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Saturday, September 14, 2019

Lydia (1941)

An elderly but wealthy woman (Merle Oberon) reflects on her youth and the men who loved her including a doctor (Joseph Cotten)a football player (George Reeves)a blind composer (Hans Jaray) and the one man (Alan Marshal) she loved but who abandoned her. A loose remake of the 1937 film UN CARNET DE BAL and directed by Julien Duvivierwho also directed the 1937 movie. The film suffers in comparison to its predecessor in that it lacks its haunting sense of regret over a life that impacted so many others and what might have been. This version has been given the Hollywood treatment and it's romanticized although it still retains its own "eyes finally opened" ending rather than a traditional happy ending. Given that it isn't a patch on the originalit still has a solid sense of style thanks to Duvivier. The Oscar nominated score is by Miklos Rozsa. With Edna May Oliver Sara Allgood and John Halliday.

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