Forever Amber fans might be interested in a short blog post, comparing the film to The Wicked Lady and including the full text of the 1946 Time magazine article that introduced the word 'cleavage' to the English language: www.darklanecreative.com/blog/cleavage-and-the-code-a-study-in-cinemor ality
shareSonds interesting, but the link didn't work for me.
shareMany thanks for letting me know - I think the link should work fine now
shareThanks, whatever you did worked.
Great post. Beautiful photographs. Lots of period gowns for the ladies and...ahem...for the gentlemen. I think restoration costumes are dead sexy, and it would seem unfortunate the censors agreed. Doubly interesting because we always hear about the controversies surrounding movies like The Outlaw with Jane Russell, but we rarely hear about costume epics (traditionally a 'stuffy' genre, but clearly not in this case). Oddly, though it is one of the more glamorous and salacious eras of history, Hollywood usually stays away from the Restoration (maybe too expensive, and back in the '40s too risque for American films). We can be thankful we have three high budget films of the '40s, and one of the '90s (Restoration), for those of us in the costume-and-cleavage camps.
I've always wanted to see Frenchman's Creek (though I found the book a little dull), and have really always wanted to see The Wicked Lady, which I'm sad to say doesn't show up much in the USA. I've heard brilliant things about it. Must admit I glanced over some of this blog post so as to avoid plot spoilers.
On the film Forever Amber not being as fun as it should be, this is true, but the fault is not that of the filmmakers or actors involved. The production was a very promising one, based on one of the all time most entertaining and bawdy novels, but was butchered beyond all recognition to appease the code and the Catholic Legion of Decency. It was also severely edited for time. The story itself needed the four hour Gone With The Wind treatment, but was truncated to some 2:20...long enough to drag on, but not long enough to do justice to the story. And then censorship concerns drained all the life and fun out of what was left.
Interesting about the legs vs. cleavage debate. There is a scene in the novel Forever Amber in which Amber draws crowds by appearing on stage in a Cleopatra costume with a long slit, as men are accustomed to low cut gowns, but not to exposed legs.
As an interesting side note, costumes from Frenchman's Creek and Forever Amber were recycled in the quickie pirate flicks, Captain Kidd and The Golden Hawk on Barbara Britton and Rhonda Fleming respectively. As a lover of the buccaneer genre, It's always fun to see gowns from more expensive films crop up in cheapie B movies. The same gown from Frenchman's Creek and Captain Kidd also showed up in publicity shots of Welsh-Irish actress Peggy Cummins when it was thought she would play Amber.
You've clearly got a sharp eye for recycled costumes - I'll have to rewatch those pirate films and see if I can spot those outfits. You really must see The Wicked Lady , and let me know your impressions afterwards. I was careful about giving away too much in the blog, but you might still prefer to watch the film first before reading it all in detail. You make a good case for reevaluating Forever Amber and I'm sure it deserves a more appreciative audience. I must confess I haven't seen Restoration - presumably you would recommend it?
shareOn Restoration (1995), I can't say that as a film it's anything terribly special for story or characters' sake, but from an art direction standpoint it is not to be missed. The story is entertaining enough, but simple, and drowns a bit in the lavish, momentous spectacle of the production. The decadent, licentious atmosphere of court life in Restoration is much truer to the spirit of Forever Amber than the 1947 film, though by contrast, the plot is a little more moralizing and self-important. It's still plenty of fun however, with eye-popping party scenes, lots of romps in the sheets, countless costume changes and a genuine sense of the era.
It justifiably took home Academy Awards for costume design and art direction/set decoration. James Newton Howard's beautiful and authentic score (which liberally samples seventeenth-century composer Henry Purcell) is the other real marvel of the film. The performances are generally good. Robert Downy Junior delivers one of his most unlikely and underrated performances and is much more at home in 1660s England than one might expect. Sam Neil steals the show by miles as the fun-loving but world-weary Charles II (probably the best King Charles I've seen on film to date). Polly Walker makes a gorgeous clothes-horse. Hugh Grant is hilarious in a surprising character role. The casting of Meg Ryan as an Irish peasant woman in a period piece is curious, and often citied as one of the film's chief flaws. I can't speak for her accent, but I thought her performance was adequate enough. She was such a conspicuous personality in the '90s, though, that she never really fully assimilates the character.
So, I would definitely recommend it for anyone interested in the period, or anyone in the mood for a real feast of the eyes...just don't expect the most groundbreaking or intellectual plot or characters. This came in the wake of the trend of high-brow period dramas, and E.M. Forester it's not....but viscerally beautiful and fun to watch, it is.