Amber, die große Kurtisane (1947)

Amber, die große Kurtisane: Directed by Otto Preminger, John M. Stahl. With Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders. In seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.

“Somewhat saucy romp has a ravishingly beautiful and amber haired Linda Darnell in the lead full of piquant carnality, lavish costumes and settings and a scene stealing George Sanders as Charles II. What it doesnu0026#39;t have is a lively pace and that to some extent is its undoing. Preminger was the wrong director for a piece of entertainment like this that required a florid touch, Michael Curtiz would have been much more at home at the helm.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe novel this is based on was a notorious but tremendously successful sensation of its day. That book while certainly not u0026quot;A Great American Novelu0026quot; is a highly enjoyable piece of pulp fiction full of sex, murder and double crosses in fancy clothes with a complex, very entertaining heroine at its center who has a good heart but is not overly burdened with morals. Unfortunately since they tried to film it in the forties when the Production Code was in full force the more salacious plot points had to be excised. What made it to the screen has its moments but shows the heavy hand of censors most evident in the abrupt ending but scattered throughout the movie. Still a fun romp with Linda giving a spirited performance and for those who havenu0026#39;t read the book a somewhat racy tone.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA troubled production from the beginning what with censorship problems, a recast leading lady, Linda Darnell stepped in after production had started when Peggy Cummings didnu0026#39;t work out and Lana Turner couldnu0026#39;t be borrowed from MGM and a martinet in the directoru0026#39;s chair. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are still a few amusing stories connected to the backstage upheaval that went on. Linda Darnell had worked with Preminger before on Fallen Angel and it had been rough going but she truly came to loathe him during production of Amber. Later while filming A Letter to Three Wives Joseph Mankiewicz needed her to throw a look of disgust at a picture unseen by the audience, to achieve that look he slipped a picture of Preminger into the frame without her knowledge, he got his look. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA small sampling of Premingeru0026#39;s directorial style: after acting out a scene for Linda and Cornel Wilde he screamed at them as they tried to do as he had instructed u0026quot;Donu0026#39;t do it like I did it! Do it like I meant it!u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne peripheral story: when Ava Gardner was briefly married to Artie Shaw he flew into a rage and berated her when he caught her reading Forever Amber saying it was trash and she should be focusing her attention on things that would enrich her mind, he was that kind of husband. They divorced shortly after and within the year he had married Kathleen Winsor…the author of Forever Amber!”