the nun ( french : la religieuse ) is a 2013 french drama film directed by guillaume nicloux .

it is based on the 18th-century novel la religieuse by french writer denis diderot .

the film premiered in competition at the 63rd berlin international film festival .

it received two nominations at the 4th magritte awards , winning best actress for pauline étienne , and a nomination at the 39th césar awards .

the nun ( 2013 film )

completed a trio of nun films with agnes of god and almodóvar’s dark habits . i will need a break from further nun films for awhile .
james wan’s original 2013 film , which grossed $ 257 million worldwide on a budget of $ 6 . 5 million , spawned the 2014 spinoff “annabelle” as well as the 2016 sequel “the conjuring 2 . ”
sorrentino , p . “la mutazione italiana in pellicola” , la repubblica delle idee – 3 , gruppo editoriale l’espresso , 2013 , p . 13
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demian bichir will star in the upcoming “conjuring” spinoff “the nun , ” an individual with knowledge of the project told thewrap .
dog and wolf is an independent , online film review magazine bringing you the latest in world cinema and the best of the film festival .
last june , new line announced it would release “the nun , ” the latest spinoff from the supernatural horror series that began with “the conjuring . ”
huppert tempted me before it was too late ! i didn’t know this was an adaptation of the same source material as rivette’s the nun . oh well .
founded in 1999 , senses of cinema is one of the first online film journals of its kind and has set the standard for professional , high quality film - related content on the internet .
david denby has been a staff writer and film critic at the new yorker since 1998 .
upon watching la grande bellezza ( the great beauty , 2013 ) by paolo sorrentino , the first two surfacing feelings are : what a stunning piece of work , and what a desperate country italy has become . the film is feast for the senses , a synaesthetic experience of visual images , words , and music that cannot shade , but rather highlights , the desolation of the world represented .
gardening with soul follows four seasons in the life of irresistible gardening nun sister loyola galvin . director jess feast ( cowboys and communists ) unearths sage gems from the nonagenarian on everything from compost to catholic church sex abuse scandals . the cycles of wellington’s weather are charted via its influence on loyola’s island bay garden , from the 2011 snow to flax - drunk tui . feast worked with editor annie collins to piece together a paean to a life lived with zest and compassion . soul won the best documentary at the 2013 moa ( nz film ) awards .
“the hallow” director corin hardy will direct the movie , written by gary dauberman and james wan . “the nun” will be produced by wan through his atomic monster label and peter safran .
in 18th century france , when a teenage girl is forced by her parents to become a nun , she rebels to try and regain her freedom .
the film is superbly shot . i loved pauline as suzanne and the period’s costumes . maybe a little too long .
but guillaume gallienne ' s comedy les garcons et guillaume , a table ! ( me , myself and mum ) bested both with 10 nominations . the family comedy from the first - time filmmaker gave a much - needed homegrown boost to the french box office late in 2013 , which was mostly dominated by hollywood blockbusters .
measured and sensible , ‘the nun’ lacks the full - on claustrophobic horror of a film like ‘the magdalene sisters’ and moves through events at a matter - of - fact distance . but it’s shocking nonetheless , and there’s a pleasing no - frills tone to the whole enterprise as well as a convincing grasp of the rituals and beliefs of the age .
while plot details are being kept under wraps , bichir is set to play a priest named father burke who is dispatched by rome to investigate a mysterious death of a nun .
the first half was great , and i really felt for suzanne , but the second half dragged . the reason i wanted to see the film was isabelle huppert , but her half of the film was what ruined it as a whole . i haven ' t read the novel , or seen the film from 1966 , but maybe the editor really loves isabelle , so just lengthened her screen time considerably ? the cinematography looked great , and the score by max richter was well done , just wish the film had lived up to the promise of its first half .
some criticize what they consider the film’s exaggerated sense of decline . riffing acerbically on the film’s reception , the critic mariarosa mancuso wrote in the pro - berlusconi newspaper il foglio : “it’s a kierkegaardian film . it’s a célinian film . it’s a faithful portrait of the eternal city . it’s a faithful portrait of italy today . ” she added : “federico fellini in ‘la dolce vita’ leaned on the balustrade to look down . today , there isn’t even a balustrade anymore ; it’s collapsed , too . ”
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
released in 1991 , daughters of the dust was the first feature film by an african - american woman to be distributed theatrically in the united states . in 2004 , the library of congress selected it for preservation in the united states national film registry . it won awards for cinematography at the sundance film festival in 1991 and at the cascade festival of african films in 2005 . ms . dash’s other works include : four women ( 1975 ) , the diary of an african nun ( 1977 ) , illusions ( 1982 ) , incognito ( 1999 ) , funny valentines ( 1999 ) , love song ( 2000 ) and the rosa parks story ( 2002 ) .
a group of teenage girls are terrorized by sister ursula , a nun that believes she must rid the world of all sin . after sister ursula mysteriously disappears , the catholic school is shut . . . see full summary »
75 / 100 la religieuse ( the nun ) is a moving portrait of the cloistered life nuns lead at convents and the horrors they house by forcing regressive religious practices onto people who have no interest in them . based on denis diderot’s posthumously published novel of the same name , this adaptation by guillaume nicloux includes a few welcome changes that help to make the 1700s tale very relatable even in the 21st century . the nun beautifully captures the sense of entrapment felt by the nuns , many of whom enter service not out of willingness but out of desperate situations .
a young woman forced into becoming a nun by her family , and then the problems faced not only towards her by the congregation but her battle to get out of the place , not going as far as i would like it to go , certainly the last third could have been explored as a film itself . but its a decent enough effort and does do its job at a lot of points .
twenty - five years after its release , the movie adaptation of margaret atwood’s dystopian novel has been largely disremembered . is the book still too radical for film ?
carlotta fonzi kliemann is professor of film studies , dept . of humanities , social sciences & business , syracuse university in florence .
but for all the sturm und drang and whirling bits of plot and machinery , the sum of the film ' s many moving parts does not add up to a greater whole .
the best film nominees include abdellatif kechiche ' s blue is the warmest color , polanski ' s venus in fur and asghar farhadi ' s the past . the three filmmakers are also nominated in the best director category .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
crew : camera ( color , hd ) , yves cape ; editor , guy lecorne ; music , max richter ; production designer , olivier radot ; set decorator , christophe offret ; sound ( dolby srd ) , olivier do huu , julie brenta , christian monheim ; associate producer , gilles sitbon ; assistant director , guy - william adoh ; casting , brigitte moidon . reviewed at berlin film festival ( competing ) , jan . 10 , 2013 . ( in rendez - vous with french cinema , new york . ) running time : 111 min .
in eighteenth - century france a girl ( suzanne simonin ) is forced against her will to take vows as a nun . three mothers superior ( madame de moni , sister sainte - christine , and madame de . . . see full summary »
the film was an undeniable failure , grossing less than $ 5 million against a $ 13 million budget . its status as a catastrophe seems to have prevented any other producers from tackling new film or tv adaptations , even while the book continues to endure both as a model of speculative fiction and across a variety of artistic mediums . “the general characteristics of schlondorff’s adaptation could partly be put down to the necessity of a hollywood film , made to capture the interest of multitudes rather than that of film ( or literature connoisseurs ) , ” writes nischik . but the 1990 film pleased neither atwood’s fans nor moviegoers , opting for a sensationalist , stylized rendition of religious fascism at work . since then , a number of atwood’s imaginings ( themselves ripped from american history ) have manifested in reality , prompting the question of what insight might be gained from a new , more faithful handmaid’s tale . still , it’s equally possible that , even 25 years later , neither audiences nor the film industry is ready yet .
debuted earlier this year at lincoln center and now on a national tour , the 21 - film series
masterpieces of polish cinema
bears stunning testament to the brilliance of not only one especially fecund national cinema but an entire era of moviemaking—call it the golden age of the art film . as martin scorsese , who curated the series and whose film foundation provided its pristine digital restorations , has remarked , the period it covers ( roughly the ‘50s through the ‘70s ) was one of extraordinary accomplishments in many parts of the cinematic world , a high - water mark that grows ever more dazzling in retrospect .
the film has been the talk of rome all summer . beyond debates about its merits , and its portrayal of the complicity of the left - wing elite in the country’s decline , responses have often reflected italy’s polarization over mr . berlusconi .
the same literary quality can be found in the film’s screenplay . sorrentino has stated , in a number of interviews , that “working with words” is much more complex than shooting a film . his fascination with literature has produced two novels : hanno tutti ragione ( 2010 ) and tony pagada e i suoi amici ( 2012 ) .
the real pleasure of germany’s sole competition entry gold , thomas arslans ’ otherwise underwhelming western , is watching the unbending determination of nina hoss as a german housemaid who throws herself into the adventure of the klondike gold rush . on the youth front , emerging belgian actress pauline etienne got strong notices as a rebellious abbess in guillaume nicloux ’s classy remake of diderot’s the nun .
the mfa brings together all your favorite french stars in this showcase of contemporary french cinema . discover
many sublime pleasures
( the boston globe ) in
one of the finest french film festiva . . .
reluctant young nun ( pauline etienne ) gets trapped in the faith in guillaume nicloux ' s adaptation of the 18th - century novel by denis diderot . holy guidance comes from two mother superiors – one a master of
hiding all the thorns of religious life
, the other ( played with a tight - lipped archness by isabelle huppert ) eager to take her charge for a romp in the roses . diderot ' s novel was intended as a practical joke – a compilation of letters he sent to a devout friend in the guise of a desperate nun looking to leave the sisterhood . huppert ' s advances are nicloux giving the prank his blessing . this is dark but comedic , with plenty of frills beneath the habit .
