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In "Now, Voyager" Bette Davis plays Charlotte Vale, the spinster daughter of an domineering, high-society Boston matron. Charlotte is so completely under her mother's thumb that, in her first scene, we see her hiding cigarettes from her mother in her bedroom. Convinced that Charlotte is about to have a nervous breakdown, Charlotte's cousin, Lisa, calls a psychiatrist, Dr. Janquist (Claude Rains), to the house. In typical Hollywood fashion, Charlotte has the breakdown during his visit.After a stay in Dr. Janquist's sanitarium, Charlotte decides to take a cruise to Nassau and Rio deJaneiro. As if she isn't already mixed up enough, everyone mistakenly calls her Renee Bon Chance, because she's borrowed a friend's ticket and clothes. She spends a beautiful day in Nassau with a man she meets named Jerry Durrance (played by Paul Henreid). They smoke their first cigarette together. He lights her cigarette for her; you can tell no one has ever done this for her before. He also orders Cointreau for both of them (which marks him as a stellar date in my book.) To add to Charlotte's confusion, Jerry introduces her to friends on the cruise as Camille. At this point, she has three di
Strangers in Good Company will never have universal appeal. We don't just get strong characters here. Resnais' use of unstructured, elliptical chronology creates a sense of timelessness and continuity. They have to struggle with their instincts and try not to let onto the other girls that they really aren't women at all. The strict, rigid methods of the headmistress contrast with the emotional vulnerability of the girls. But what makes this film so appealing is the chemistry among the actors and the realism. Essentially, Strangers in Good Company is just what its title says. Haunted by her, his determination to solve the murder is coupled with an obsession with the victim; he looks through her wardrobe, touches her clothes, reads her letters and private thoughts. As a result, some people will consider this film to be boring due to its lack of gloss and its leisurely-paced plot. A vague dialogue between the two nameless lovers provides a glimpse into the loss and regret of their mutually suppressed, unspoken pasts: the actress recounts unsettling images of bomb casualties, as the architect refutes her testament, insisting that she cannot know Hiroshima. In essence, the architect is the catalyst: the receptive soul who guides her through the painful, introspective path that leads to closure. Strangers in Good Company lacks glamour and gloss; it has a very plain look. The strength of this film lies in the superb script and in the performance of the cast. The opening scene -- a distraught, mysterious woman walks into the detective's office and pleads for help -- has been used and parodied so often since, it's become irrevocably tied to the genre.
Common topics in this essay:
Strangers Company,
Kieslowski's White,
Eiji Okada,
Dorothea Wieck,
Shelby Carpenter,
Tony Curtis,
Queen Elizabeth,
Charlotte Jerry's,
Sam Spade,
Vista Vision,
strangers company,
hiroshima mon amour,
maltese falcon,
hiroshima mon,
mon amour,
film noir,
shelby carpenter,
humphrey bogart,
japanese architect,
waldo lydecker,
elderly women,
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Acceptance Essays
