Tuesday, June 23, 2020

"Intrigue"-ing

During the recent shelter-in-place due to COVID-19, it's been a dizzying time for me. Work has reached an all-time level of cray-cray and when I'm finished, I only want to veg out, often with undemanding, stringently-formatted programming like Flea Market Flip, Going RV or Lakeside Living (all 30-minute non-think shows found in marathon form on the Great American Country channel.) But there have also been some nights when I've taken time to watch movies that I otherwise might have skipped over or wouldn't have ordinarily DVR-ed. I've seen a LOT of movies, good and bad, during this lockdown. One movie that found its way onto my widescreen TV was a lesser-known 1956 Robert Mitchum picture called Foreign Intrigue.

The film was produced by a man named Sheldon Reynolds. Interestingly, he had previously created a syndicated spy TV series called Foreign Intrigue, of which there were 78 episodes and a few cast changes (and series name changes) along the way. This film is tied to the series in the remotest of ways with one supporting character from the show appearing in the movie. I found Reynolds' penchant for having his name appear in fancy-pants script (twice!) amid the otherwise standard typeface in the opening credits to be about the gayest thing evah, but he was apparently heterosexual. As producer, writer and director, it's more than clear who was in charge!

I'm not going to delve into the myriad plot details of this movie, but instead am merely going to point out a few points of interest and make a few comparisons that occurred to me while watching it. From the very start, Intrigue takes on the feel of a Hitchcock thriller. It's got portentous music (a concerto, in fact, created for it), eye-popping locations, unusual camera angles, deliberate use of color and - a particular Hitchcock motif - an ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Mitchum, as a press agent for a mysterious millionaire, finds himself mired in mystery and danger upon the man's death and skips around Europe as several bodies pile up.
Mitchum is hardly an "everyman" and is sort of out of his comfort zone here, but gives it a college try. 


The film also contains a woman whose motives and morality aren't always made clear. The widow of the fallen (and rather aged) millionaire isn't exactly crestfallen over his demise.

This gal is portrayed by auburn-haired Genevieve Page. Decked out in a variety of carefully structured Pierre Balmain designs, she cuts quite a lithe figure throughout. One big blooper stood out to me, however, in one scene. She is seen wearing a lovely pair of brooches along her right shoulder, whose color complements her red gown. However, mid-scene, the brooches are suddenly facing the opposite direction! It's surprising that no one caught this gaffe on set.
A change of direction...
But no Hitchcock-style suspense film, actual or faux, would be complete without a blonde on hand. In this case, the young lady is portrayed by Ingrid Thulin. (She's billed as Ingrid Tuelin in this early role.) Strangely, both Thulin and Page receive "Introducing" credit in the film's opening even though they had both been working in movies for a period of years!

In time, Thulin would emerge as a highly-regarded actress in quite a few Ingmar Bergman films along with some decidedly cutting edge movies such as The Damned (1969) for Luchino Visconti. And she is a member of our very own (imaginary) Disaster Movie Club thanks to her appearance in 1976's The Cassandra Crossing.

Mitchum has a vaguely amusing cat & mouse association with a diminutive, bald man of espionage played by Frederic O'Brady. O'Brady's role is showy, unusual and pretty entertaining. He and the much bigger and brawnier Mitchum establish a certain degree of chemistry (and had fun palling around off-screen during filming as well.)

One thing Hitchcock films are decidedly NOT known for is beefcake. One is usually lucky to see a glimpse of the male form in one of Hitch's movies. Not so the case here as one sequence contains the sight of our hero removing his shirt (as O'Brady looks on with interest.)
"See somethin' ya like?"


Mitchum proceeds to shave while O'Brady looks on. There's a mild element of homoerotica, intentional or not, within the scene. The two eventually square off for a scuffle, though it isn't hard to guess who wins that one!

Peculiarly, Mitchum winds up in the unusual outfit of a suit jacket with no shirt underneath...!

There's a chase sequence that starts off on a winding stairwell. One might look down the middle and experience vertigo. But as I watched his film, whose plot admittedly has nothing whatsoever to do with Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958), I couldn't help but take note of some visual similarities. Now I'm not accusing Hitch or anyone else of plagiarism. I'm merely saying that some of the visual (and marketing) elements of Foreign Intrigue seem to have perhaps, consciously or not, influenced artistic choices made in Vertigo.