it’s “get thee to a nunnery” for the protagonist of “the nun , ” guillaume nicloux’s plodding adaptation of diderot’s anti - clerical novel . if it weren’t for the luminous face of belgian actress pauline etienne ( “restless” ) , who plays suzanne , the girl locked up in an 18th - century convent against her explicit will , the pic would be a snoozefest of [ … ]
it’s “get thee to a nunnery” for the protagonist of “the nun , ” guillaume nicloux’s plodding adaptation of diderot’s anti - clerical novel . if it weren’t for the luminous face of belgian actress pauline etienne ( “restless” ) , who plays suzanne , the girl locked up in an 18th - century convent against her explicit will , the pic would be a snoozefest of epic proportions . isabelle huppert , as a lesbian mother superior , and martina gedeck , as suzanne’s not - so - superior actual mother , will no doubt be showcased in marketing materials in gaul and co - producing germany , but neither actress is actually in the movie much . “nun” bows locally march 20 .
best foreign film nominees include woody allen ' s blue jasmine , quentin tarantino ' s django unchained , alfonso cuaron ' s gravity and paolo sorrentino ' s the great beauty .
technically , “the nun” is slickly assembled , with nicloux ( “the stone council” ) using all the mise - en - scene tricks in the book in a very academic manner , including countless painting - like frontal tableaux and low - horizon shots with abundant light to make the malicious superiors tower over suzanne . costumes and production design look neat , while max richter’s diegetic score hits all the right notes .
paris - - the final countdown to the cesars , france ' s biggest film awards , kicked off friday morning with a breakfast press conference at the famously glitzy le fouquet ' s restaurant on the champs - elysees as the french academy of cinema technical arts and sciences unveiled the nominees for the 39 th annual honors .
beauty is youth , when you see beauty everywhere , the sense of wonder of the best years : in nature , in sensations , in the sharing of them . this is for me the meaning of the film , particularly at the end . today everything is made opaque by the lack of collective memory , by bad teachers who have obscured the past and live in the present without direction . there is no time left for contemplation . if the film can help us understand the world around us , we must hasten to take care of an ailing body . ( 8 )
“the great beauty” did not appear at the venice film festival , a telling sign about its declining importance as a place to sell films but also of mr . sorrentino’s uneasy relationship with italy ’s politicized cultural establishment .
among the high - profile nominees for the french equivalent of the oscars were lea seydoux , for her role in cannes film festival winner blue is the warmest color ; berenice bejo , for her role in the past , which earned her the best actress honor at cannes ; roman polanski ; and mads mikkelsen .
that retrospective , and somewhat impressionistic , viewpoint mirrors the film’s own . though set in the ' 60s , the era of communist rule and modernization , the story scripted by pawlikowski and rebecca lenkiewicz looks backward in time . given that it starts out in a convent that seems like it hasn’t changed since the middle ages , you might say that the film’s perspective suggests a vast expanse of polish history . but its main focus is closer to hand : the country’s occupation by the nazis ( a historical passage that is resonantly evoked but never seen or directly referred to ) .
updated : cannes winner
blue is the warmest color
gets eight nominations , catherine deneuve one , while woody allen ' s
blue jasmine
and alfonso cuaron ' s
gravity
are part of the best foreign film race .
“the great beauty” appeared in europe this summer and is scheduled for release by janus films in new york and los angeles in november . it made its debut at cannes in may and will play at the toronto international film festival this week .
what is most notable about this rather uncomfortably pitched film is the cinematography and music . secular scenes are warmly lit in sensuous browns and reds , composed like oil paintings . in contrast , light in the convent light is cold , white and the atmosphere is ascetic . nuns grouped together in their sail - like blue and white habits form almost abstract compositions against the stone walls of the convent or in its garden , where they gather like prisoners in an exercise yard . if only the whole film had maintained this pared - down dramatic aesthetic .
when she rebels , she experiences extreme cruelty at the hands of a wantonly sadistic mother superior ( louise bourgoin ) and becomes an object of erotic fascination for another ( isabelle huppert ) . the film never slips into prurience or sensationalism – and that ' s the problem .
the film mines rich horror out of the fact that the book’s primary villains , even in a state - mandated patriarchy , are female . victoria tennant plays lydia , one of the fussy and sadistic “aunts” who control and train the handmaids before they’re assigned to houses . “why do you think god made you a woman ? ” she shouts at a nun who insists she won’t violate her vows of celibacy . another aunt drags a screaming girl to the dinner table after torturing her bloodied feet , while aunt lydia chastises the girl for
defiling
herself . with the women doing the dirty work , the men can afford to be generous . compared to the chilly serena , robert duvall’s commander is half benevolence , half menace , alternately inviting kate to his study for strawberries and scrabble , and then violently kissing her as she writhes in protest .
besides this historical acuity , the film gives us a fascinating pair of matched archetypes in its main characters , which are realized in two exquisite performances . as the aspiring nun who’s suddenly tossed into the ugliness of the world , newcomer agata trzebokowska proves a poised icon of luminous quietude and awakened curiosity , discovering herself as she painfully uncovers her past . and as the embittered , nihilistic “red wanda , ” a woman driven both by the horrors inflicted on her and those she’s inflicted on others , veteran polish actress agneta kulesza creates the astonishing impression that some of history’s most wrenching conflicts are being played out in a single human soul . like much about
ida ,
these actresses’ work not only pays homage to masterpieces of the past but revivifies current cinema in doing so .
diderot’s novel la religieuse started life as a series of joke letters to a friend , purporting to be from a nun wishing to leave her convent . nicloux’s classily conceived film , too , is hard to take seriously at times . the opening scene is ushered in by atmospheric organ music . in a softly candlelit bed a young woman lies sleeping , surrounded by sumptuous red drapery , while an old man watches her and slowly lifts a hand to stroke her hair and outside we hear a carriage approaching . out of context , it could almost be the start of a hammer horror . in fact , it’s the framing device the director uses to introduce the manuscript containing suzanne’s memoir of her suffering , which tells the story that follows .
“il divo” won the jury prize at cannes , a vindication for mr . sorrentino and his producers , who had met significant resistance in finding financing for the film in italy because of its critical take on mr . andreotti . ( he died in may . )
once suzanne escapes the clutches of christine , she’s transferred to another convent headed up by a much friendlier mother superior ( isabelle huppert ) . but if this seems like summer camp compared to before , things are not so simple , and the new mother has some funny ways of having her girls prove their devotion . compared to the rest of the movie , these late scenes are played more for laughs , which bring some pep to the proceedings but also throw the movie off balance . in the least , huppert can now add the role of “horny lesbo nun” to her long and illustrious resume .
probably unaware of these sterile polemical reactions to the movie , foreign critics , with a few exceptions , have been from the start much more favuorable , if not outright enthusiastic , as in michael atkinson’s praise for the movie : “ the great beauty is one of the greatest films about modern social dissolution” . curiously , though , many cinéphiles and ordinary viewers – perhaps intimidated by the exuberance of the film and by the complexity of its signifiers – have eluded the puzzling question of the title’s meaning . carlo verdone has recently advanced that
the key change – modernisation ? nicloux has made to the anti - clerical original is that suzanne is no longer the passive victim of the 18th century novel . she really does have faith , and is deeply and conformingly religious , but her rebellion is to preserve her own individuality and freedom in the face of the authoritarianism of the catholic church and her enforced cloistered life . if the film was not so overblown , you could perhaps have accepted one girl’s story as an allegory of the oppression of women in religion or even state repression . pauline etienne is perfect as an innocent who surprises us with unexpected depths of determination and gradually learns to take some control of her life , yet somehow without ever losing that innocence . unfortunately , the film descends from the potential drama of her initial incarceration in the first convent into the sub - porno absurdities of her lascivious victimisation in the second and the obsessive sexual pursuit and hysteria in the third .
marlow - mann a . , “character engagement and alienation in the cinema of paolo sorrentino” , 161 - 174 , in hope , w . ( ed . ) , italian film directors in the new millennium , newcastle upon tyne , uk , cambridge scholars publishing , 2010 , p . 163 .
the camera pans slowly along the horizon as jep , played by toni servillo , surveys the ship , a larger - than - life metaphor for a career — and a country — run aground . more than any other film to emerge from italy in recent years , “the great beauty” ( “la grande bellezza” ) explores one of the most difficult questions in italy today : what happened here ?
rome — there is a striking scene in “the great beauty , ” paolo sorrentino ’s luscious new film , in which jep gambardella , a perpetually amused , impeccably tailored blocked novelist , looks down on the hulking body of the costa concordia cruise ship , which has been lodged off the tuscan coast since its captain all but sank it there nearly two years ago .
