To maximise the number of possible attendees, we have changed the day on which we meet for melodrama. Meetings will now take place on the Wednesday of even weeks, from 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
Screening dates:
6th of February
20th of February
6th of March
20th of March
3rd of April
My sincere apologies to anyone who is inconvenienced by this change.
All are very welcome to join us for the first of this term’s screening and discussion sessions. We’ll be showing Cast a Dark Shadow (1955, Lewis Gilbert, 82 mins) on Monday the 21st of January, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
The film continues our focus on Dirk Bogarde. In Cast a Dark Shadow he stars as Teddy, a man who having disposed of one wealthy wife (Mona Washbourne) is lining up Margaret Lockwood as the next Mrs Bare… Consideration of these as women in peril allows us to examine another facet of melodrama, since it returns the group to the subject of the Gothic.
Do join us if you can.
We are pleased to announce the dates for this term’s melodrama screening and discussion sessions. Like last term, these will take place on the Monday evenings of ‘even’ weeks of term, between 5 and 7 pm, in Jarman 6. All are very welcome to attend.
The dates comprise:
21st of January
4th of February
18th of February
4th of March
18th of March
1st of April
Once again, there will be a focus on Dirk Bogarde, and more details will be posted on the blog in due course.
All are very welcome to join us for the last meeting of the term. We will be screening I Could Go On Singing (1963, Ronald Neame, 99 mins) on Monday the 10th of December, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
The film was not assigned the label ‘melodrama’ by the American industry magazine Box Office, but is referred to as a ‘drama with songs’ (18th March, 1963). This allows us to consider an important element of melodrama we have not yet considered in relation to Dirk Bogarde melodramas – music.
It is unsurprising that Box Office’s main focus in advice to cinemas as to how to advertise the film in the US (and probably the UK) is its female lead – singing mega-star Judy Garland – rather than Bogarde, who plays her British ex-husband. The magazine’s ‘exploitips’ says that the big selling angle is indeed the music, with Garland performing songs in a film for the first time since A Star is Born (1954).
Catchlines (short sentences which Box Office suggests can be used) refer to the music, but also outline a melodramatic performance style and plot: ‘Judy Garland, Singing, Laughing and Tearing Your Heart Out In a Great Drama with Songs Galore…She Had to Let Love Pass Her By as She Sang to her Public From the Lonely Stage.’
Do join us, if you can, for what is likely to be an emotional viewing!
All are very welcome to join us for the next instalment in our series of Dirk Bogarde melodramas. We will show The Singer Not the Song (1961, Roy Ward Baker, 132 mins) on Monday the 26th of November, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
The main plotline of the film was summarised by the US trade magazine Boxoffice on the film’s releases in that country in May 1962 as follows: ‘John Mills, a Catholic priest, arrives in a small Mexican town to take over for a predecessor who had bowed to the will of Dirk Bogarde, a bandit who has the townsfolk intimated.’ (8th January 1962)
While the plot description continues, for the sake of avoiding spoilers, I’ll just add that the two men end up in a battle for the town, and the soul of local girl, Mylene Demongeot…
In terms of melodrama, at the time of the film’s UK release (in January 1961) John Cutts, in the film magazine Films and Filming, reviewed it as a ‘protracted adventure-melodrama’ (February 1961, p. 33).
Do join us, if you can, for our move into colour and adventure!
Due to the film’s length we’ll attempt to start promptly at 5pm.
All are very welcome to join us as we return to screening melodramas starring Dirk Bogarde. We will be showing Libel (1959, Anthony Asquith, 100 mins) on Monday the 12th of November, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
The screenplay was adapted by Anatole de Grunwald and Karl Tunberg from the 1935 play of the same name by Edward Wooll. It stars Bogarde as Baronet Sir Mark Sebastien Loddon, a man who launches a libel action after he is accused of being an imposter. It was described as a ‘courtroom melodrama’ on its release in the United States by the trade journals Harrison’s Reports (24th October 1959, p. 170) and the Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (26th of October 1959, p. 21).
Do join us, if you can, for a film which also stars Olivia de Havilland (as Loddon’s wife), Paul Massie (as Loddon’s accuser), Robert Morley (acting for the prosecution) and Wilfrid Hyde-White (as the defence counsel).
All are very welcome to join us as we take a brief break from Dirk to screen something suitably Halloweeny. We will be showing The Bat Whispers (1930, Roland West, 83 mins) on Monday the 29th of October, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
The Bat Whispers tells the tale of an infamous criminal (the bat of the title) who has supposedly retired. A bank robbery near Cornelia Van Gorder’s (Grayce Hampton) home suggests otherwise, however. As the house is filled with unexplained noises and spooky occurrences, Detective Anderson (Chester Morris) arrives on the scene to investigate…
Like last time’s offering, Hunted, the film was categorised as a ‘melodrama’ by the trade press. In a double-page advertisement for the film in Film Daily (11th December, 1930) the film is hailed as the ‘Best Mystery Melo Screen Has Had For Decade’.
