MovieChat Forums > Berserk (1968) Discussion > The shadow on Joan's neck

The shadow on Joan's neck


Every time I see this film I have a good laugh once again at this blatant attempt to hide the star's age. In every closeup she has, there is a strong black shadow covering Joan's throat, implying that it is the shadow of a ceiling beam. However, almost every scene Joan is in is either in a trailer(no ceiling beams there!) or in the big top(not even a ceiling there!). I admire the stars like Joan, Garbo, Dietrich and others who were very savvy about lighting and were able to use it to their advantage, but this is just so blatant and shameless a use of chiaroscuro that it cracks me up every time. It reminds me of how Norma Shearer only ever allowed the cameraman to shoot her from certain angles in order to disguise the fact that she was horrendously cross-eyed. I'll have to watch Berserk! again to see if the 'beam' occurs in any outdoor shots!

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You'll also notice the "key-light" illuminating her eyes and upper face, which was her sight-line to the camera and was supposed to distract you from the shadowed chin and neck. It's evident in Crawford films as far back as the 1950s, and while other actresses certainly used it, for some reason it's just so noticeable in Crawford's films. As you said, none of these lighting 'tricks' was unusual, and the masters of Hollywood cinematography in the 1930s and 1940s came up with them. Kate Hepburn had the easiest solution about the neck, though - she just covered the darned thing up (which was one reason the period costumes for LION IN WINTER delighted her)!

And the tight hairdo Crawford wore in most scenes almost certainly doubled as a "temporary" face-lift. Gotta hand it to Crawford - she knew every trick in the books and used 'em!

"I don't use a pen: I write with a goose quill dipped in venom!"---W. Lydecker

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They do the same thing in "Autumn Leaves." I don't know if it was in her contract or she was just too formidable not to get it. Yes, it is VERY noticeable.

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***You must be old and wrinkled to have that type of reaction. - Liana***

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It reminds me of how Norma Shearer only ever allowed the cameraman to shoot her from certain angles in order to disguise the fact that she was horrendously cross-eyed.

Ben Turpin was horrendously cross-eyed. Norma Shearer wasn't. :-)

As for Joan, her age might have caught up to her at this point of her career, but she still had fantastic legs.

No blah, blah, blah!

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Joan was very aware of her lighting and insisted that she be lit a certain way. She preferred to work with people who knew how to light her correctly.

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i doubted at first but its true, joans neck is always in some sort of shadow...in one scene she walks from one shadow to the next! my god woman, just put on a turtleneck! enough with the shadows!

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Yes, I noticed this "special lighting" on Joan as well. She was also lit this way in "The Caretakers" (1963). In every shot with any type of close-up, no matter where she was, a shadow fell across her neck and forehead. But in "Della" (1964) they did something different. In that film, in every close-up, they used the old "soft focus" technique. It was really, really bad, especially when shots kept switching back and forth between here and other characters.

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Yes, I noticed the softt-focus when I tracked down DELLA on the internet a couple of years ago. Doris Day was also filmed this way in the 60s, and though everyone carps about its unsuccessful use to disguise Lucille Ball's age in 1974's MAME, Warners had used in on her a decade earlier in CRITICS' CHOICE (plus, Lucy had banned close-ups of her on her TV series by the mid-60s).

"Somewhere along the line the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."

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A lot of actresses kept their figures, slim and trim.
but the neck is a dead give away for most women's age. she was 62/63 here? even the best aged women don't have youthful necks at that age.

Joan certainly kept her self trim and had great legs. she obviously kept to a diet and some kind of Exercise. but so many actresses smoked and drank. which made their faces hard. had she not drank and smoked I bet she would have looked much softer.

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Her legs looked really good in this. Her ringmaster's costume showed them off perfectly.

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