suzanne simonin describes her life of suffering in letters . as a young woman she is sent to a convent against her will . since her parents cannot afford the dowry required for a marriage befitting her rank they decide she must instead become a nun . although a kind and understanding mother superior helps her to learn the convent’s daily routine , suzanne’s desire for freedom remains unabated . when the mother superior dies , suzanne finds herself faced with reprisals , humiliation and harassment at the hands of the new abbess and the other sisters . for many years , suzanne is subjected to bigotry and religious fanaticism . ( berlinale . de )
the most subtle moment in the film comes in the opening scenes , as kate exits the driver’s seat and lets her husband take the wheel as the two approach the border . it’s a quiet nod at gilead’s oppressive regime that’s soon forgotten as the movie enters the realm of melodrama , lighting scenes in vivid shades of blue and green , and incorporating a moody synthesized score better suited to a 1980s horror film . the moment where offred dispassionately describes taking part in a “ceremony” with the commander and his wife—in which he has sex with her while she lies in his wife’s lap—becomes a violent rape scene where kate sobs while shrouded in a red veil . afterwards , kate runs to her room , pulls off her nightgown , and presses her breasts against the window while gasping for air—as witnessed by the household chauffeur , who motions her quickly away , since it’s a deranged move she’d almost certainly be executed for if caught .
few recent films can claim a visual approach as striking as that which cinematographers lukasz zal and ryszard lenczewski give
ida .
filmed in the unusual , boxy aspect ratio of 1 . 37 : 1 , and most often deployed in static long shots , the film’s images sometimes suggest vermeer lighting with the color taken away , and the compositions manage to seem at once classical and off - handed , with the subjects often located in the screen’s two bottom quadrants . as in bresson , the effect is to draw the viewer’s eye into the beauty of the image while simultaneously maintaining a contemplative distance from the drama .
nevertheless , the film was panned . “the movie seems equally angry that women have to have children at all , and that it is hard for them to have children now that men have mucked up the planet with their greedy schemes , ” wrote roger ebert . rolling stone ’s peter travers described the
ceremony
as “about as erotic as a gynecological exam , ” and complained that the movie had “narrowed the focus to [ male chauvinist pigs ] who like to put women in their place . ” the film’s vision of the future , entertainment weekly ’s owen glieberman wrote , “is so poisonous and mechanical that you have to wonder : is this really what our society is threatening to turn into , or is atwood just exorcising her own fear and loathing ? ”
although this is nicloux’s tenth theatrical feature , he’s yet to achieve auteur status in europe , and is known more as a capable director of thrillers ( the key , cette - femme la ) . while nothing in the nun feels inspiring or truly groundbreaking , it’s certainly a well - handled package , and the strong performances are abetted by superb technical contributions , including crisp color photography by bruno dumont regular yves cape and , most notably , a series of gorgeous period costumes by anais romand ( holy motors ) . the habits may not make the monk , but they definitely make these nuns look fabulous .
“the great beauty” is not a political film per se , but while other contemporary italian directors have looked to the past or produced more prosaic dramas , mr . sorrentino is one of the few to engage fully with the culture of excess that has come to characterize the italy of mr . berlusconi , prime minister , most recently , until 2011 . ( two notable examples are nanni moretti’s 2006 “il caimano , ” about a director unable to make a film about an unnamed media mogul , and matteo garrone’s 2012 “reality , ” about obsession with reality tv . ) mr . sorrentino’s fresh , timely response is rare even beyond italy , as artists have largely not yet addressed the economic crisis and social shifts that have swept across europe over the past several years .
pawlikoski and lenkiewicz’s scripting proves similarly lapidarian . besides its look ,
ida
most recalls the manner of bygone art films in the modernist spareness and thoroughgoing obliqueness of its writing . very little is stated directly ; instead , we glean things from casual remarks and subtle suggestions . somehow , this technique of inference makes the film’s eventual revelations feel both more integral and more powerful .
on a warm late august afternoon , mr . sorrentino , who at 43 has already become one of italy’s most important directors , sat in his high - ceiling study in rome and reflected on what compelled him to make the film . what he wanted to convey , he said , was a general atmosphere .
these early sequences , where suzanne’s spirit is caught between true faith and the hypocritical nature of the church , are among the film’s strongest , and nicloux finds some clever visual metaphors to express his character’s submission , most notably in a botched vow - taking ceremony that has her literally buried beneath the cloth . when she eventually does agree to accept the order , she only learns about it after waking up in a haze two days later , as if the whole conversion was some sort of bad trip .
the russian film a long and happy life , directed by boris khlebnikov , based on the gary cooper classic high noon , was too bleak in its story of russian farmers in an age of austerity to be an award contender . similarly , an episode in the life of an iron picker marked a low - budget interlude for bosnian director danis tanovic , admirable as a stark docudrama , but probably outside the prize - giving .
mr . sorrentino’s film , which has been described as a technicolor “la dolce vita” for the berlusconi era , doesn’t confront the question directly . instead , it follows jep on a kaleidoscopic orphic journey on which his fellow travelers include an aging stripper , a struggling playwright , cash - poor aristocrats , a vacuous cardinal and a would - be saint — set against the photogenic backdrop of rome .
complexly motivated , intriguing female performers helped raise the profile of the films they appeared in and the front - runner at festival midpoint is , by critical consensus , pauline garcia , who is strongly tipped to win best actress kudos for the chilean film gloria . but another contender might be romanian actress luminita gheorghiu as the domineering mother in child’s pose - - not to mention an extremely strong juliette binoche , captured in close - up in bruno dumont ’s disturbing camille claudel 1915 .
mr . sorrentino welcomes the debate . “the film makes you face questions that might be irritating , ” he said . “there’s a tendency among italians to say : ‘we’re not part of that , ’ ‘i’m not part of that . ’ many people went out of their way to say that they weren’t a part of it , and they were the ones who were most a part of it . ”
an image in a government briefing book helped a state department official see “the forest for the trees” in the west bank—and then was shared with the president .
“obviously , it’s not only like that , ” he continued . “there are lots of people who work and do wonderful and commendable things , but there’s still a sense that the nerve centers of the country had fallen asleep on their couches at home . and so i tried to turn that into a film — that everything had become a bit of a salon . ”
this french historical drama is a mournful , modern - feeling adaptation of a late eighteenth - century denis diderot novel about a strong - willed teenage aristocrat , suzanne ( pauline etienne ) , forced to become a nun when her family decide to make her someone else’s responsibility . a welcoming mother superior soon becomes a distant memory when the sadistic christine ( louise bourgoin ) takes charge of the convent and institutes a campaign of physical and mental torture against her wilful charge . when suzanne is moved to another institution run by the lusty and maybe even demented saint - eutrope ( isabelle huppert ) , she’s faced with different problems . all the while , she tries to free herself by writing letters to the outside world .
“the conjuring 2 , ” in which patrick wilson and vera farmiga play husband - and - wife paranormal investigators , debuted to $ 40 . 4 million domestically last june on a $ 40 million budget . worldwide , its total has come to $ 320 . 3 million . the first “conjuring” film had a production budget of $ 20 million and earned $ 318 million worldwide .
if the film remains compelling up to this point , it’s perhaps less for the slick and straightforward storytelling than for etienne’s engrossing performance . the belgian actress has excelled in some minor roles to date , including in joachim lafosse ’s private lessons , but this is the first time she’s been given the chance to really display her chops , and she movingly portrays suzanne’s combination of dignified virtue and subtle beauty , not to mention her defiant , bordering - on - hostile attitude and sly sense of humor .
moreover , the same split of high or standard speech and vernacular reflects the multiple dichotomies informing the film : the music ( church music and techno or pop music ) , the characters ( cultured and ignorant , young and old , upper - class and lower - class ) , interior design ( the décor of the aristocratic palaces and the contemporary furniture of the rich and trendy ) , art ( renaissance paintings and roman statues vs . performance art and action - painting ) , camerawork ( the sweeping tracking and panning shots interspersed with jittery montage sequences ) . one is tempted to read the juxtaposition of these contrasting images and sounds as a technique that emphasizes – not so subtly – the beauty of all that is “old” , and casts a negative light , or even ridicule , on all that is “new” , seemingly purporting a conservative authorial discourse ( one of the recurring critiques directed at sorrentino’s cinema in italy ) . in fact , the contiguity of opposites , with its implicit openness , its moral and aesthetic challenges , is what makes the film a powerful , emotionally and intellectually stimulating cinematic experience . it does not want to provide definite answers or role models , and cannot be labelled “political” in the revived tradition of a specific socially - committed genre , but it strikes at the heart of a culture that needs to look at itself in the mirror as the necessary premise for change .
the feature film debut of director leigh janiak didn ' t make a ton of money , but it ' s secretly a strong , spooky horror movie about the people you think you know best . a recently married couple head out to a cabin in a small town for their honeymoon . then the evil stuff starts happening , as husband paul discovers wife bea wandering and disoriented in the woods . things go from bad to worse as bea becomes more distant and weirder .
observe . there is not a sad character who moves us to compassion . for everyone , everything is going fine , even if it is going terribly . everyone is full of energy in managing to survive , even if burdened by death and insensitivity . i have never seen a film in which all the characters are so full of the joy of being . even the sorrowful events , the tragedies , take shape as phenomena charged with vitality , like spectacles . ( 4 )
in many ways , the movie adaptation was ill - fated from the start , even with the wide acclaim the book had received . in 1986 , atwood sold the rights to the producer daniel wilson , partly because wilson had tapped pinter and the director karel reisz to lead the project . the playwright had previously worked with reisz on the french lieutenant’s woman , which starred meryl streep as a strong - willed woman condemned as promiscuous by a repressive society , and was nominated for five academy awards . but despite the talent attached and the success of pinter and reisz’s previous collaboration , no studio wanted to touch it . “during the next two and a half years , wilson would take the pinter script to every studio in hollywood , encountering a wall of ignorance , hostility , and indifference , ” writes the canadian journalist sheldon teitelbaum . movie executives declined to back the project , stating “that a film for and about women … would be lucky if it made it to video . ”
i love matt damon . i love sci - fi . not sure i like them together , however . didn ' t hate this , but i sure wouldn ' t recommend it . not all his fault , though . there were a couple people in this that really brought down the film with their sad acting . . . jodie foster , included .
