Thursday, December 7, 2017

"MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA": TO GREECE WITH LOVE


HAPPILY I stumbled upon an OLD US film initially a Eugene O'Neill theatrical, stage, production from early 1930s adapted in 1947 by the Theatre Guild to FILM.


Fortunately, the 1947 Theatre Guild version is available on YOUTUBE and I link to it below, at the end.


But, by way of introduction, for anyone NOT familiar with this 1947 classic, an EXTRACT below WELL characterizes the US both then and now, especially Hollywood AND its cheap, crappy, commercial, entertainment, exported, along with ALL other NAZI manufactured garbage, abroad:


"....Many reviews commented on the non-commercial, intellectual nature of this film. 

In a NYT article published shortly before the film's New York opening, Dudley Nichols voiced his concern about current Hollywood film making and the riskiness of projects like Mourning Becomes Electra 

"After spending a year's continuous effort on the film production of...'Mourning Becomes Electra,' I can only hope that it will be liked by the people whose judgment I respect....So long as the people demand witless entertainment and adolescent films, and stay away in flocks when an adult film is presented, they will continue to get them." 

As feared by Nichols, Mourning Becomes Electra was a box office failure, losing, according to modern sources, $2,310,000..."



FROM:


https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/25275



I have one further comment, or, question to ask,
before film link, below.

ALL  in THIS film give superb performances, but, in MY opinion, well known GREEK classical performer KATINA PAXINOU simply was outstanding, breathtaking, mesmerizing.

IN MY OPINION, this particular production would NOT have had the spectacular dramatic qualities it possesses without PAXINOU!

PAXINOU MADE THE FILM, DROVE ITS DRAMATIC CONTENT, DEPTH, ALONG WITH A SUPPORTING CAST.

If one searches the internet, Paxinou's career is well documented.

HOWEVER, MY ONE CURIOUS, NAGGING, QUESTION ABOUT PAXINOU.

It is noted on ALL English language internet searches  Paxinou's PROMINENT FAMILY DISOWNED HER.

NEVER, however, named or noted as to WHO, precisely, is/was this prominent Greek family??

It is an interesting question for ME for a number of different reasons.

Unfortunately, her family name, Konstantopoulou, in ENGLISH being easily confounded with MANY Greeks.
Since I do NOT read Greek, I was UNABLE to ascertain anything more than above information IN ENGLISH.

Her father's first name is/was Basil.
I DID find that!

But, that's ALL I found available IN ENGLISH.

So, maybe someone else can answer THAT ONE nagging question for me.

An ASSUMPTION on MY part being ANY prominent Greek family relates to SHIPPING, somehow??

One additional comment before film.

O'Neill's original theatrical production appeared subsequent to WWI, the early 1930s.
This later film adaptation appears in 1947, just after WWII.

Altho ostensibly set in the US Civil War period, allusions to war, death, dying, dark philosophical ruminations, in MY opinion, reflect ALL war, but, most certainly, applicable to what had been experienced first in WWI, then, most recently, at THAT point, WWII.

These two factors hardly to be considered coincidental.

So, MOVIE LINK BELOW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMcppXLIz9A