Watch Lydia For Free

Excellent adaptation.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Associate producer: Lee Garmes. Producer: Alexander Korda. Copyright 12 September 1941 by Alexander Korda Films, Inc. An Alexander Korda Production, released through United Artists. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 18 September 1941 (ran 2 weeks). U.S. release: 26 September 1941. U.K. release: 16 February 1942. Australian release: 16 April 1942. Running times: 104 minutes (USA), 98 minutes (UK & Aust). NOTES: A partial re-make of Duvivier's own 1937 Un Carnet de Bal which starred Marie Bell, Francoise Rosay, Harry Baur, Pierre Blanchar, Fernandel, Louis Jouvet and Raimu.Rozsa was nominated for an Academy Award for his Music Scoring but lost out to Bernard Herrmann's All That Money Can Buy.Despite producer Korda's efforts to showcase his wife by employing some of the finest technical talents available in 1941 Hollywood, the movie was not a financial success, barely recovering its expensive production costs.Last film of John Halliday. (He died in Honolulu on 17 October 1947).COMMENT: A wonderfully Gallic tale, full of ironies and surprises, stylishly embellished with some of the most lustrously photographed images we have ever seen. The sets too are absolute marvels of tasteful extravagance, and there's a hauntingly evocative music score by Miklos Rozsa. In short, on the technical side, just about everything needed for a movie masterpiece: a promisingly novel and potentially entertaining idea, a producer with money and acumen, a director with flair and imagination, a set designer of extraordinary intelligence and sweep, and a cameraman of such expertise and skill that the movie is always inventively lit through the eyes of both beauty and atmosphere.Despite some most enjoyable set-pieces - including a contrast between Oberon's first ball as she romantically remembers it and as it actually was; and a rousing rendition of "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" at Tony Pastor's Saloon, complete with singing waiters, a comic tenor, a be-tighted chorus and jostlingly enthusiastic patrons, all filmed in one crowded take as the camera pans from the stage to Oberon's back table - the movie comes slightly unstuck in its script and its cast. Mrs Alexander Korda enacts the title role, which gives her not only the lion's share of the action but an off-camera commentary as well. Unfortunately she is something of a chatterbox. She never stops talking. This makes her characterization rather wearying. It's true that a man can put up with a foolish, chattering woman if he finds her attractive, so your enjoyment of Lydia will largely depend on whether you're an Oberon fan or otherwise. It would be a pity to miss Lydia on Oberon's account, because it has so many other good things going for it, not least a very credible performance by that much-maligned actor George Reeves as a boorish football player. And of course any movie with John Halliday is always worth seeing, even when his role is fairly small as here. Many would say the same about Edna May Oliver. And I thought Alan Marshal was adequate, particularly if we remember that all but his last entrance portray Oberon's vision of him, which was certainly a long way from the Richard Mason of reality.In short, a most interesting and fascinating movie which, despite its shortcomings, doesn't seem to deserve its current neglect.

The film begins in the present day. Several of Lydia's old suitors have come for a reunion. The folks talk about old times and the film then jumps back to the late 1890s when Lydia was young a vivacious. Each man's involvement with the lady as well as Lydia's eventually calling as a social worker unfold through the course of this movie.To me, "Lydia" is a very uneven film. Some portions, such as Lydia setting up a school for the blind, are well done and touching. As for her loves, sometimes (especially with Richard) the dialog seems 100% fake--like a movie and not at all like real life and, at times, very tedious. A very odd blend of sentimentality and romance...along with some rather poor old people make-up (the seams on the faces are quite evident on some of the actors). Overall, it's not a bad film but it's also one that comes off as amazingly over-polished and the dialog just seems oddly unreal.

After dedicating a home for blind and crippled children, doddering old Merle Oberon (as Lydia MacMillan), who never married, attends a surprise gathering of her old boyfriends. The reunion is arranged by physician Joseph Cotten (as Michael Fitzpatrick). The son of Ms. Oberon's family butler, Mr. Cotten has also invited blind musician Hans Jaray (as Frank Andre) and future "Superman" George Reeves (as Bill Willard). A fourth beau, seafaring adventurer Alan Marshal (as Richard Mason) may or may not appear. He is one of the story's mysteries, so stay tuned. Oberon and her old suitors reminisce about their romances, in flashbacks beginning in 1897, when "the prettiest girl in Boston" was a desirable young maiden..."Lydia" is a re-make of director Julien Duvivier's "Un carnet de bal" (1937), re-fashioned entirely for star Merle Oberon by producer Alexander Korda. The original French export was a worldwide hit, with Mr. Duvivier and his remarkable original players receiving much critical acclaim. There are some significant changes in the story, but they do improve the central played by Mrs. Korda (Oberon). She is the reason for the picture, clearly. An impressive group was hired for this motion picture; their skills are intermittently evident, but the totality of the film is far too pretentious...Watch "Lydia" for the production values and moments of perfection. You'll find much of the latter in the work of supporting actress Edna May Oliver (as Sarah "Granny" MacMillan). This was the last appearance of Ms. Oliver, a classic character actress who became the most valuable player nearly every time she appeared on screen. Oliver's character appears in the flashbacks, as Oberon's wealthy and outspoken grandmother. She complains about mysterious internal ailments, but is considered a hypochondriac. The veteran actress died in 1942, of internal ailments. In real life, Oliver passed away peacefully in her sleep. On screen, she plays her expiration scene with Shakespearian majesty. This is how it should be done.****** Lydia (9/18/41) Julien Duvivier ~ Merle Oberon, Joseph Cotten, Edna May Oliver, Alan Marshal

Merle Oberon stars in the title role of Lydia who seems to have all the young gallants of the turn of the last century just champing at the bit. But it's now 1941 and we meet Merle as an old spinster woman who is quite the well known public philanthropist. She never married, but not that didn't have plenty of chances.Four of her old beaus have gathered at the invitation of one of them Joseph Cotten who was the son of the butler John Halliday in the home where Oberon grew up. Cotten is now a respectable physician and the others he's invited are George Reeves a nightclub owner, Hans Jaray a blind concert pianist, and a sea captain Alan Marshal.Merle loved them all in her own way, but couldn't quite commit to any of them. All of them saw a different Merle in their salad days.I'm thinking that the film lost a great deal in translation from the original French movie Dance Program which was also directed by Julian Duvivier. It would almost have to be the case given the far stricter censorship that we had as opposed to the French.Lydia is entertaining and good enough and the cast performs their roles well. But the film is a bland romantic concoction, I'll bet the original French is much better.