the film opens at the janiculum , a terraced - square overlooking the city , where a japanese tourist is taking a picture , gets suddenly overwhelmed by the spectacular sight , and dies from a heart attack . is the filmmaker making fun of the compulsive recording of visual memories , of the stendhal syndrome that plunges sensitive tourists into a delusional , though temporary state , or is his a tragically funny way to set the tone of the movie ? this perplexing opening shot smoothly transitions to one inside the fountain of acqua paola nearby , where a female choir is singing heavenly church music . then a cut abruptly terminates the quiet and beautiful symmetry of the scene , as we are now in the midst of a very loud , very smashed , very drunk party . as the director explains , “i wanted to emphasize the sense of emptiness to which we are irremediably attracted . parties are the epitome of this void , they’re beautiful but senseless” ( 1 ) . the pulsating techno music is deafening , almost a cruel opposite to the inspiring music of the female singers . jep is finally introduced , apparently enjoying himself , but with a funny smirk on his face ( “i didn’t just want to take part in the parties , i wanted to have the power to ruin them” , he will shortly tell the audience ) . some of his closest friends are also revealed through quick , lugubrious brushes , as the tilts and whirling shots are chopped by the frantic editing that the music’s beat dictates .
should you find yourself wanting your faith in humanity buoyed up a little , may i direct you to gardening with soul , a lovely , gentle study of a year in the life of sister loyola , the 90 - year - old chief gardener of wellington ' s home of compassion . you will not encounter a more energetic person on film this year : a generational icon of pragmatic , cheerful , can - do kiwi virtues .
in a majestic convent , an orphaned young woman—a novice named anna ( agata trzebuchowska ) —is ordered by her mother superior to visit her aunt in lodz before she takes orders . a beautiful eighteen - year - old with a broad slavic face , a composed , devotional manner , and a tantalizing dimple , the girl has never left the convent before and knows nothing of her family . in lodz , wearing her habit , anna enters the apartment of a forty - five - ish woman , who is puffing on a cigarette and waiting for the guy she picked up the night before to leave . a minor state judge and communist party member , wanda gruz ( agata kulesza ) tells her niece that her real name is ida lebenstein , and that she’s jewish—a “jewish nun , ” she says . abrupt and dismissive , wanda enjoys attacking the girl’s ignorance . but wanda has mysteries of her own and scores to settle : ida’s mother was her beloved sister . the two agree to go to the village in which the parents were hidden by christians and then betrayed—the village where wanda grew up .
between 1939 and 1945 , poland lost a fifth of its population , including three million jews . in the two years after the war , communists took over the government under the eyes of the red army and the soviet secret police , the n . k . v . d . many poles who were prominent in resisting the nazis were accused of preposterous crimes ; the independent - minded were shot or hanged . in the movie , none of this is stated , but all of it is built , so to speak , into the atmosphere : the country feels dead , the population sparse , the mood of ordinary conversations constrained by the sure knowledge that many who survived have committed acts of betrayal or indulged willful ignorance .
the adaptation and the remake : from john m . stahl’s when tomorrow comes to douglas sirk’s interlude
this revelation triggers a journey in which aunt and niece drive back to the village of anna’s parents in an effort to discover how they died and where they were buried . although this quest is central to the narrative ,
ida
is anything but plot - driven . it’s a film of moments , observations and moods , with a lyrical unfolding that recalls such atmospheric monochrome road movies as wim wenders ’
kings of the road .
and when the two voyagers pick up a hitchhiking tenor saxophonist ( dawid ogrodnik ) and end up watching his gigs , the music of john coltrane and similar artists adds an engrossing aural dimension to the odyssey .
and what about the main characters ? their social masks are forever glued to their real faces , the cult of the image deforming features , botox and cocaine its faithful allies ( in the sequence with the plastic surgeon , his patients from all social classes behave like religious followers ) . the rich and beautiful are oblivious to the rest of their fellowmen and to the state of the country , enclosed in a vicious circle of narcissistic pastimes .
basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him . riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you . …
you ' ll be hard - pressed to find a horror film as thoughtful and intelligent as this one .
the babadook
is a parable about how grief and loss can consume those who suffer through it , and despite all the coaxing and cajoling you ' ll get from friends , you ' ll never be able to
just let go .
the babadook
shows the process of coming to terms with loss and preparing to spend the rest of your life living with that pain , even when it ' s scarred over . this is proof that horror can move you as well as scare you .
in the final credits of “the great beauty , ” the camera glides in a boat down the green - brown tiber . there is no music , only the cawing of birds . time stops , and everything is beautiful , as only italy can be .
how can you capture a nation’s spirit by telling a singular story ? by making every shot as definitive as an icon . “i’m not emotionally excited by the power of cinema’s tricks anymore , ” pawlikowski has said . the director and his fledgling cinematographer , lukasz zal , shot the movie in hard - focus black and white ; they have produced images so distinct and powerful that they sharpen our senses . “ida” might be called static were it not for the currents of emotion from shot to shot , which electrify the women’s relation to each other throughout . clearing away clutter , pawlikowski almost never moves the camera ; many of the scenes are just long - lasting shots , fed by a single light source that often puts the faces in partial shadow ( what we understand of these two women will always be limited ) . sometimes the figures are positioned at the bottom of the frame , with enormous gray polish skies above them , as if the entire burden of a cursed country weighed on its people . both beautiful and oppressive , the bleakness of the landscape in winter suggests something uncanny in the air , as if we were watching a horror film without ghouls .
where reisz was dedicated to realism , schlondorff was a pioneer of the new german cinema movement who was eager to break into hollywood . the handmaid’s tale as he interpreted it was a thriller—a sexually charged and vivid drama without the nuance or emotional depth of the source material . without her interior monologue ( richardson later complained that pinter “has something specific against voiceovers” ) , offred becomes considerably more enigmatic and less human , even though the movie , unlike the book , identifies her birth name as kate . although the book is told entirely from offred’s perspective , the film barely gives her more lines than other characters . initially , after her husband is shot at the border and her daughter is taken as the family tries to flee from the repressive republic of gilead , kate seems oddly blank , staring vaguely out a window as she watches infertile women get loaded into a truck labeled “livestock . ” there’s little sense , as is made explicit in the book , that she’s being drugged so that she doesn’t erupt in grief and rage at the loss of her child .
the
saw
movies are best known for being about people getting murdered gruesomely . while there is a fair amount dismemberment , the better part of the series is how each of the movies continually expands the lore and each one captures the powerful dread of being caught in a deadly trap with no way out .
in 1988 , the actress sigourney weaver—a huge star following the release of alien and ghostbusters —committed to the project , and although reisz was no longer available , the film finally found a studio ( cinecom ) and a new director , the german auteur volker schlondorff . but weaver had to drop out when she became pregnant , and schlondorff and wilson found it increasingly difficult to find a star willing to play offred , the book’s narrator ( named literally “of fred , ” for the commander she belongs to ) . although offred is an astonishing character with a rich interior monologue incorporating fierce intelligence , compassion , and violent fantasies of revenge against her oppressors , many actresses feared the stigma of being associated with such an explicitly feminist work . “schlondorff is reported to have approached almost every american actress to take over the part of offred … yet every one of them declined , ” writes the academic reingard m . nishick . eventually , the british actress natasha richardson accepted the part . richardson , a daughter of the actress and socialist vanessa redgrave , had activism in her blood , but even she was reportedly wary about taking on the role .
france , in the 1760s . born to a bourgeois family , suzanne ( pauline etienne ) is a beautiful young girl with a natural talent for music . despite her faith , she is dismayed when her parents send her off to a convent , expecting her to become a nun . suzanne first resists the rules of the convent , but soon finds out that she is an illegitimate child , leaving her no other option than to pronounce her vows and suffer the consequences of her mother ' s sin . she soon wants to escape the religious path and is trying to revoke her vows when the mother superior , who had brought her comfort and solace , dies . her successor , sister christine ( louise bourgoin ) , turns out to be a sadistic and cruel mother superior , inflicting the worst forms of humiliation upon suzanne , such as depriving her of food and clothing . suzanne is finally transferred to another convent , where she discovers another kind of mother superior ( isabelle huppert ) , who develops an inappropriate affectionate bond with her . . . adapted . . .


dynamite is a 1929 american pre-code drama film produced and directed by cecil b. demille and starring conrad nagel , kay johnson , charles bickford , and julia faye .

written by jeanie macpherson , john howard lawson , and gladys unger , the film is about a convicted murderer scheduled to be executed , whom a socialite marries simply to satisfy a condition of her grandfather 's will .

mitchell leisen was nominated for the academy award for best art direction .

