here --- she is a raving beauty, and her beauty seems to be what makes Darcy interested in her. But again, that is not what Austen wrote. It is supposed to be Elizabeth's wit and character that attract Darcy, not her looks, which on first impression he has no difficulty resisting.

I was prepared to dislike this movie before I saw it, but convinced myself that it probably wasn't so bad and to give it a chance. It was much worse than I imagined, however. How sad that moviegoers unfamiliar with Austen will see this film and conclude that Jane Austen wrote sappy romances!