Rene Clair - The Flame of New Orleans (1941)

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Rene Clair - The Flame of New Orleans (1941)

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Review by Andrea Foshee @ tcm:
Sultry screen siren Marlene Dietrich plays a dual role in the light romantic comedy The Flame of New Orleans (1941). As Claire Ledoux, Dietrich is a European adventuress during the 1840s. Leaving behind a colorful past, she comes to the shores of America in search of a rich husband and a life of comfort. Once she secures this in the form of wealthy fiance Roland Young, her past catches up with her, and she is forced to masquerade as a fictitious "bad seed" cousin to get herself off the hook. Along the way, however, she is unexpectedly sidetracked by the affections of a rugged sea captain played by Bruce Cabot.

The Flame of New Orleans was the first American film made by skilled French director Rene Clair, who made a name for himself with stylish French comedies like Le Million (1931) and A Nous la Liberte (1931). At the time of film's production, Clair was fleeing Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II and was anxious to continue making films in Hollywood. He originally wanted to make a movie with W.C. Fields and musical star Deanna Durbin, but producer Joe Pasternak suggested he instead work with Marlene Dietrich and use a script by Norman Krasna.

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Dietrich was supportive of the choice of Clair as director, and she went out of her way to make him feel at home. It was not unusual for her to run all over Los Angeles to find authentic French bread and coffee to give him on the set. While Clair's skill was evident, Dietrich reportedly found him cold and disapproved of his harsh treatment of the crew. She was also unhappy with the choice of actor Bruce Cabot, best known for saving Fay Wray from the clutches of King Kong in 1933, as her sea captain love interest. She thought he was "stupid" and claimed that she paid for him to have acting lessons since he could never remember his lines.

When The Flame of New Orleans was presented to the Production Code Administration, the Hays Office refused to give it their seal of approval. They felt that Dietrich was too sexy and the film was too "dirty" to release. Screenwriter Norman Krasna later revealed that Universal simply dropped two of the middle reels in order to have it passed.

At Oscar time that year, The Flame of New Orleans was nominated for Best Art Direction, but it lost to How Green Was My Valley. The film was remade in 1952 as Scarlet Angel, which starred Yvonne DeCarlo and Rock Hudson.

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Review @ The New York Times:
What, pray, has happened to Rene Clair? That is the first question which pops into the mind of a chagrined filmgoer after seeing the stilted and sluggish comedy which has been hailed by its publicists as proof that "great directors make great pictures." Assuredly, Mr. Clair has given abundant evidence in the past of his greatness as a director; just as assuredly, "The Flame of New Orleans," now at the Rivoli, is considerably less than a great picture. It is not even, in our humble opinion, a good picture. Had some fledgling director produced it, perhaps one could point to a touch here and there which showed promise of a flip and insouciant talent. But Mr. Clair? It is too late to judge him as a beginner.

To make matters still more unreasonable, the script has been provided by Norman Krasna, who knows his way around a typewriter. But in the present case he has played blind man's buff with an idea, tenuous to be sure but which might well have served as framework for a piquant comedy arabesque. For around the quaint antebellum fable of a boudoir Diana and her difficulties in arranging a proper marriage while falling in love with a handsome boat captain, Mr. Clair and Mr. Krasna have evolved some comic opportunities which are seldom realized. Certainly Mr. Clair satirized this romantic stuff-and-nonsense much better in his superb "Horse Eats Hat"—but that was years ago.

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Now and then there emerges a flash of the old Clair wit—such as the disgruntled flower girls at the wedding, the absurdly intriguing mystery of the wedding gown inexplicably floating on the Mississippi tide, or the manner in which the sordid truth about Mademoiselle's past is conveyed to a listening ear by two of her jovial former companions. These are random moments; the rest is more pointless than piquant. Nor do the players help greatly. La Dietrich, for all her legendary looks, remains more of an enigma than an actress; Bruce Cabot increasingly resembles a bargain-counter Gable, and only Roland Young succeeds in giving ludicrous point to his testy respectability.

It all comes back to Mr. Clair. Has his wit wilted in a climate air-conditioned by the Hays office? Whatever the reason, the Gallic wink, the verve, the incredibly inventive humor, the compassionate heart of "Sous Les Toits," "A Nous La Liberte" and "Le Million" is lacking here. The style which slipped but slightly in "The Ghost Goes West" has taken a nose-dive; the master has become apprentice. For "The Flame of New Orleans" is a feeble effort from one of the finest comic directors of our time." (Published: April 26, 1941)

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MediaInfo

The Flame of New Orleans (1941)_amara.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 1.23 GiB
Duration : 1h 16mn
Overall bit rate : 2 314 Kbps

Video
Format : AVC High@L3.0
Resolution : 720 x 560 pixels
Bit rate : 2 100 Kbps
Aspect ratio : 1.402
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Bits per Pixel : 0.208 bit/pixel

Audio 0
Format : AC-3
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Language : English

Sourced from "De Marlene Dietrich Collectie" (2009) - Indies Home Entertainment (Netherlands)
included subtitles: English, French, German, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Norwegian, Hungarian, Polish, Swedish

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Marlene Dietrich Collection:

Der blaue Engel (1930) (German vesion)
The Blue Angel (1930) (English vesion)
Morocco (1930)
Dishonored (1931)
The Song Of Songs (1933)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
The Devil Is A Woman (1935)

Classic Movies:

The Broadway Melody (1929)
The Divorcee (1930)
Libeled Lady (1936)
The Talk of the Town (1942)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)