Reviews

Films which are intelligent without making you feel all along that they are

(intelligent) are way too rare to be missed. Very well played from all involved and very well written, the distanciated

kind of humor is probably what annoyed the audience... but it is exactly

what makes it an excellent film, one I've seen about 6 or 7 times since I

discovered it. If you're a Trek fan this probably is not for you. If you're not (or if you

can laugh at what you like) - enjoy!

This film could be summarized as 'just another Garbo redemption yarn'... well, it is and it isn't. If you're familiar with the Garbo films (silents & talkies), you'll find yourself knowing the script before it happens onscreen, so, yes, indeed, Garbo will fall first then unwillingly rise from the gutter, sit on top of the world, then fall again, willingly or not. Some have written very intelligent lines on the subject (Mick Lasalle in 'Complicated Women' for instance) so I won't ad lib on this.

But this particular film adds another element: its photography. Splendid throughout all of Susan's cahotic life, the images crafted by Bill Daniels are simply amazing and on par with any Sternberg film - yes, that good. I can't remember precisely at the moment but the film was almost entirely redone before being released, either by R.Z. Leonard or by somebody else and R.Z. kept the credit...

Whatever. If script-wise quite predictable, this film should be seen if only for the sake of its images. Also, Garbo gives a performance worthy of the one she had in Grand Hotel - glimpses of eternity perhaps.

Too bad the big guys think this one's not worth more than a crappy VHS - photography on this level IS art... And Garbo's face eludes all possible descriptions.

Well, I had seen "They all laughed" when it came out in

Europe around 1982 and had kept a vague but dear souvenir of it. I 've just seen it again on tape, almost twenty years after... Bogdanovich has a true heartfelt tenderness over his characters and a kind sympathy which is difficult not to feel also. Excellent comedians and actors, good lines all over and for everyone and pretty good editing, too. I laughed and smiled all the time. Just as we all do, at times. Go get it.

Well, it' like all american early talkies - stilted... with strange shifts of rythm and also long sequences which look and feel like the best of the late silent era, finally crashing on uninteresting talking moments... It's like rené Clair's "Quatorze Juillet" (not as good, though). It's a strange movie with a happy ending feel, style and script that Capra at the time had not yet mastered and made his own. The film was shot in four versions with the same actors. Like anything from Féjös, it is, at least, interesting - with spots as bright and powerful as one can