It's easy enough to point to the ice cool, very lovely Grace kelly-ish blonde - a Hitchcock staple. (And Thulin might really have shone had she ever wound up working for the Master of Suspense. He is on record as having admired her and finding her understatedly sexy.)

But what of this? The spiraling twist of white-blonde hair, curving up and around in a whirlpool to nowhere...
...that emerged as a key motif in Vertigo with mystery woman Kim Novak.

Novak was styled (and lit) in a far more "Hollywood" way than Thulin, with heavier brows, but lighter lips. However the general visual aura is similar in many ways.

Still not convinced? Take a look at the tightly-structured, grey-toned suit that Miss Thulin wears in Intrigue and compare it to Novak's from Vertigo. Different fabric, yes, and different detailing, but with the same basic silhouette and with turned up cuffs on the sleeves.

Thulin as an actress bears little similarity to Novak, but the overall type of look she was given in this film does lend itself to comparison to famous Hitchcock blondes, notably the heroine of Vertigo. To me she looks at times much like one Kristin Scott Thomas (the merits of who I am occasionally debating with a good pal of mine!)
"The Swedish Patient?"
Thulin's mother is one of those highly elegant, but rather controlling, types that Hitch liked to use in some of his films. Think Leopoldine Konstantin in Notorious (1946) or even Miss Jessica Tandy in The Birds (1963.)

Like I say, the scenarios are vastly different, as are the personalities involved, but there's just that certain something that made me associate one film with the other.

Vertigo is a top ten favorite film of mine and, though it was a sometimes difficult role and experience for Novak, I don't think she was ever better in a movie. And as most of us know, she was a replacement for Vera Miles, who'd already been planned for the film from practically the start.

The uncanny or coincidental similarities I've been remarking upon in this post extend beyond the films to even the marketing portraits that were generated to sell them to the public:

Or how about this?
I leave it in your hands to decide whether one film may have influenced another.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Editor's Note~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I was (finally) getting around to posting again, I was informed by my company that I'm going to have to take on even MORE work than I already am. As a result, it's going to make posting here regularly even more scarce than it has been (and that's saying something!) I am going to attempt to switch formats for a while, putting up briefer posts but hopefully with more frequency. Also, as a turd cherry atop the shit sundae I'm already going through, blogger suddenly will not let me upload multiple pictures at one time, allowing me to then click on the ones I want and putting them where I choose. I have to do each. one. singly. So that's another reason why I'm going to have to switch to less labor-intensive posts for a while. Wish me luck! Thanks for reading.

6 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about the added workload Poseidon, I look forward to whenever you can post. I don't know whether I am coming or going as I work from home and the office and am slammed most of the time.
    I have had the same experience during lock down, I have re watched some good crap,got hooked on "Peyton Place" and opened up to new things like BBC News.
    You grabbed me out of the gate with Pierre Balmain. One of my fave couturiers, it doesn't surprise me that house did some movie costumes but that's the first I have noticed.
    Robert's jacket without shirt is very Spandau Ballet.
    The similarities are very striking between the two movies and can't be coincidental. I am no fan of Miss Novak (and have been reprimanded by strangers for disparaging her talent in public) but recently watched "Bell Book and Candle" and thought she was well cast in that. Her aloofness or lack of acting is otherworldly and lends itself to witchcraft.
    Ingrid's' hair really washes out in black and white (like Ann Harding) but she's gorgeous in color. I will ask my Mom if she's ever seen this as she's a big Mitchum fan.

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  2. YES! I knew it was the World Health Doctor as soon as I saw her face. I watched The Cassandra Crossing early in this Pandemic! My only disappointment was realizing that in Cassandra, they fought a Bacteria and not a Covid-ish virus. Take care of yourself!

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  3. Thanks for the post, Poseidon. Sorry to hear about the workload, but glad to hear you're still working. I really look forward to seeing your updates. In these depressing times your blog is a... "shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament."

    Also, I also totally rocked that suit jacket with no shirt look, back in the 1980s.

    Thanks again.

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  4. Great post, as always, but I've got to say "nope" on the connection to VERTIGO, for the following reasons.

