LUSH 1937 TECHNICOLOR. (Rating: 4.00)
Review : Famous only for the fact that it was the first full-length British film to be photographed in Technicolor, it is also a pleasing if contrived little story which should appeal to fans of Henry Fonda, vintage British films or those who appreciate love stories. Leslie Banks plays Lord Clontarf - a member of the Irish gentry circa 1889 - who is in love with Marie (Annabella) - an exquisite Spanish gypsy. They are married, but Banks dies tragically when he falls to his death from his horse. Marie goes back to Spain where she's accepted back into her gypsy fold...Three generations pass, and in a dual role, Annabella plays a lively girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to ride her Grandmother's horse in the Epsom Downs Derby. Handsome young Henry Fonda sees Annabella at a party where she's dressed in a lovely evening gown and he's smitten... It's just as well the above synopsis doesn't make any real sense, as it's best to view this curio for yourselves. The lush, pastoral colour seen in this film uses soft hues to marvelous effect: the English and Irish countryside scenery is exquisite. Visually, it's a genuinely beautiful film which is never garish, i.e. overpowering the eyes with brilliant hues like some American films of the period did. Oddly enough, Fonda also starred in America's first all-Technicolor outdoor feature: TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE (1936).
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