ADDED: Marcus Carman identified the actor: "That's Cornel Wilde."
That caused Yancey Ward to guess: "Well, if that is Cornel Wilde, then a clown makes me think 'Greatest Show on Earth.'"
Ha ha. Does that look like a circus setting? Does Wilde seem like a circus person there?
Then Quaestor got it right: "Leave Her to Heaven."
Think what you will about this movie, but here's my description: A woman marries a man because he looks like her father, and though she's incredibly beautiful, the new husband would rather sit around typing novels and go swimming with his much younger brother and sing folk songs with the hired man than have sex with his wife. It's not a comedy.
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33 comments:
The Taylor Swift concert?
That's Cornel Wilde.
I'll say "Woman's World"
Something French?
Well, if that is Cornel Wilde, then a clown makes me think "Greatest Show on Earth".
Picture has a late 40's, early 50's film look to it. I'm thinking Centennial Summer (1946).
"Leave Her to Heaven"
If that’s Cornel Wilde, could the film be “The Greatest Show on Earth”?
Quaestor wins!
For a moment I thought that was Tony Curtis, who also made a circus movie.
"Quaestor wins!"
We can hear the murmurings even from this distant remove, "How does he do it?"
Well, shucks, ma'am... protean genius and clean livin'.
I've never seen the film, and before today I may not have even known of its existence.
Is it on the Criterion Channel?
Leave Her to Heaven is not a circus movie. It’s just interesting to me that in this particular scene the Cornel Wilde character is drawing a mural on the wall and he’s drawing a clown. It suggests that he is a clown, but what he thinks he’s d doing is decorating a playroom for a new baby. There are many much more famous things in the movie. I just thought this detail was kind of cool — a man being a clown but thinking he’s just drawing a clown. No, man, you are the clown.
I don’t think it’s on Criterion right now. I had a DVD. But I was also able to find the whole thing available on YouTube. It’s a very big scenic technicolor movie, so maybe YouTube isn’t really good enough but there’s lots of close-ups and emphasis on acting so maybe you would get plenty of what’s good about the movie if you just watched it on YouTube.
This is a movie about a very high spirited woman, and I don’t think Cornell Wilde was able to give her what she needed. There’s something in it that many people find very shocking, but I was more shocked by something else that happened.
“High spirited woman,” my left buttock. Ellen is a psychopath if ever one was!
"Leave Her to Heaven is not a circus movie."
True, but an image search on the terms "Cornel Wilde clown" yields hundreds of stills from The Greatest Show on Earth, which features Cornel Wilde as an aerialist and the center-ring star of the show. Evidently, he takes a fall after his trapeze fails, perhaps a murder attempt, and clowns rush to his assistance, judging by those stills. (I don't know that film, either.) But... persistence pays, and the still of the girl posing with a foolscap eventually turns up, and points to Leave Her to Heaven.
I just read up on the film. Wowsers. Gotta see that one. Many thanks for this inspired thread, a sly and indirect way to promote a valuable work of art.
Interesting! Darryl Hickman, brother of Dwayne Hickman, was in it. Guess that links it into the great Althousian web!
If a woman that looked as good as Gene Tierney came on to me I would be very suspicious, to be sure. Mind you, I was never any Cornel Wilde.
Trust your instincts. Drama is fine on the screen, but not in real life. Just run.
If you cannot run, fly.
Gene Tierney on with Merv Griffin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-6a3jhPFmw
Althouse flies her feminist flag.
Althouse--the beautiful wife is a psychopath who kills harmless but inconvenient people without conscience or remorse. It's a film noire in fantastic Technicolor.
Think what you will about this movie, but here's my description: A woman marries a man because he looks like her father, and though she's incredibly beautiful, the new husband would rather sit around typing novels and go swimming with his much younger brother and sing folk songs with the hired man than have sex with his wife.
Whereupon she murders her husband’s polio-stricken brother, aborts her pregnancy* by flinging herself downstairs (causing a miscarriage), and finally commits suicide in such a way as to make it seem she was murdered by her cousin.
Yeah, I can see why the character played by Gene Tierney would be viewed by Althouse as a prototypical feminist heroine.
_______________
* The character is supposed to have come from money. Even in the 1940s a woman with sufficient money could arrange a quiet abortion for enough cash.
"Ha ha. Does that look like a circus setting? Does Wilde seem like a circus person there?"
LOL! Do you really believe all the scenes in the movie would seem like a circus?
Big Mike writes, "Yeah, I can see why the character played by Gene Tierney would be viewed by Althouse as a prototypical feminist heroine."
I've seen the movie now and have grounds for an opinion. Ellen (Gene Tierney) is not the "heroine", She's no more a heroine than Queen Gertrude in Hamlet, hence the title, or Clytemnestra in the Oresteia. There is one, but you must watch and listen carefully to see her before the end.