    1) Kim Novak's VERTIGO hairstyle (that was called a "French twist") and two-piece suit were pretty commonplace in the late '50s. Hitch and Edith Head wouldn't have needed to have seen Ingrid Thulin in FOREIGN INTRIGUE to have dressed Novak like that. It was just a standard sophisticated look.

    2) Kim Novak also looked pretty much like that in movies she'd done previous to VERTIGO.

    In PAL JOEY (1957, released just after VERTIGO started principal photography), she's wearing a very similar pinned back hairdo and similar costuming (Jean Louis got an Oscar nomination)-- and in San Francisco, yet:

    https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzE5YmU3MWItZmU0Ny00OTUzLTk5OWEtMDI3NjE4NTIyODBjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTI3MDk3MzQ@._V1_.jpg

    https://c8.alamy.com/comp/BPAE27/frank-sinatra-kim-novak-pal-joey-1957-BPAE27.jpg

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DAoY2lbXkAAJ4sH.jpg

    https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Y59lDr_NaXV4nyded7qyubVo7-AU9dvjvlee10NeaGoeeCfRCyLl54gyC3_EMzb-azcLZO6m1pslkFcEI2xjEUULXmFbUtJWOb5x5xhScbmPMZmSP09a-prkJa_mD-OjIVVGdC6lQw

    https://c8.alamy.com/comp/F4PK53/kim-novak-pal-joey-1957-directed-by-george-sidney-columbia-pictures-F4PK53.jpg

    3) The publicity photos are similar, but again, just standard for the period. Compare these shots with Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth in PAL JOEY:

    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/77/45/777745ab0086b5dd6a168c428c02f001.jpg

    https://chichestercinema.org/assets/uploads/films/565677db0854f6b789ca2d97a18615ca.jpg

    So while I can easily see where you'd make the connection, I'd have to say I think it's just a coincidence.

    But as usual, I did enjoy the rundown on FOREIGN INTRIGUE, a movie that probably never got nearly as entertaining an examination before.

    I hope you'll be able to sort out all you're facing right now. I fully understand where you're coming from!

    Stay strong, safe and well, Poseidon (and everyone else!), and I'm looking forward to your being able to resume normal posting!

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  5. Say what you will about Hitch vis-à-vis beefcake, Joel McCrae's scene in his boxer shorts in Foreign Correspondent was WWII era erotica. No, seriously.

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  6. Gingerguy, I'm glad you gave "Peyton Place" a second chance! I seem to recall you petering out on it once before? I wish Mary Anderson had been able to stick around on it longer. She was just a great BITCH. I have never been able to get into "Bell, Book & Candle" no matter how many times it has been recommended to me!! LOL Thank you!

    IndyAdam, I love that you recognized Indrid from "The Cassandra Crossing!" She was so mistreated in that...! I got the Blu-Ray of it earlier this year and it made such a difference in the quality of viewing!!! I just love that movie, but I haven't been up to watching it during the pandemic... that takes more guts than I have, I think! :-)

    A, I don't know exactly where that quote is from, but it did make my day to read it! I am howling over these people in sportcoats and nothing else! Maybe I just lacked the confidence at that time. By the late-90s, when it was not a look, I would have been better "suited!" LOL

    hsc, I respect your right to a dissenting opinion. (And I - unlike so many these days - don't need to flame out about it! LOL) I hear you. Thing is, despite the many, many French twists out there, they didn't all have that very notable CURL to them that figured into "Vertigo" so prominently. And, sure, there was a blonde on one side of Frank and a brunette on the other, but I do think my examples were closer in staging and aura. Also, even though two-piece suits for women were common, it's the color combination of white-blonde and pale gray... I think it was Molly Haskell (who generally works my nerves, but this time it sunk in) who said that there was something unsettling and even ghostly about a blonde wearing gray. It's that particular combo that was unusual (and I actually thought unique to "Vertigo" prior to this.) But oh well... even I said I wasn't claiming plagiarism with this. Just struck me as similar. Thanks.

    rigs-in-gear, I'll have to revisit "Foreign Correspondent" for sure now...! I have no memory of that, but it was probably the 7th or 8th Hitchcock film I ever saw - back in the late-1980s! I love Joel and he has a tribute here. But, regardless, such things are the exception rather than the rule with Hitch. I look forward to revisiting it! Thanks.

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