One of the unofficial mottos at MGM in the 1950s seems to have been "remake an old hit and add colour". And sometimes it worked - All the Brothers Were Valiant, King Solomon's Mines, Mogambo. Sometimes it didn't this being a case in point.
Waterloo Bridge had already been filmed twice, both times successfully. It was reimagined as a vehicle for Leslie Caron, which was an okay enough idea (they had her under contract, they needed vehicles for her I suppose) but they picked John Kerr for her co star. Kerr was a bland all American type who had a brief vogue in the mid 1950s after appearing in Tea and Sympathy on stage; he was so "hot" he turned down roles in The Spirit of St Louis and Friendly Persuasion. He's disastrously miscast as the male lead.
It's not that Kerr is a terrible actor - he's okay - he's just so bland in something that needed a star. I kept thinking of John Gregory Dunne's book Monster about the making of Up Close and Personal when he asked Scott Rudin "what's this film about?" and Rudin said "It's about two movie stars". Gaby should have been about two movie stars, but there's only one, and a low voltage one at that.
John Kerr had no business being a movie star and MGM had no business propagating that. His golly gosh gee whiz routine feels half hearted - there's no chemistry with Caron, no heat.
Maybe the film didn't have to be about two movie stars - the 1931 version stars the low voltage combo of Mae Clarke and Kent Douglass. But it's made with sensitivity and care. Also there's a point to it because Clarke's character is a prostitute - it's about the last chance of romance of a hooker. In this one she's a ballet dancer who sleeps with a couple of dudes after she thinks her fiance is dead - which is a massive difference.
The 1940 version got by on star power. This film takes its cue from the 1940 version but doesn't have the stars.
There was no real reason to make this. I guess you could add colour, I guess you could set it in World War Two. Maybe if they'd turned it into a musical... there's a ballet number but apart from that Caron does precious little dancing. Maybe if they'd taken advantage of more relaxed censorship of the 50s, but... no, Caron isn't really allowed even to be a hooker (it's frustratingly vague). They give this one a happy ending... but that robs the piece of it's emotional weight. Maybe if there was location filming... but it looks as though it was all shot on the backlot. Maybe if there was some feminism... but no it's all about Caron's guilt at having "seen many men".
Taina Elg doesn't impress as Caron's fellow ballet dancer. Cedric Hardwicke is very unconvincing as Kerr's uncle. The whole thing's a bit pointless unless you're a Caron fan.
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