Angústia de uma Alma

Having seen this movie again after many years, I was surprised how well it holds up.

Jean Simmons gave a convincing performance as the young girl, terrified and confused by the disappearance overnight of her brother and the refusal of the hotel staff to acknowledge that he even existed. Dirk Bogarde gives his usual excellent performance as the English artist who comes to her rescue.

Although the plot is fairly predictable, the suspense is maintained right to the end, the setting of Paris during the Great Exhibition is picturesque and both Miss Simmons and Mr Bogarde look delightful What more can you ask for?

Fascinating film from Britain's Rank/Gainsborough Pictures, slyly written by Hugh Mills and Anthony Thorne, has young woman from Naples traveling with her stuffy brother to Paris in 1889 for the Exposition, only to awaken the next morning in their hotel to find her sibling strangely missing. Plot-line has since been well-trodden, and probably wasn't completely fresh in 1950, however the mechanics of the situation are engrossing due in no small part to the direction and performances. Jean Simmons, in both period dress and costume for the festivities, looks very beautiful and handles the high drama with aplomb (though perhaps giving her Vicky Barton more dialogue might have made the character even sharper). Dirk Bogarde, as a painter who met the missing man quite by chance the night he vanished, is excellent teaming up with Simmons to play detective. Stylish, enjoyable film plays fair with the audience to a large degree; a few far-fetched incidents, including a head-scratching balloon disaster, don't detract from the fun. *** from ****

Ever since Miss Froy disappeared from a central European train in Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" the "Suddenly there - next moment not" film genre has made for sure-fire entertainment. Of all its many offshoots the one I often return to with great pleasure is the little known "So Long At The Fair" which stars a radiant Jean Simmons as a young English woman visiting the Great Paris Exhibition of 1889 with her brother (David Tomlinson) who disappears from his hotel bedroom after the first night of their stay. What is even more intriguing is that the room itself appears to have vanished. The rest of the film is almost entirely taken up with the girl's desperate search for her brother in a beautiful city that has suddenly become alien through her frightful circumstance and the lack of understanding and sympathy of most around her. Fortunately during the latter stages there is a Prince Charming to aid her quest in the form of Dirk Bogarde at his most gallant. If his reassuring presence takes away something of the film's tension, the scenes up to this point are almost unbearable as we share Jean Simmons's frustrations and watch her one lifeline to the truth she is telling come literally tumbling from the skies. Even knowledge of a most convincing denouement does not dissipate the film's many pleasures on subsequent viewings. These include Benjamin Frankel's delightfully catchy "Carriage and Pair" that actually made the "Top Ten" in its day, the beauty of Jean Simmons lovingly celebrated in a glorious closeup at the very beginning and that strange rarity for a British work of that period, a film in which the French characters actually converse with each other in their native tongue rather than resorting to "'Allo, 'Allo" speak, and this without a single subtitle. Expressions make everything abundantly clear.

Wonderful re-creation of the gai Paris of l'exposition universelle with its Eiffel Tower(which was to be destroyed after it,but they did not,certainly wisely).Superb atmosphere in "l'hotel de la licorne" where Cathleen Nesbitt impressed me with her perfect French (I thought she was French).There are probably too many people in Paris 1889 who speak English ,but Terence Fisher makes a welcome frequent use of the Victor Hugo language.

As for the story,it's an absorbing story of a gentleman who vanishes in the grand tradition of "the lady vanishes" but Jean Simmons's character,who's slowly believing she's losing her mind reminds me more of "Gaslight" (1940 and 1944).The scene with the balloon is a great moment:is -it really an accident? Who's behind all that?Spies?Thieves?Murderers?You'll be wondering during the whole movie and the ending,for once ,will not disappoint you:it's so unexpected that it's impossible to guess it .Excellent performances by the whole cast.

Don't watch this period piece if you're feeling at all frustrated. Because it's about 90-minutes of on-screen frustration as poor Vicki (Simmons) tries to convince everyone that her version of reality is truer than everyone else's. The trouble is she had a brother in the hotel the night before, but in the morning everyone else says she didn't. So, where is her brother and why are the hotel people lying and will the French authorities ever take the word of one small English woman who can't speak their language. It's just one maddening frustration after another. Meanwhile, we're wondering what the heck is going on.

It's a really good suspenser as we accompany Vicki while she tries, with George's (Bogarde) help, to unravel the baffling mystery. The studio does a great job re- creating the appearance of 19th century Paris and its elaborate Exhibition, especially the ballooning episode. Also, I really like the boisterous nightclub scene that overflows with energetic gaiety. David Tomlinson too is perfect as the rather uptight English brother who can't seem to get into the swing of things Parisian. And where did they get that hotel majordomo (Catherine Nesbitt) who's officious enough to intimidate King Kong.

Anyway, the movie's enough to make you appreciate everyday things like a common reality we can all agree on. The riveting premise may have been done more than once, but never better than here.