dynamite ( 1929 film )

1929 movie ad dynamite cecil b . demille rare mgm film - original print ad
urltoken 1929 movie ad dynamite cecil b . demille rare mgm film - original print ad : entertainment collectibles
charles bickford , cecil b . demille , and kay johnson during production of dynamite , 1929
charles bickford , cecil b . demille , and kay johnson during production of dynamite , 1929
joel mccrea & julia faye 1929 cecil b . demille film
dynamite
- original photo | films , originals and entertainment
lina basquette , cecil b . demille , tom keene ( actor ) , dynamite ( 1929 film ) , beulah marie dix
film title is shown as the word dynamite written on a box of . . . . . dynamite , after being set down by a worker .
film double dynamite released . it had been held back by producer howard hughes for three years .
home cecil b . demille photographs charles bickford , cecil b . demille , and kay johnson during production of dynamite , 1929
film title is shown as the word dynamite written on a box of . . . . . dynamite , after being set down by a worker . see more »
charles bickford , cecil b . demille , and kay johnson during production of dynamite , 1929 : : cecil b . demille photographs
charles bickford , director cecil b . demille , and kay johnson during production of dynamite , 1929 . 8x10 b & w photographic print .
studio : cecil b . demille productions a metro - goldwyn - mayer picture premiered : july 25 , 1929 , carthay circle theater in los angeles released : december 13 , 1929
“demille defends hokum . ” los angeles times , november 24 , 1929 , p . 32 .
crew : ( b & w ) extract of a review from 1929 . running time : 128 min .
on dynamite ( 1929 ) , his first sound film , demille freed the camera from a soundproof booth , hastening the construction of the first camera “blimp , ” as well as implementing a makeshift microphone boom . sound could not yet be mixed , so demille put two microphones on a set .
preserved from a 35mm nitrate print . laboratory services by film technology company , inc . , the stanford theatre film laboratory .
film the story of mankind released . chico , harpo and groucho appear in this film , but not together in one scene
we don ' t have enough data to suggest any movies based on dynamite . you can help by rating movies you ' ve seen .
since , at that time , no talking picture was complete without a song . her first effort ,
dynamite man , i love you ,
was rejected as was , according to legend , one called ,
dynamite , dynamite , blow my sweet one back to me .
finally parker concocted
how am i to know ?
which , set to music by jack king , is sung during a prison house scene .
there are no featured audience reviews yet . click the link below to see what others say about the hollywood revue of 1929 !
the new entertainment vitamin , 1928–1929 .
history of the american cinema . . retrieved july 09 , 2018 from urltoken urltoken
the godless girl ( 1928 ) is a drama film directed by cecil b . demille , shown for years as his last completely silent film .
last month , it also collected the richest film prize in australia , the $ 100 , 000 cinefest oz film prize , awarded in busselton in wa .
it won the audience award at the adelaide film festival last october , the youth jury prize and grand jury prize at the seattle film festival in september 2015 , and the age critics prize at the melbourne international film festival in august 2016 .
film yours for the asking released . groucho is an uncredited extra in this .
“cecil demille will rehearse the cast of dynamite until it is letter perfect . this is the first time he has directed dialogue rehearsals since he left broadway sixteen years ago . ”
please note : purchase of a ticket to either the 4 : 00 p . m . or 7 : 00 p . m . screening of dynamite allows admission to both .
the new entertainment vitamin , 1928–1929 .
history of the american cinema . . encyclopedia . com . ( july 9 , 2018 ) . urltoken
– edwin schallert , “spectacle and thrill effects lend vivid interest to demille feature , ” los angeles times , p . h2 ( july 21 , 1929 )
mgm ' s 1929 breakthrough was the broadway melody . speaking from the stage of the chinese theater in hollywood , the director harry beaumont told his audience ,
film la fiesta de santa barbara released . harpo ' s wig can be seen in technicolor
restored by ucla film & television archive , with funding from the cecil b . demille foundation .
founded in 1999 , senses of cinema is one of the first online film journals of its kind and has set the standard for professional , high quality film - related content on the internet .
it was fun ,
says rosemary myers , a first - time film director but respected veteran of the theatre .
it was a cross between a film set and a party .
the first feature to be completed at the upgraded long island facility was the letter ( 1929 ) , adapted from a somerset maugham play . it was to be the new look of paramount pictures : a prestigious stage property , a leading lady of broadway ( jeanne eagels had defined sadie thompson in maugham ' s rain ) , and a cosmopolitan new york director ( jean de limur ) . it was mostly talking but had music - only scenes . but neither this film nor its follow - up , jealousy ( dir . de limur , 1929 ) , did good business . eagels ' s career ended tragically after a heroin overdose later in 1929 . 42
“deadline for film dirt . ” variety , june 13 , 1933 , i , p . 6 .
the library of congress / fiaf american silent feature film survival catalog : . . the warrens of virginia
this film is not currently playing on mubi but 30 other great films are . see what’s now showing
named after cecil b . demille , these annual awards honours student achievement in film production , television & broadcast journalism , and public relations & advertising at the dodge college of film and media arts , chapman university
kennedy arrived in los angeles to confer with swanson during february 1929 . they decided to shelve the project and write off the $ 750 , 000 that kennedy had invested . evidently someone forgot to tell united artists . an advertisement in film daily on 28 february 1929 featured joseph schenck boldly pitching sound in the doomed film :
gloria swanson , talking and singing in queen kelly , vitalizes the drama .
swanson and goulding convinced kennedy to finance a new all - talkie to be called the love years . it was written and directed quickly by goulding and released as the trespasser in october 1929 . it became one of swanson ' s biggest hits . the fan magazines adored her spunkiness and the fact that she took numerous voice lessons in order to sing the theme song
love .
a growing source of silent era film information . this listing is from the progressive silent film list by carl bennett . copyright © 1999 - 2018 by carl bennett and the silent era company . all rights reserved .
anton karl kozlovic is a graduate of the australian film , television & radio school ( aftrs ) and has a phd about celluloid religion and the biblical cinema of cecil b . demille from flinders university , australia . he publishes predominantly in the religion - and - film field and has guest edited the “exploring religion and popular film” special issue of the australian religion studies review ( 2008 , vol . 21 , no . 3 ) and has multiple film entries within the encyclopedia of religion and film and the encyclopedia of the bible and its reception .
boorman , john , tom luddy , david thomson , and walter donohue , eds . projections 4 : film - makers on film - making . london : faber and faber , 1995 , pp . 23 - 24 .
film daily made one of its keenest critical assessments about two young stage players with distinctive speaking styles who were featured in the hole in the wall ( dir . robert florey , 1929 ) .
claudette colbert … and edward g . robinson … are immense , their voices register beautifully ,
wrote harrower . 49
in
dynamite ,
cecil b . de mille ' s first entry in the talking picture field , this producer evidently is undaunted by the vocal angle of his film , for he pursues much the same tactics he did in his silent contributions . as in the past , he proves himself to be a master of technical view full article in timesmachine »
wall , james m . “interview with geoffrey shurlock . ” louis b . mayer library , american film institute .
it is a talking and singing film free from irritating outpourings of coarse slang or a tedious , sobbing romance .
the film was very popular in the u . s . s . r . and in germany , though it was a box office disaster in the us . when released in august 1928 in its silent film version , it was not a success . demille attributed the film’s failure to its already outmoded position in the transition from silent to sound cinema . nor did it recover more than two - third of its production costs when released in a so - called
goat gland
version with the addition of a final talkie reel in 1929 .
baxter , peter . just watch : sternberg , paramount , and america . london : british film institute , 1993 .
another success story was alibi ( 1929 ) , directed by roland west , an independent releasing through ua . west also cowrote the screenplay with the veteran writer c . gardner sullivan . the surprisingly violent story was regarded as harsh but realistic by critics , and chester morris was nominated for an oscar for his performance as a tough ex - convict . in 1929 west returned with the bat whispers , another low - budget mystery thriller .
cecilia de mille presley , vice - chairman for the national film preservation foundation , has been a leading activist for the preservation of our cinematic history for many years . she produces documentaries , is a long - time benefactor to the academy of motion picture arts and sciences ; currently serves on the boards of the american film institute , the chapman university school of film and cinema , ucla’s school of film and television ; and works with the world society for the protection of animals .
the wickedest movie in the world : how cecil b . demille made the sign of the cross - bright lights film journal
merrick , mollie . “film official tells outlook . ” los angeles times , september 30 , 1932 , p . 12 .
“musical duel to be seen in demille film . ” los angeles times , september 11 , 1932 , p . b11 .
d’arc , james v . “cecil b . demille goes to hollywood , ” in projections 8 : film - makers on film - making , edited by john boorman and walter donohue , 384 - 396 . london : faber and faber , 1998 .
blaetz , robin . strategies of containment : joan of arc in film . new york university , phd thesis , 1989 .
noah , sara . historical figures in film : the celluloid christ . san jose state university , ma thesis , 1993 .
pomeroy ' s downfall seems attributable partly to his own hubris , but it seems that he was also emulating the
erpi - men
in their quest for secrecy and self - aggrandizement . he resigned from paramount in january 1929 .
his desire to direct is said to be the cause of controversy ,
reported the laconic film daily . 41
d . w . griffith ' s waning career waned a little more when lady of the pavements ( 1929 ) came out . it was a part - talkie , with some singing scenes . critics liked the energetic star , lupe velez , but were indifferent to griffith ' s direction . joseph schenck previewed the film extensively around the country before its new york premiere in order to forestall the inevitable effects of the bad reviews . part of the problem was technical . ua ' s disc pressing was botched , resulting in unintelligible voices . writing in january 1929 , griffith expressed optimism :
cecil b . demille thought silent movies were here to stay but by 1929 , there was no doubt he would have to adjust . later he looked back on the changes it wrought :
to leaf through my shooting script for
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
i don ' t know how many times i ' ve watched it but napoleon dynamite still gets me ,
says whittet , name - checking the film that has most often been name - checked by people who seek a point of reference for girl asleep .
it ' s that mix of a visual world alongside a character who is just so vivid and a really simple story .
