DEBORAH KERR (1921-2007)
I could never tell how old Deborah Kerr was onscreen. Her nature made her seem older to me. I would have guessed that she was nearly 40 during FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and yet she was a mere 32. A solid actress that was respected in her time and forgotten by many today. The news of her death took 3 weeks to reach me.
THE HUCKSTERS (1947) – This is one of the better post World War II Clark Gable movies based on a best-selling novel. It’s full of great character actors (Sidney Greenstreet, Adolph Menjou, Edward Arnold) and Kerr plays the leading lady. Its subject is the dishonesty of advertising and yet the movie is still tame by comparison to what they’d do with the subject today. The summer show Ad Men on American Movie Classics seems to be inspired by this idea.
JULIUS CAESAR (1953) – You’d think that Marlon Brando as Marc Antony would make this a joke, but it’s really a solid Shakespeare movie, and probably the most underrated one. Kerr plays Portia in the All-Star cast.
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) – She will always be remembered for the waves rolling in on her and Burt Lancaster. It’s based on what I think is the best novel of the 20th Century. And yet I still like the film despite its brevity.
THE KING AND I (1956) – Yul Brenner had played this so long on Broadway that he really had the character unlike many screen musicals. Kerry plays the thankless straight character to Brenner’s eccentricities and she does so with grace and aplomb.
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957) – Everlasting especially after the homage in Sleepless in Seattle. It’s a chick film, but one well enough made that guys can enjoy it for what it’s worth. It’s certainly better than Sleepless in Seattle.
HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON (1957) – Robert Mitchum is the Marine and Deborah Kerr is the nun stranded on a south seas island. The dual struggle between saving themselves while not getting caught up in their feelings for one another is really pulled off first rate by these actors. I just don’t think you could make the movie today, because in these less innocent times the tension between the two could never really build in the same way.
SEPARATE TABLES (1958) – This feels stagey like the play it’s based on. A lot of credit is given for the performances but it didn’t do a whole lot for me despite it’s excellent reputation.
THE INNOCENTS (1961) – Based on the Henry James Turn of the Screw, Kerry is fabulous as the governess that can’t make sense of her possibly supernatural world.
6 comments:
If you can your hands on Ms Kerr's pre-Hollywood film work from the UK, you're in for an incredible treat. Hollywood barely tapped her gifts. She was remarkable from the beginning. "I See a Dark Stranger" is a must, along with "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp," "Black Narcissus." A very youthful Kerr is seen in Major Barbara.
I'll check them out.
I was shown THE INNONCENTS in 10th grade English class. I have never forgotten it. Incredible atmospheric suspense - it's a film both modern and old-fashioned at once.
Dear Tom:
Alas, you left out King Solomon’s Mines (1950) and Quo Vadis (1951).
True Mike. I only listed the ones I've seen. I missed the British period, the two you mentioned, and a bunch of others.
I don't remember ever seeking out a Kerr film for her presence and yet she appeared in a bunch of things worth watching. I take it that those two are worth seeing.
Dear Tom:
Yes. King Solomon’s Mines is a great African adventure tale. Quo Vadis tells a story of Rome at the end of Nero’s reign. It is full of early Christianity and Roman imperial decadence. Nero as portrayed by Peter Ustinov is superb.
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