THE MATING SEASON
(Paramount) ", HELMA RITTER is the newest comedian of the American screen, and her arrival deserves a small fanfare. She doesn’t look more than five feet tall, and she has the glum, rather ugly face of a clown. Her voice is cracked, and her jokes are delivered either dead-pan or with a deceptively guileless smile. She has neither youth nor beauty, . but whether she is dishing up hamburgers in a snack bar, hitch-hiking to her son’s society wedding, or offending the snobby rich with her outspoken servant’s contempt (her invariable role is in the kitchen), her humour is warm, earthy, and immensely sympathetic. When I first saw her as the maid in A Letter to Three Wives she had only a small part, but there was something memorable about her style. In All About Eve she played the personal servant of the great actress (Bette Davis) with a cheerful Jése majesté that showed she was destined for better things. The Matirg Season was produced and partly scripted by Charles Brackett (of the famous Brackett and Wilder team which made The Lost Weekend and Sunset Boulevard) but the only credit he deserves for it was in letting Thelma Ritter steal so many scenes from the principals, John Lund and Gene Tierney (the happy couple), and Miriam Hopkins (the mother-in-law). Even for comedy, this film contains a set of artificial situations and poisonous characters which are hard to stomach. Let’s hope that in her next film Miss Ritter has the full-sized role and decent story which she de serves. It should be really funny.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19510817.2.50.1.3
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 25, Issue 633, 17 August 1951, Page 24
Word count
Tapeke kupu
264THE MATING SEASON New Zealand Listener, Volume 25, Issue 633, 17 August 1951, Page 24
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in