A New Kind Of Love
Picture: B-
Sound: C Extras: D Film: C+
You can’t blame Paramount. The 1956 Stanley Donen Musical classic Funny Face was one
of their greatest films, commercially and critically. Writer, producer and director Melville Shavelson was given a shot
to try and do a non-musical film in the same world of fashion that they hoped
would repeat that success to at least some extent. A New Kind Of Love was a light comedy issued in 1963 and
it did not go off as well as planned, but it is not a terrible film
either. Heck, they even go to Paris!
Real life husband and wife Joanne Woodward (see Three
Faces Of Eve elsewhere on this site) and Paul Newman are antagonists. She, a fashion designer and hack rip-off
artists, he, the man who regrets ever meeting her. He is a newspaper reporter by trade and the story is told from
his point of view. To say his view of
things is passively sexist and politically incorrect is an understatement, but
as off putting as that might be for some, the film is at least ambitious in
trying to pull off a good show. Though
it ultimately takes us to where we have been before, the cast is likable and
saves the film.
This includes Thelma Ritter, Eva Gabor (a few years before
Green Acres, the TV classic reviewed elsewhere on this site), George
Tobias, Marvin Kaplan (Henry the Phone repairman from TV’s Alice and
later of David Lynch’s Wild At Heart, also reviewed on this site) and
Maurice Chevalier as “himself”. From
that last bit of casting, even they knew they were breaking no new ground. Edith Head does the costumes. This is a film for the fun of it and that is
how we recommend you approach it, maybe even in a double feature with Funny
Face.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image was shot by
cinematographer Daniel L. Fapp, A.S.C., with second-unit camerawork by Loyal
Griggs, A.S.C., and the use of color is one of the highlights of the film. Besides having a good-looking film print,
the use of color knowing the film was going to be printed in three-strip dye-transfer
Technicolor is impressive and this print often shows just how exceptional those
colors are. Many times, this is
demonstration quality in that respect, which further lifts the film above its
limits. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is
the other limit here, sounding a bit smaller than it should. That is a shame, because Errol Garner and
Leith Stevens provide the original music, while Frank Sinatra performs the
title song as he was warming up at his new record label, Reprise. I wondered where the original recordings
were and if they were in stereo. A
remix for this film, like the one for Funny Face, would certainly have
made this even more of a pleasure. As
it stands, A New Kind Of Love is a mixed success worth a look all these
years later. Funny and classy always
mix well.
- Nicholas Sheffo
