Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves a...展开nd immortality” – Emily DickinsonIf Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play La Morte in Vacanza by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line The Weirdest Love Story ever told! (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)See also the remake Death Takes A Holiday (1971)收起
关联推荐
猜你喜欢
7.1 HD中字
本电影讲述了英国著名诗人勃朗宁夫人与其丈夫相遇相恋的故事。伊丽莎白·巴雷特（瑙玛·希拉饰）由于腿疾一直被困在自己的房间中，父亲的严厉与病痛的折磨让她对生活失去兴趣，只希望自己早日步入死神的怀抱。某
已完结
Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mo
8.0 已完结
Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves
HD中字版
Bandits led by Matt the Mute enter a bar and kill multiple people. Randy Bowers comes to town and
HD中字|HD国语|HD粤语
Sadie McKee的一生跌宕起伏。她是富有的阿尔德森家族的厨师之女，当律师的迈克.阿尔德森喜欢她，但她与男友汤米私奔至纽约。二人本来准备结婚，但是汤米勾搭上舞女多莉之后抛弃了Sadie。Sad
8.0 已完结
十七世纪的瑞典女王克里斯汀，为了逃避政治婚姻，她在乡间骑马时找到了心上人——新任西班牙大使安东尼奥。为了进一步了解他的底细，克里斯汀乔装成男性打扮到安东尼奥下榻的旅馆。两人结交成好友之后，女王才表明真正身份，二人以情侣关系共渡两天缠绵时光。其后，克里斯汀在皇宫正式接见安东尼奥，但私下仍秘密幽会，可惜他们的爱情无法见容于众，克里斯汀虽然决定为了爱情放弃皇位亦无法阻止悲剧的发生。
7.1 HD中字版
劉別謙初嚐美高梅大製作的派頭，一切筆法更神采飛揚。開敞的場景、空前的排場讓人物裏裏外外恣意張開：寡婦的心更顯孤獨，男女的愛更加沒處安放。坐擁小國大部分財富的寡婦忽然要搬到巴黎重新尋找生活色彩，國王
已完结
舞女伊迪和好朋友离开小镇到大城市谋求发展，吸取母亲的人生教训，伊迪认为金钱比爱情重要，立志要嫁个有钱人，某次舞会上，大富豪TR老先生无意间帮助伊迪摆脱一场命案的谋杀嫌疑，于是她决心追求这位老先生把
已完结
A cocky guy joins the Navy for the wrong reason but finds romance and twice is cited for heroism.
7.1 已完结
Evelyn Prentice is the respected wife of a high-profile New York attorney. Despite the prestige an