show boat received bad notices when it opened in new york in april 1929 . kann assailed the director , harry pollard , in a front - page editorial for letting the film grow to its 12 , 400 - foot length .
practically every major sequence is drawn out and made unnecessarily repetitious to the point of fatigue .
other reviews described it as a long and
draggy
melodrama . like all universal productions , the film was also released in a silent version . 93
paramount rushed its maurice chevalier vehicle , innocents of paris ( dir . richard wallace , 1929 ) into production . the film was one of the studio ' s top grossers for the year . chevalier ' s assertive personality , his endearing gallicisms , his almost too - french accent , and his signature tune
louise
made the otherwise ordinary film a one - man tour de force . chevalier had been making films in france since 1908 , so he was totally at ease before the camera . 47
the ucla film and television archive later restored the film ' s sound version , in which dialogue scenes were added to the final reel , a film that was one of demille ' s first part - sound efforts . actor fritz feld filmed the sound sequences without demille ' s supervision since demille had already broken his contract with pathé , and signed with metro - goldwyn - mayer . [ 1 ]
anonymous . the de mille dynasty exhibition : a century of theatre , film and dance . los angeles : the americana museum , 1985 .
steidel , debra eve . that her soul may remain pure : women in american silent film . american university , ma thesis , 1989 .
lucky star ( dir . frank borzage , 1929 ) was released in its part - talking version . it is a melodrama about two war veterans ( charles farrell and guinn
big boy
williams ) competing for the heart of janet gaynor .
last two reels [ of ] dialogue , with farrell and gaynor voices [ were ] just fair ,
said jack harrower , film daily ' s regular reviewer . 35
“cecil b . demille has emerged as a pioneer in effects . he has an amazing grasp of the medium . you may rave at certain phases of the hokum plot that he presents , but the audible screen gives him the opportunity to disclose an entirely new bag of tricks . in unexpectedness and interest , dynamite is a peak . ”
scorsese , martin . “martin scorsese’s guilty pleasures . ” film comment 34 , no . 3 ( 1998 ) : 46 - 48 , p . 46 .
his first talkie , dynamite , was advertised in
motion picture herald
as
a drama that digs through the veneer of sex and silks to reach the heart !
dynamite was demille ' s first project while under contract at mgm . in 1929 , mgm was still releasing most of its talkies with silent versions in order to satisfy those markets that were not yet wired for sound . lt is the silent version that has been preserved for this festival . though one reel shorter , the silent version departs little from its sound counterpart . a
variety
review from the time sums up the complicated plot :
a miner , condemned to death , whom the spoiled society bud has wed in prison on the eve of execution . . . all to comply with a will , leaving her millions , in order that she may buy another woman ' s husband . that the laborer is saved from the gallows at the 11th hour forms the knot which the scenario must untie .
preserved from cecil b . demille ' s personal 35mm nitrate print . laboratory services by the stanford theatre film laboratory . special thanks to : cecilia demille presley .
– cecil b . demille to george c . pratt , “interview with cecil b . demille , ” courtesy of george eastman house international museum of photography and film
there ' s a wonderful visual inventiveness to the film , too , typified by the scene - setting titles that crop up unexpectedly on objects in the frame .
rivers , jennifer ann . cecil b . demille’s vision of the west : a comparison of history and film . brigham young university , ma thesis , 1996 .
the sign of the cross concludes in tragedy , a downbeat ending for a film released in the worst months of the depression , yet it was a huge hit .
demille had taken a chance in making the film . would the censor boards slash it to ribbons ? after a few anxious weeks , reports came in to the src . not one board had cut the so - called “lesbian dance . ” the few who did cut the film concentrated on alligators , apes , and asses’ milk .
pratt , george c . “interview with cecil b . demille . ” hollywood , 1958 . unpublished audio tape , george eastman house international museum of photography and film .
the official website dedicated to demille’s work , life and legacy . it contains an extensive biography , filmography , list of awards , photo - gallery and various film links
apostolos - cappadona , diane . “iconography , ” in the routledge companion to religion and film , edited by john lyden , 440 - 464 . london : routledge , 2010 .
the canary murder case ( dir . malcolm st . clair , 1929 ) was that rarity , a film with
effective talking sequences .
william powell ' s voice and acting were singled out .
as an all - talker , it is far more effective than the silent version .
as a result of his success , powell was officially
elevated to stardom
by paramount . 48 the dour voice and deadpan delivery of the character actor ned sparks added more vocal interest to the casting .
dynamite is a sprawling tale which begins by telling two completely separate stories . we ' re first introduced to hagon derk ( charles bickford ) , who has been unjustly convicted of murder and sentenced to die . his little sister katie ( muriel mccormac ) sobs as they are parted , and the viewer rightly guesses that a man with such feelings for a child is unlikely to be a murderer .
karl has been a journalist at fairfax media since 1999 , in a variety of writing and editing roles . karl writes about popular culture with a particular focus on film and television .
palmer , allen w . “cecil b . demille writes america’s history for the 1939 world’s fair . ” film history 5 , no . 1 ( 1993 ) : 36 - 48 .
in this musical revue , mgm introduced its silent - film stars . conrad nagel and jack benny host the event . stars include : buster keaton , joan crawford , and lionel barrymore .
( 1939 ) . like most of the director ' s best work , this film possesses an undercurrent of cynicism and bitterness overlaid with sentimentality . written by charles brackett and billy wilder ,
howard hughes ' s caddo productions announced in may 1928 that hell ' s angels would be finished in time for a september release by united artists . indeed , the film had been nearly completed as a silent with synchronized effects , but hughes realized that it would be old hat next to the new all - talkers appearing from every studio . he hired the stage director james whale to film dialogue scenes at christie ' s metropolitan sound studios . he scrapped most of the silent footage except for the outstanding flying stunts . new scenes were recorded by deploying
both microphones and cameras in the air by other planes and balloons .
the release was put off until november , then until 1929 . even that proved optimistic . 71
dynamite ( 1929 ) also producer madam satan ( 1930 ) also producer the squaw man ( 1931 ) also producer the sign of the cross ( 1932 ) also producer this day and age ( 1933 ) also producer four frightened people ( 1934 ) also producer cleopatra ( 1934 ) also producer the crusades ( 1935 ) also producer the plainsman ( 1937 ) also producer the buccaneer ( 1938 ) also producer union pacific ( 1939 ) also producer north west mounted police ( 1940 ) also producer reap the wild wind ( 1942 ) also producer the story of dr . wassell ( 1944 ) also producer unconquered ( 1947 ) also producer samson and delilah ( 1949 ) also producer the greatest show on earth ( 1952 ) also producer the ten commandments ( 1956 ) also producer
mark a . vieira is a photographer , film historian , and author of numerous books . see his home page here and his amazon page here for details . he lives in los angeles .
goldburg , peta . “selling jesus : judas the betrayer in film . ” religious education journal of australia 20 , no . 2 ( 2004 ) : 12 - 16 , p . 13 .
—– . “ the plainsman ( 1937 ) : cecil b . demille’s greatest authenticity lapse ? ” kinema : a journal for film and audiovisual media 19 ( 2003 ) : 73 - 86 .
apostolos - cappadona , diane . “iconography , ” in the routledge companion to religion and film , edited by john lyden , 440 - 464 . london : routledge , 2010 , p . 450 .
pratt , george c . “forty - five years of picture making : an interview with cecil b . demille . ” film history 3 , no . 2 ( 1989 ) : 134 - 145 .
film too many kisses is released with harpo in a supporting role . details are lacking of how he came to be in this , which even seems to pre - date their first real broadway play
dynamite packs a lot of story into its 126 minutes , yet it left me wanting even more ; i would have enjoyed seeing more of the gradual development of cynthia and hagon ' s feelings , especially as their communication was hampered by his brusque nature . like many good films , it leaves you mulling over the characters ; could two people from such disparate backgrounds really make a go of a marriage , and which lifestyle would they choose ?
is it a teen movie ? not really , but yes . a family movie ? well , kind of , but no . a film for grown - ups ? well , maybe , a little .
those who attacked the film bore witness to an artistic feat . demille had told so transporting a story that even isolated elements could be affecting . in 1932 , hollywood mastered the art of the sound film . even so , shanghai express , scarface , grand hotel , love me tonight , a farewell to arms , trouble in paradise , and the sign of the cross could not be fully appreciated for the achievements they were . the vocabulary of the critical fraternity was insufficient . no critic could speak with authority on a film’s groundbreaking visual and aural effects . only in retrospect could these works of art be properly appraised .
this was the third in a trilogy of coming - of - age stories ,
explains whittet , who plays greta ' s father and a tree - man in the fantasy section of the film .
william fox movietone follies of 1929 also used the two - director method . directed by david butler and william k . wells , the film is a collection of musical acts strung together by a gossamer narrative about a plantation heir ( john breeden ) who backs a vaudeville revue starring his belle ( lola lane ) . many critics thought stepin fetchit ' s dance number stole the show . although the afi catalog cites a technicolor sequence , the trades announced that it was to be shot in multicolor , another two - color process , underwritten by howard hughes , that was supposed to compete with technicolor .
when ua mistakenly charged swanson ' s company for erpi fees , her representative wrote back in march 1929 ,
we cannot recognize any indebtedness to the electrical research products company because it is our intention to use the photophone system in connection with the pictures which we shall make in which miss swanson appears .
thus , swanson was the first big star to announce a talking project . 73
kozlovic , anton karl . ‘behold his mighty hand ! ’ a critical examination of the biblical cinema of cecil b . demille : a film studies offering to religious education . flinders university , phd thesis , 2009 .
beaumont ' s casual mention of the hybrid nature of his film zeroed in on a crucial aspect of sound that would influence dozens of subsequent musicals . integrating the musical setting
naturally
into the story produced the
coherent
musical form which would eventually replace the revue format . ( though some of the musical numbers , including
wedding of the painted doll
and
the boy friend ,
are encapsulated sound shorts , introduced by close - up inserts of the turning pages of the playbill . ) beaumont carefully pointed out that the labor - intensive talking pictures demanded extra rehearsals . bessie love ' s ukulele - playing scene alone took more than three hours to film . the film was a smash and
earned the best gross since the big parade [ 1925 ] , and twice as much as any other film of its season .
