Claysaba
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Payno
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Winifred
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
bfd21552
Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited," is a clean, clearly written indictment of the disaffection promulgated by sudden, unearned wealth upon morally "uncompassed," ex-patriot Americans, an immature group fled to the decadence of between-the-wars Paris. One of the best examples of post-WWI Modernism, the story that provides the basis for the film is "thinned" into a screenplay designed to promote the two-dimensional stars, and in the process, the magic and depth of Fitzgerald is diluted into a mishmash of shallow characterizations wandering about upon a Technicolor screen. "Babylon" (and its author) deserved a far, far better script and a more reasonable treatment. . . . And the literature merited actors whose dramatic abilities outweigh their makeup.
cornelius siccama
What is the use of speaking of a romantic drama when there is hardly any romance and the drama is not detectable in the script but in the character of the ever worst casted actor in a romantic role: i.e. Van Johnson. Enjoy the repeating entree of Elisabeth Taylor. She suffers from playing in a worn-out movie (Richard Brooks, eat your hat) and has to deal with an actor who is depressed all along with an up-tight hair-do. Hopefully this movie is the last of its kind. Scene after scene put in front of a camera without any expressions of feeling. You never will be dragged into it. Within a few years (after release) the french cinema (Truffaut, Malle etc) will lead the way to a new kind of filmmaking. And in that wake Brooks resurrected as director and writer with movies like Key Largo, Elmer Gantry etc. Luckely Scott Fitzgerald did not live long enough to see "his" film.
willemarchie
Yeah, it could use a script rewrite, but with all the celebrities and the Paris and coastal scenery, it is pretty cool. Also, it is fun to see the ever-smooth Roger Moore as a sort of cad. Van Johnson plays well as a drunken, tragic figure. Seriously, the colorization by Ted Turner or whoever doesn't do justice to the print, but just look at the sets and tell me they didn't pay attention to detail. Plus, the rally car race from, presumably, Nice or Monaco, is great with all the Porsches and Bugattis. And, while brief, provides a foretelling of future film races with the likes of James Bond and Cary Grant (in "To Catch A Thief"). Again, it is a film worth watching, but isn't in the same class as other films of the year, such as "On The Waterfront" or "The Caine Mutiny" or "Rear Window".
wes-connors
It's an update of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited" for writer Van Johnson (as Charles Wills), recalling his whirlwind post-World War II encounter with beautiful and curvaceous sisters Elizabeth Taylor and Donna Reed (as Helen and Marion Ellswirth), in Paris. When beautiful Ms. Taylor secures Mr. Johnson's hand in marriage, beautiful Ms. Reed weds George Dolenz (as Claude Matine). This is one of Mr. Dolenz' higher profile roles; he was the father of "The Monkees" drummer Micky Dolenz.Veteran Walter Pidgeon (as James Ellswirth) gives some worthless Texas oil wells to Johnson, as a wedding gift; then, when the oil unexpectedly starts to flow, life changes for everyone. Multi-married Hungarian beauty Eva Gabor (later of "Green Acres") distracts Johnson from Taylor, and handsome young Roger Moore (later "James Bond") distracts Taylor from Johnson. Everyone is easily distracted. Alcohol dully plays a role in the story, especially, but unconvincingly, affecting star Johnson.**** The Last Time I Saw Paris (11/18/54) Richard Brooks ~ Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Reed, Walter Pidgeon
