Intermezzo (MGM/1939)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: B-
It is always an odd experience watching Gregory Ratoff’s Intermezzo,
the 1939 romance classic about a problematic love affair between a married
violin player (Leslie Howard) and piano teaching “family friend” (Ingrid
Bergman) of his young daughter. It is a
smart, literate, well-paced-enough drama with some share of melodrama, but it
is considered one of the year’s many numerous classics. Added is the mystique of it being a Selznick
International Studios production, the same year Gone With The Wind was
released.
No doubt Bergman is irresistible in her early prime as her
star was rising, in her first English-speaking role, and the fact it was a hit
did not hurt either. The film only runs
70 minutes, a B-movie length by any standards, but one can only stretch any
soap opera out so much before it becomes thin and tired. In the original 1936 Swedish version
appeared in, the film ran longer and likely was not quite as sappy. Either way, this version screams star power
and star quality from the Classical Hollywood era and is constantly,
justifiably popular. It just is too
simple for viewers like me to enjoy repeat viewing, yet that is the very reason
so many love it. I am a fan of Bergman
and Howard is one of the underrated greats of his era, so see it with that in
mind.
For starters, before covering the image quality, it must
be said that it is inexcusable that MGM has blackened out the Selznick
International Studios opening after their digitally enhanced lion growl, but
you can still hear the Selznick theme.
This will tick off more than a few collectors. As for the black and white image, this looks good for its age,
but is not the best full frame 1.33 X 1 such image around and has some
limits. However, it will do until
digital High Definition and fares well as compared with the 35mm print I
screened many years ago. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is not bad either for its age, with less compression than
expected. There are no extras, but I
offer this. Bergman worked for Selznick
for several years after this, including some of Alfred Hitchcock’s films. Spellbound (1945, available as a
Criterion DVD edition running out of print) has a great scene where she and
co-star Gregory Peck go out to the park and eat. That scene tends to send up the later traveling scene in this
film. You’ll know it when Bergman
expresses her joy of “liverwurst”.
- Nicholas Sheffo