57
at the present time i believe we have reached a point where an entirely new creation is being perfected—a form of entertainment combining some of the best elements of stage and screen , but distinct from either . i look upon real human interest stories with a natural musical setting as the most fertile field for progress here . … the direction of talking pictures demands much closer attention to detail than the silent film . a sound picture is virtually
made
before its scenes are photographed , for every sequence must be rehearsed until it is perfect before the filming begins . ( the broadway melody souvenir program , 1929 , yranski collection )
i saw this a couple of times when i was a kid . i remember i enjoyed it , but don ' t recall much more than that . it ' s hard to believe , but there actually was a time when a movie from 1929 would run on a late night movie . not a special event , not an
oldies
night , just a regularly scheduled , if antique , movie .
conceiving their films as silents with sound tacked on was an increasingly old - fashioned approach which undoubtedly hurt the talking versions of universal ' s pictures . moreover , universal ' s facilities still lagged behind the competition ' s . it was not until february 1929 that the studio built its first fully equipped sound screening room at universal city so that sound tracks
might be heard as they would be played .
85
“demille visualized nero as the menace in the film , ” said elsa lanchester , laughton’s wife . “charles thought him merely funny . demille was shocked by the idea . he had old - fashioned ideas of villains and heroes . ”
kemp , philip . “cecil b ( lount ) demille , ” in world film directors . volume i : 1890 - 1945 , edited by john wakeman , 207 - 222 . new york : h . w . wilson , 1987 .
universal ' s other films were not impressing the critics . the new york sun called paul leni ' s the last warning ( 1929 )
a curious and rather dull hodgepodge of bad talking sequences and unrelated silent ones .
too many outbursts of shrieking , merely to prove the effects of the audible screen , to cause any spine chilling ,
said the times . and there seemed to be mechanical difficulties :
the sound effects were way off when caught at the colony on broadway , and the dialogue sequences were far from impressive .
95 this would be leni ' s only sound film . he died of an infection shortly after its release .
( 1929 ) is to see at a glance what sound had done to films . the dialogue , typed in red , is the outstanding feature on each page ; and some of the dialogue in the first reels seems . . . painfully bright and brittle , as if we were dinning into the audience what good playwrights we were , now that they could hear as well as see .
despite demille ' s low opinion ,
in fact , girl asleep is very un - australian in some respects . it was developed via the hive , a program run by the adelaide film festival with the express intention of fostering filmmaking by people in other areas of the arts .
though the original version disappeared soon after its release , it has been recently restored and re - released on laser disc . the 1929 product contained only traces of the original score and would not be considered a musical by most modern viewers . most of the silent footage was retained , and two talking and singing sequences were added . only two kern songs were included in the film . to preserve some contact with the original production , a two - reel ( eighteen - minute ) prologue was filmed . in it , carl laemmle and flo ziegfeld make brief remarks . otis harlan , who starred in the film , introduces the stage cast members tess gardella , jules bledsoe , and helen morgan singing five numbers from the show . according to the new york evening journal ,
bledsoe ' s rendition of the [
old man river
] number is about the most effective yet recorded on the singing screen .
92
“that was my first contribution of any value to sound pictures , retaining the silent techniques , and combining those techniques with sound . such great , great value , that the moment you put the sound with it , you were back in the stage and all that the stage could give you , and the whole technique of the stage was at your disposal , plus being able to paint on the broad canvas of the silent screen . i brought those two together , and that perhaps is what dynamite did for the world . ”
nagel has the chance to play a complex character who is a bit deeper than your average playboy . his final line ,
that ' s that ,
packed a wallop ( pun intended , for those who have seen the film ) .
the advertising campaign for the sign of the cross gave the impression that paramount pictures was having a gay old time . this film was the first in hollywood history to feature homosexual characters in its ads ; they were painted by dan sayre groesbeck .
grace , pamela . “gospel truth ? : from cecil b . demille to nicholas ray , ” in a companion to literature and film , edited by robert stam and alessandra raengo , 46 - 57 . malden , ma : blackwell , 2004 .
after the fire destroyed paramount ' s hollywood soundstages in january 1928 , roy pomeroy and the engineers relocated to the paramount eastern studios in astoria to battle numerous technical problems with sound . burlesque , a drama which was to have been paramount ' s first talkie , was postponed repeatedly . edmund goulding began shooting it at astoria , but eventually the project was transferred to hollywood . at the time , pomeroy said he was experimenting with recording the sound on a separate film - strip , then transferring it to disc . 36 burlesque was eventually released in 1929 as the dance of life , codirected by john cromwell and edward sutherland ( although victor fleming , uncredited , had a hand in it as well ) .
another immigrant from the east coast also played a small role in the making of the film . algonquin table wit dorothy parker was at mgm working on a script that was never made . at loose ends , she was recruited to write a song for
as was typical with hollywood casting at that time , demille turned to broadway for some of his actors . the hot - tempered star charles bickford began his decades - long film career playing the condemned man while kay johnson , star of the stage version of
d’arc , james vincent . 1986 . two articles : “darryl f . zanuck’s brigham young : a film in context and “ ‘so let it be written…’ — the creation of cecil b . demille’s autobiography ” . brigham young university , phd thesis , 1986 .
once the los angeles plant was restored , the bulk of paramount ' s production was based there in the capable hands of reliable directors like dorothy arzner . she was responsible for easing clara row into the talkies with the wild party ( 1929 ) . bow played a coed who spars with , but ends up engaged to , her professor , fredric march . the sound quality was uneven , but row ' s voice was intelligible , and her brooklyn accent only occasionally detectable .
fox film corp . presenter : william fox scenarists : marion orth , randall h . faye titles : malcolm stuart boylan cinematographer : charles g . clarke cast : george o ' brien . lois moran , noah young , tom dugan , william demarest , gwen lee
there were angry comments from other protestant writers , but most of the condemnation was catholic . “this film , with its sadistic cruelty , its playing up of roman lust and debauchery and crime , is intolerable , ” wrote demille’s adviser , father lord . cleveland bishop joseph schrembs called the film a “damnable hypocrisy . ” jesuit america magazine called joyzelle’s dance “the most unpleasant bit of footage ever passed by the hollywood censors . ” catholic publisher martin quigley wrote : “this scene becomes an incident liable to an evil audience effect . ”
kozlovic , anton k . “the construction of a christ - figure within the 1956 and 1923 versions of cecil b . demille’s the ten commandments . ” the journal of religion and film 10 , no . 1 ( 2006 ) : urltoken accessed 20 november 2010 .
higashi , sumiko . “ethnicity , class and gender in film : demille’s the cheat , ” in unspeakable images : ethnicity and the american cinema , edited bylester d . friedman , 112 - 139 . urbana , il : the university of illinois press , 1991 .
—– . “the art of creative scriptural extrapolation : bithiah , mered and 1 chronicles 4 : 18 within cecil b . demille’s the ten commandments ( 1956 ) . ” kinema : a journal for film and audiovisual media 33 ( 2010 ) : 4 - 30 .
wagner , phil . “passing through nightmares : cecil b . demille’s the plainsman and epic discourse in new deal america . ” in the epic film in world culture , edited by robert burgoyne , 207 - 234 . new york , ny : routledge , 2011 .
d’arc , james v . “ two articles : “darryl f . zanuck’s brigham young : a film in context and “‘so let it be written…’ — the creation of cecil b . demille’s autobiography . ” phd dissertation , brigham young university , 1986 , p . 74 .
grace , pamela . “gospel truth ? : from cecil b . demille to nicholas ray , ” in a companion to literature and film , edited by robert stam and alessandra raengo , 46 - 57 . malden , ma : blackwell , 2004 , p . 48 .
hi , laura - i ' m so glad you enjoyed both movies on sunday night , just wish i could have seen them with you ! reading your great reviews is the next best thing to being there side by side . having seen dynamite , i agree it was a treat to see charles bickford in a leading role and kay johnson was quite wonderful , too . and wasn ' t it fun to see young joel and the big hoops race ? i ' ll have to catch madam satan another time - your comments were hilarious - sounds like a hoot ! best , jane
show boat ( dir . harry pollard ) was shot , abandoned , and reshot so many times that the production record is like a jigsaw puzzle . universal , early in 1929 , announced a plan to shoot silent and sound footage on alternating days . this press release conflicts with another issued just five days later :
the film , just completed , is to have the dialogue and music portions inserted . these remakes will be taken at the ziegfeld [ theater ] .
but the universal executive r . h . cochrane implied there were already two separate films :
our leading picture show boat was not only bought as a silent one but the silent version was made complete from start to finish . afterward a sound version was made , including the ziegfeld hits from his stage show of the same story .
