Mimi

Mimi was one of a series of films that Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. did while visiting the United Kingdom from 1934 to 1936. It's a straight dramatic version of the Puccini opera, La Boheme.

Though The Rise of Catherine the Great is probably the best known and best received of the Fairbanks English films from this period, Mimi was a special one. It's also one of the few films that Gertrude Lawrence did and she did it at a time when she and Fairbanks were romantically involved.

In fact while making several films Fairbanks also appeared on the London stage in two different plays with Lawrence, Moonlight is Silver and The Winding Journey. Neither of those is first rank among the work of either Fairbanks or Lawrence.

And sad to say, neither is Mimi. Unfortunately realizing that their source material is from grand opera, both Fairbanks and Lawrence perform in the manner of grand opera. They overact outrageously, maybe inspired by the Puccini music that is used in the background. Doug and Gertie sure got no directorial help in this one.

Of course La Boheme served as the inspiration for the recent musical Rent and I'd suggest seeing that before watching Mimi.

Unless you're a big fan of Doug and Gert.

Not really sure what drew me to watch this. Attractive poster perhaps and to see Gertrude Lawrence and Douglas Fairbanks JR as they were in 1935. Well, they were fine, she more impressive than he but both fine and everyone else was also fine. Fine as anyone could be on an Elstree stage telling the Parisian tale of La Boheme. I stayed awake, the ballroom sequence is impressive and to be fair it may have been the wondrous and sparkling Bu-ray picture that showed up the inadequacies of the stagey sets and at least the acting wasn't too stagey as well.

This film was made during the production regime of Walter Mycroft at Associated British.He was a former film critic so you would have though that he would have known better than to put this dreary mess into production.Maybe since the cast knew it was so bad they went very much over the top.The film is far too much like a theatrical production,with actors trying to project themselves to the back of the theatre.Probably the only point of note is the appearance of Gertrude Lawrence in one of her very few films.However it is difficult to understand the reason British producers to make films like this when the nation was in the grip of depression and seeking to be entertained.

I rather enjoyed "Mimi" having been persuaded by Melvyn Hayes' introduction on Talking Pictures. It looked like the very old type of atmospheric drama from the 1930's that sometimes appeals to me and with a rare appearance by the legendary Gertrude Lawrence, I had to watch it. An added attraction is Douglas Fairbanks Jr, who I've always liked as well.

Based on Puccini's opera, "La Boheme", which I have seen one production of on TV a few years ago, I knew the framework of the story. It tells of a group of friends, male and female, who gather daily to have fun, write, paint or just get drunk. They're basically lazy, rent avoiding time wasters but think they are a gift to society. Their delusion is highlighted when they fail to sell their paintings or scripts or whatever else they spend their time doing.

Fairbanks does finally get his play read at the National Theatre but is thwarted by Austin Trevor who is jealous of Doug because he's stolen his love interest, played by Gertrude Lawrence.

Some of the setting is just in their dingy flats, the ones they don't want to pay for, some in quite lush surroundings. The acting I thought by Fairbanks is good but Gertie seemed melodramatic as if she was still on the stage. You know the sort of thing, hand dramatically covering the face when distraught, face thrust into Doug's when being emotional. Gertie holds the attention but I thought she was outdone in the looks department by her two co-star actresses. It is still very entertaining and worth a watch, being a well known plot and with some star acting.

Gertrude Lawrence's films never remotely approached the stature of her work on the West End stage, and when you see 'Mimi' (which rather recalls 'Bitter Sweet') you can understand why.

Supposedly an adaptation of 'La Vie de Boheme', it's set in Paris in the 1850s but the ambience feels more Viennese, while the characters seem like modern slackers dreaming their dreams of success while beset by a landlord constantly demanding money.

As befits a piece of thirties escapism the sets are certainly lavish, although more money seems to have been spent on the amazing hats both the men and the women wear.