Do join us if you can, to watch a film which allows us to focus on the first element of the mystery violence chase of male melodrama.
All are very welcome to join us for our next melodrama screening, on Monday the 15th of October, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6. We will be showing Hunted (1952, Charles Crichton, 84 mins).
This film, also known as The Stranger In Between, stars Dirk Bogarde as Chris Lloyd, a desperate man who has killed his wife’s (Elizabeth Sellars’) lover. After being discovered in a bombed out house by a boy, Robbie (Jon Whitely), Chris has to take the young witness with him as he goes on the run…
In contrast to Esther Waters’ focus on the suffering, though resilient, heroine, Hunted focuses on Bogarde’s tortured male criminal. The film contains aspects of the male melodrama, which Steve Neale relates to the Hollywood director Raoul Walsh’s use of ‘mystery, violence, chase’ (Genre and Hollywood, 2000).
To reinforce such a categorisation, trade paper Variety’s review called the film a ‘man-hunt meller’ (i.e. melodrama) (5th March, 1952, p. 6). Furthermore, fan magazine Picturegoer’s review commented on the last of the three aspect Walsh favoured: it describes the film as an ‘exciting chase’ (15 March, 1952, p. 16).
Do join us, if you can, for the second in our season of Dirk Bogarde melodramas.
All are very welcome to join us for the first of this term’s melodrama screening and discussion sessions. We are screening Esther Waters (Ian Dalrymple and Peter Proud, 108 mins) on Monday the 1st of October, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
As explained in a previous post, the BFI has very kindly recently allowed me access to its collection of Dirk Bogarde journals. This collection of magazines and other ephemera featuring Dirk was donated to the BFI by the late star’s estate. This led me to think about how focusing on one star, and especially a male one, for a term, may begin to show some of the many facets of melodrama.
We are taking a chronological approach, and start with Dirk’s third film, and first credited and starring role. The Victorian melodrama Esther Waters is adapted from the 1894 novel by Irish writer, George Moore. It sees Dirk playing a groom who seduces the heroine, kitchen-maid Esther (Kathleen Ryan), abandons her, is reunited with her, and, predictably, causes her further heartache.
Dirk’s earliest appearance in a film fan magazine in the BFI’s journal collection is the feature article ‘Dirk Takes His First Chance’, in the UK’s Picturegoer, on the 23rd October 1948 p. 5 (for the accompanying portrait and caption, please see picture above). This would have been available to readers by the date of Esther Waters’ release (22nd September 1948). The article is strangely ambivalent about the quality of the film (though please don’t let that put you off!) Its subheading observes that ‘[t]he picture itself was given only a mixed reception from the critics and judgment on the young man has to some extent been suspended until his next can be seen. All the same, his work in “Esther Waters” shows promise and imagination. Dirk is convinced he can do it’.
While this is less gushing than we might expect from a fan magazine, the very presence of the feature article, and its contents, suggests that Dirk is being built up as a star by the studio he is contracted to, J Arthur Rank. This includes ‘factual’ comments on Dirk’s family and theatre background, and also an insight into his person. He is reported to have artistic tendencies, to be sensitive and shy, although this is balanced by a focus on the bravery he displayed during his war service.
We can compare this to later fan magazine coverage of Dirk as we address several of his other films in detail. It will also be worth focusing on the gap between the supposed ‘real’ Dirk and the ‘screen’ Dirk. The article mentions Esther Waters is a ‘good test’ of his talent since he plays a character ‘entirely unlike himself’. We can consider if as time goes on the ‘real’ Dirk, at least the one presented by fan magazines, alters and/or whether his screen image adapts to reflect his star image. For example, the caption to the above picture (from the article) ponders ‘[w]here does he go from there’ and notes that Dirk’s next role will be a ‘modern’ one – the case for much of his career.
You can also see more on my work on the BFI collection of Dirk Bogarde journals on the NoRMMA blog: http://www.normmanetwork.com/
Do join us, if you can, for the first in our Dirk season.
We now have a provisional list of films we’re screening in the Autumn Term. We’re focusing on several films of the British star Dirk Bogarde. (Apart from our Halloween offering on the 29th of October which dates from 1930 and stars Chester Morris.)
1st October Esther Waters (1948, Ian Dalrymple and Peter Proud, 108 mins)
15th October Hunted (1952, Charles Crichton, 84 mins)
29th October The Bat Whispers (1930, Roland West, 83 mins)
12th November EITHER A Tale of Two Cities (1958, Ralph Thomas, 117 mins)
OR Libel (1959, Anthony Asquith, 100 mins)
26th November The Singer Not the Song (1961, Roy Ward Baker, 132 mins)
10th December I Could Go On Singing (1963, Ronald Neame, 99 mins)
More detail on each film will be posted in advance of its screening.
All are very welcome to join us on these dates, from 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.
