negative aspects of Henry King as noted by Andrew Sarris, with a longer running time and a slower pace. Still, the film is worth seeing for Jean Peters first time out as an actress. There is also what I assume was a visual gag that went unnoticed by the censors. One of the conquistadors has stolen some gems, and De Vargas is assigned to seek out the thief. The thief revealed, takes his hand down into the front of his pants where a bag with the treasure is hidden. Maybe I'm reading too much into that moment, but I think there's a joke there regarding the family jewels.

September 21, 2010

The Song of Bernadette

Henry King - 1943
20th Century-Fox Region 1 DVD

(Darryl) Zanuck was in the service at the timethe transcendent, while the other extreme would be represented by Cecil B. DeMille and what Schrader called "over-abundant means". Henry King thought of himself as an entertainer rather than an artist. Even without Linda Darnell, seen from a distance as "the beautiful lady", one would never think of The Song of Bernadette as Bressonian. Yet the nudges instigated by Zanuck don't quite push the film into DeMille territory either, even with the insistence of Alfred Newman's choral accompanied score. If the film as it stands tilts in DeMille's direction, we are talking about films made by directors of the same generation, with careers that run almost parallel.

What makes The Song of Bernadette work is both Henry King's sincerity, and something that I've mentioned before, what I call his