90 the film had a dual premiere in miami and palm beach . miami ' s opening was disrupted
by [ the ] disappearance of the operators , with the sound reproducing equipment out of order .
union agitators were blamed . 91
mgm ' s second sound film was also a goat gland . alias jimmy valentine ( dir . jack conway , 1928 ) was made into a sound film after the fact at the paramount sound laboratory ( another good example of how sound encouraged the studios to cooperate ) . in the last two reels , lionel barrymore and william haines dubbed dialogue over footage shot silent . hall advised the studio
that they must learn , with regard to sound , that enough is as good as a feast .
he thought that the sound effects and dialogue were excessive . 55
myers admits the response was not something she had anticipated .
when we made it we didn ' t really think beyond making it . it has been quite amazing to see how people connect with it . it speaks broadly , but it is a very australian kind of film .
michel gondry , spike jonze , wes anderson – that ' s the world we live in , they ' re the things we are watching and loving ,
says myers .
they [ the backers ] had seen that and they felt we had a film to make .
demille’s directorial , religious and business triumph was followed by triumph ( 1924 ) , another morality tale about wealth and rivalry between two sons , one good and one bad . feet of clay ( 1924 ) allowed demille to explore his penchant for reincarnation in a strange story about suicide , soul travel and romantic love triangles . the golden bed ( 1925 ) was demille’s last film for paramount and continued the themes of disastrous marriages , love triangles and death coupled with an extravagant candy ball sequence . the road to yesterday ( 1925 ) marked the first film from his new studio , cecil b . demille pictures , and deftly mixed marriage with reincarnation using a disastrous train crash to flashback to medieval england to explore the past life roots of the couple’s modern - day marital problems . next , the volga boatman ( 1926 ) was demille’s exotic russophile film about revolution , love triangles and class rivalries .
this has been described as an arthouse film for teenagers ,
adds whittet .
why shouldn ' t there be stories for 14 - and 15 - year - olds that are just as visually eye - popping and full of texture as films for 30 - year - olds are ?
lardner jr . , ring . “the sign of the boss : cecil de mille , union buster , ” in celluloid power : social film criticism from the birth of a nation to judgment at nuremberg , edited by david platt , 383 - 394 . metuchen , nj : the scarecrow press , 1992 .
the title character is based on queen silver , a child prodigy and socialist orator who was accused of leaving atheist pamphlets in student lockers at hollywood high school in 1927 . [ 2 ] the lead actress , lina basquette , named her autobiography , lina : demille ' s godless girl , after the film .
the silent movie humorisk is made with money raised by a friend . director is jo swerling . it was made in two weeks at fort lee , nj . studios and in a studio at 49th st . and 10th ave . in new york . no copy exists of this ( unfinished ? ) film .
the first milestone all - talking film program was presented at the roxy during the week of 15 november 1928 . it comprised the newsreel and two movietone comedies , including john ford ' s three - reeler napoleon ' s barrer . this all - dialogue film told the story of a barber who regales a customer with stories of what he would do if he met napoleon . needless to say , the customer is napoleon . ford later claimed that , against the wishes of the sound crew , he innovated exterior dialogue scenes . film daily took note :
sound effects well handled , talking clear , especially in two outdoor sequences .
29 since the movietone trucks and the crew to operate them were readily available , and since fox managers encouraged shooting outdoors , one wonders why ford would have encountered so much resistance . hall found himself forgetting
the novelty of audible productions ,
an important new criterion for judging sound excellence . 30
first national tried to recover by casting moore in a
mature
role in the musical melodrama footlights and fools ( dir . seiter , 1929 ) . she plays a cabaret performer leading two lives as betty murphy , ordinary girl , and as fifi d ' auray , star of
the sins of 1930
revue . the notices were less devastating . the evening journal said ,
colleen does better work in this one than she has ever done before .
but most found her fifi character ' s accent unconvincing . an
embarrassing attempt to appear and sound gallic ,
reported the morning telegraph . film daily advised exhibitors ,
though her french accent isn ' t so hot , she gets over the story to make it click as a good program offering… . it can be sold as something entirely different for colleen , but don ' t promise too much .
16
the sign of the cross ( 1932 ) was the first fully integrated sound film . every shot counted . every transition was assured . demille’s use of symbolism , crowds , crane shots , dialectical montage , contrapuntal sound , music cues , sound effects , and even silence was masterly . it was truly a moving picture .
most new york critics rated the film excellent . of special interest , though , is the intensity with which jolson ' s charismatic personality impressed them . mordaunt hall of the times pinpointed the appeal of the film ,
not in its transparent narrative , but in mr . jolson ' s inimitable singing . one waits after hearing a selection , hoping for another .
another commentator called the story
familiar hokum
but gushed over jolson ' s
sincerity and genuine feeling .
initial reviews set the tone for the general opinion concerning the movie ' s significance :
the talking picture is practicable , inevitable and , in this case , at least , powerful . the singing fool justifies the vitaphone and all the experiments that have hitherto passed as talking pictures .
8 although the jazz singer ( dir . alan crosland , 1927 ) has entered the history books as the film that started the sound revolution , it was the one - two punch of the lights of new york ( dir . bryan foy ) in july and the singing fool in september 1928 that proved beyond doubt to producers and exhibitors that a feature sound film with a big star had the potential to make millions . simultaneously , the popular press , which had showed little interest in talking features after the jazz singer , now passionately embraced the concept .
thanks to the unique market conditions of the transition era , dynamite was both cecil b . demille’s first all - talkie sound feature as well as his last silent film . packed with class conscious , never - quite - consummated scandal in demille’s inimitable style , the overheated story centers on cynthia ( johnson ) , a pampered society girl who will lose her trust fund if she isn’t married and living with her husband by a certain date—unless he dies before , in which case she keeps the cash . with the deadline approaching and her current beau , a polo playing playboy ( nagel ) , tied up in a marriage to her best friend , cynthia marries a hardscrabble coal miner on death row ( bickford ) . when bickford’s miner is freed at the last minute , the honorable tough guy arrives at cynthia’s penthouse to live up to his vows , turning her world upside down . narrative differences between the versions are minor but stylistic differences abound , particularly in the handling of the story’s recurring song
how am i to know ?
featuring lyrics by dorothy parker .
society girl cynthia crothers marries hagon derk , a miner sentenced to be executed for murder , to fulfill the terms of her grandfather ' s will . the miner is found innocent at the last minute , dashing cynthia ' s hope of marrying her lover , roger , a man whose wife refuses to divorce him . advised by her lawyers that she should live with her husband so as to obtain her money , cynthia goes to the mining town and lives the life of a miner ' s wife . there she realizes the futility of her former life when a mine disaster threatens to take both hagon and roger away from her . after roger is killed in a dynamite explosion while helping them escape , cynthia finds happiness with the miner .
comic pair of jimmy durante & lupe velez ! the snout and the spicy chihuahua ! adorably zany ! they are the eccentric show biz pair . fixing their material is the straight pair norman foster & marian nixon . and there ' s a host of other great characters . the script wasn ' t as funny as the cast , but come on ! it ' s durante & velez ! so there are enough laughs to satisfy most . and i felt foster did a real good character here , even doing a good durante imitation at one point . and watch velez like a real vixen twist foster around her little finger . wonderful flirt while wearing ridiculous dresses ! this might not be strictly dynamite , but there are plenty of firecrackers !
in fact , most warners ' sound specials performed extraordinarily well at the box office ( see appendix 1 ) . the singing fool did good business , but nothing came close to lights of new york , an astounding return on investment in any epoch . yet the studio seemed slow to pick up the ball on the talking gangster film .
photoplay quipped that melody of love , with walter pidgeon , was
valuable because it shows how not to make a talkie .
83 its story was weak . jack ( pidgeon ) lost the use of his arm while serving in france during the war . when he encounters a girl he met over there , madelon ( mildred harris ) , who is now a showgirl in the states , the limb comes back to life and they vow to get married . despite the film ' s
lung power ,
it was not
aided by its audible accompaniment .
according to hall ,
a little of this dialogue offering goes a long way .
the daily mirror mused that it was as if a gang of children playing in the backyard had said ,
let ' s make a talker .
84 indeed , that ' s a fair description of the film ' s production , except that it was shot by grown - ups . the reception of this film shows that the novelty of sound was no longer sufficient to save a bad movie .
as many studio executives did during 1928 - 1929 , schenck regarded sound as a kind of spice to be sprinkled on judiciously , as needed . irving thalberg shared that opinion , and as a result , mgm was the most conservative studio where sound was concerned . it tested the waters in november 1928 with a short subject featuring some stars . ernest torrence is supposedly calling from london ( on at & t transatlantic equipment , naturally ) to announce the opening of the empire theater . george k . arthur , joan crawford , norma shearer , and john gilbert ( who keeps gushing
colossal , amazing , and wonderful
) take turns at the mike . 50
critics were eager to carve out a special place for foregrounded sound . interesting effects were acceptable if
natural
( unlike the excessive shrieking in the last warning ) . crazy fake accents and loudmouth talking were acceptable ( for some listeners ) if confined to marx brothers comedies . acoustic spectacle and flashy musical numbers were appropriate in the genre of the musical . in fact , it might be speculated that the rise of the musical comedy and operetta film during this season and the next was the result of public impatience with hollywood showing off its sound - film prowess too expressively . while the consensus was that sound should be dispensed gradually in other genres , in the musical , on the contrary , the prevailing attitude was : anything goes .