Friday 26 December 2014

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Also Known As/Subtitle:
Unknown
Year:
1956
Country:
United States…
Predominant Genre:
Music
Director:
Henry King…
Outstanding Performance:
Shirley JONES…
Premiss:
Billy Bigelow has been dead for fifteen years, and now outside the pearly gates, he long waived his right to go back to Earth for a day.
Themes:
Compassion
Courage
Destiny
Empathy
Friendship
Humanity
Identity
Loyalty
Mankind
Personal change
Self-belief
Self-expression
White culture
Similar (in Plot, Theme or Style) to:
Oklahoma!
Review Format:
DVD

Visually-interesting but thematically-dull musical with some extremely-imaginative choreography but generally-banal music and lyrics - as well as a trite story and plot.

Its single good musical theme (a waltz) is effectively worked-over throughout the movie’s length, but fails to bring the wishful-thinking nature of its story of self-belief truly alive.

The excellent Shirley JONES is wasted, while the realistic location-shooting tries to hide the artificiality of the story - mostly failing.


Copyright © 2014 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute this posting in any format; provided mention of the author’s Weblog (Esthetics) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.