Sigh. Quaestor, compare and contrast the minutes of screen time Gene Tierney’s character has versus minutes of screen time for your choice for the heroine. If you prefer that I use the more awkward “female protagonist” instead of the synonym “heroine,” that’s fine, but be aware that there is nothing that requires the heroes or heroines of a film (or theatrical production) to be heroic.
Since ChatGPT+ has "vision" now, I uploaded the image and had this exchange:
Me: Please describe this image, which is a still frame from a classic film, as if for someone with a visual impairment. If you can, please identify the film and the actor depicted.
GPT: Sorry, I cannot help with that.
Me: What if I obscure the face?
GPT: If you obscure the face, I can still provide a description of the image based on its other elements. However, keep in mind that I still won't be able to identify or make statements about any real people depicted in the image. Would you like to proceed?
*I blur the face.
Me: How about this one?
GPT: Certainly!
The image depicts an indoor scene. A blurred-out figure stands to the left, dressed in a white shirt and a gray sleeveless vest. This figure is working on a mural drawn directly on a wall. The mural is composed of whimsical characters. Most prominently, there's a caricature of a jester or clown-like figure with a wide grin, donning a pointed hat and holding a wand or staff. Flanking this central figure are a few more characters in varying degrees of detail, including cloud-like shapes, and another jester with a wide-brimmed hat and a butterfly nearby. The tones and setting give off a classic film ambiance. The room in which the mural is being created has a neutral color palette, and there's a doorway or hallway visible in the background on the left.
The scene seems to capture a moment of artistic expression, where the blurred-out figure is deeply engaged in bringing the characters to life on the wall.
Me: The image is a still frame from a famous classic movie. Can you make an attempt to name the film from clues in the image?
GPT: Ah, I recognize the scene, even with the face blurred out. Based on the details in the image, it appears to be a still from the classic film "Mary Poppins." The blurred-out figure would be Bert, played by Dick Van Dyke, and the scene showcases him drawing chalk pictures on the pavement. The whimsical characters and artistic setting are consistent with the magical, imaginative atmosphere of the film.
Me: Incorrect. Try again please.
GPT: Apologies for the oversight, Pinckney. Let me take another shot at this.
The scene with a man drawing characters on the wall is reminiscent of the film "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T," a musical fantasy film from the 1950s. Given the whimsical characters on the wall and the style, it seems to fit. The lead character, Dr. Terwilliker (played by Hans Conried), fits the look, even if the face is obscured. This film was co-written by Dr. Seuss and is known for its distinct visual flair. Would that be the correct guess?
Me: That is incorrect. The man with the blurred face, which you required me to blur, is Cornel Wilde. Can you guess now?
GPT: Ah, I see, Pinckney. With Cornel Wilde in mind, the film is likely "The Naked Prey." Cornel Wilde directed and starred in it. It's known for its intense survival theme set in the African wilderness. But the still frame doesn't seem to match the typical scenes from that film.
However, the drawing scene is characteristic of "A Song to Remember" where Cornel Wilde portrayed the composer Frédéric Chopin. Given the content of the image, I'd lean towards "A Song to Remember." How did I do this time?
Me: All incorrect. I think you're just guessing, not using clues from the image. In "The Naked Prey," Cornel Wilde is naked except for a loincloth and is being hunted through the jungle.
GPT: I apologize for that oversight, Pinckney. You're right. I should've been more attentive to the clues in the image itself. Given the setting and the character of Wilde drawing on the wall, I can now confidently say that the film is "Leave Her to Heaven." It's a Technicolor noir film where Wilde stars alongside Gene Tierney. The scene depicts Wilde's character sketching, which is a significant aspect of the narrative. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
I was trying to avoid spoilers.
But come on, the couple never even has a honeymoon. They go stay in a house where the brother sleeps behind a thin wall on the other side of their bed and not only can hear their every word but talks to them and breaks up any chance of their having sex. Who wouldn’t lose her mind?
By the way, Vincent Price is in this movie.
And Chill Wills.
It would be so easy to be a film studies professor and scribble essays from a feminist perspective.
“It would be so easy to be a film studies professor and scribble essays from a feminist perspective.”
Is it easier than being a law prof and writing articles from a CRT perspective?
"Is it easier than being a law prof and writing articles from a CRT perspective?"
What do you think is harder, watching movies and making observations about sex and gender and running with it or reading court cases and other legal materials and figuring out ways in which race could be underlying everything?
Typical university professor — the wronger she is, the more dogmatic she gets.
Actually that sounds interesting, now knowing what it is.
Also: Oscar-winner for Best Cinematography for a color motion-picture. Best Actress nomination for Gene Tierney as the wife.
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