This is a very good movie.
I hope television shows it some time. And what a great parting shot.
shareIt's certainly very dramatic,anyhow the movie will be released on DVD in Feb,with another Turner/Ross Hunter movie Madame X.
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MovieChat Forums > Portrait in Black (1960) Discussion > This is a very good movie.
This is a very bad movie, in fact. VERY bad. Nice looking sets and costumes (typically Ross) but the writing is hideous and Anthony Quinn has never been as bad as he is here. Lana looks pretty, but it's just a long and boring sudser/potboiler. Imitation Of Life - yes. Portrait in Black - no.
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I agree. I was disappointed with this movie. Imitation of Life was wonderful, but this movie didn't work for me.
What this movie lacks is pacing. After the first ten minutes it deteriorates into a collection of over-dramatic scenes, relentlessly played out in sucession, BAM, BAM, BAM. There's no build up, little development, and the whole treatment is heavy-handed as they try and serve the suspense and drama up thick and fast. As a result, it goes way over the top, including the kitty springing down from the staircase! After a while you start to feel the contrivedness of the whole thing.
this IS a very bad movie. and I loved it. it is so transparently overwrought - and Lana is in her element. Gorgeous clothes.
Gawd Anthony Quinn was an unattractive man....and I laughed embarrassedly at the chinee music that played everytime the Asian househelper came in the frame...
I found this movie very entertaining and I have watched it several times. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
shareI enjoyed this film as well and was so glad to have it released on dvd. I just love Lana Turner...from Portrait in Black...to Imitation of Life.... to Peyton Place..to Falcon Crest. She was hollywood royalty.
shareI doubt that anyone would claim that "Portrait in Black" is a good film but, as an earlier post says, it's very entertaining. Lana looks incredibly gorgeous, the sets are wonderful, she has a great supporting cast - need I go on? This is one of those films which is a guilty pleasure. Of course it's nonsense from beginning to end, but the look of it is so damned glamorous who cares?
I certainly don't!
I agree with lanatic, it's a fun movie to watch, for all the wrong reasons! I especially love the way the music swells during the dialogue...everything is just so over the top. Its become one of my 'go to' movies when I need a pick me up. :-)
shareIt is fun, glossy trash - just like Lana.
I heard somewhere that her costumes and jewels nearly broke a record because of their cost.
I didn't find it bad or boring at all. For me it came close to "Vertigo" which was also shot in San Francisco a few years before "Portrait in Black".
In any case I like this one a lot better than the highly over-rated "Imitation of Life".
It certainly doesn't get shown enough on TV here in the UK. Drama Channel 20 have just shown it. It's the first time that I've seen it. That photo negative shot at the window in the end was terrific.
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