INTERMEZZO
(United Artists)
So Hollywood has "discovered" another new foreign star. Ingrid Bergman is her name; she comes from Sweden; and they're calling her "exotic" and "a star of ecstasy" (I thought "ecstasy" was the prerogative of Hedy La Marr?) It’s happened so often that this department absolutely refuses to get wildly excited any more about new foreign stars; but allowing for that, Ingrid Bergman is the best bit of Scandinavian produce imported by Hollywood since Greta Garbo, She has grave beauty, with high cheek bones, a wide-mouthed smile, a deep contralto voice, and an intensity about her acting which gives the illusion that she really is as desperately in love with Leslie Howard as the story would have us believe. As for the story, it is what I believe they call a "vehicle" for their new star, which rather suggests that Leslie Howard is merely a passenger. But Mr. Howard can look so soulful with a violin tucked under his chin (he’s a great
musician in the tale), can break the seventh commandment with such a spiritual air and register repentance so movingly that my wife is probably not unique in preferring him (old as he is) to all the other men on the screen, With notable generosity I will even say that I fully share her admiration for his acting, which in this case makes the very best of a routine part; and after that concession I think I may truthfully add that I found Miss Bergman infinitely more pleasant to watch. The story? Well, if you insist. There’s a middle-aged man (that’s not rubbing it in, he really is 46), his no-longer-young wife, and a lovely young music teacher. Youth calls to middle-age and middle-age has its fling (the film, being about musical people, refers to it as an "intermezzo" in the husband’s life). It takes a motor-accident to the hero’s little daughter to solve the domestic problem and satisfy the Hays Office. The accident is the one and only occasion when the action is other than leisurely, and the directien isn’t what you could call inspired (that dog, for instance); but as against that there’s some fine music, good photography, Leslie Howard and-most important-
Ingrid Bergman.
G.
M.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19391222.2.79.2
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 26, 22 December 1939, Page 47
Word Count
372INTERMEZZO New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 26, 22 December 1939, Page 47
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