You Otto See It: Carmen Jones (1954)

I do love de movie Carmen Jones. It's de best dat Preminger got!

Carmen Jones (1954 or 55) is by far my favorite Otto Preminger film yet. I just adore this film. What's not to love? It's an opera remake with an all black cast. It's gorgeous and the music, of course, is the best. Dorothy Dandridge is the femme fetale that lures the angelic soldier Harry Belafonte with her charms. They get into trouble along the way. You Otto see it!

Watching this film reminded me of my days in youth orchestra. I played violin to Bizet's Carmen many times and still have my sheet music (I wonder if I can still play it? hmmm). So listening to the music in the movie just brought back good memories. Also, some years ago I watched Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, with Halle Berry as Dandridge. It's quite a moving biopic of an actress who struggled with love, prejudice and her daughter's disabilities. Her story is quite sad but she did so much to show how a black woman could be beautiful, talented and independent. She had an affair with Otto Preminger in real life. I don't blame him. She was drop-dead gorgeous!

I think Carmen Jones is a great example of Preminger's range. Studios could throw anything his way and he could take it on and do it well. Film noir, war drama, Catholic epic, court drama and black opera, he could do it all. If you still need more reasons for why you "Otto" see it, I'll give you three more.

1) The famous "Dat's Love" musical number. It's da best!

2) Harry Belafonte + Sun + Oil - Shirt = All Good!

3) Dorothy Dandridge. She always stood out in every scene. Dandridge was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for this role (the first African-American woman to do so in history).

Extra Bonus Reason: PEARL BAILEY!!!

You Otto See It: Daisy Kenyon & Cardinal DVD extras

Warning: If you rent The Cardinal (1963) from Netflix, please make sure you also rent the 2nd DVD with special features.


The Cardinal DVD Extras
1) Preminger: Anatomy of a Film Maker (2 hours) - Hosted by Burgess Meredith
2) Behind-the-scenes Featurette
The 2 hour documentary was a delight indeed. For an Otto Preminger fan, it was the four course meal to the Fox documentary's appetizer. Burgess Meredith hosts and narrates the documentary.. There were a lot of people interviewed. Actors such as Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Deborah Kerr and Carol Lynley. Also, Saul Bass, the graphic designer for many of Otto Premingers films talked extensively about the title sequence and art for Man with the Golden Arm. Tom Tryon, whose relationship with Otto Preminger was the worst of any other actor in Preminger's career, spoke about the man who he believed was a tyrant. The documentary spends an appropriate amount of time on each of Premingers films. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes footage shown which was quite a delight (even more in the 5 minute featurette). Also, it was interesting to learn about Preminger's defiance of the Code and his various flirtations with controversial topics.

Daisy Kenyon DVD Extras
1) From Journeyman to Artist: Otto Preminger at Twentieth Century Fox
2) Life in the Shadows - The Making of Daisy Kenyon

The two documentaries are short and poorly styled. I mean what is with the cigarette smoke coming out of the left hand side? It was very distracting. But I do think you Otto see them because of who is in them. There are your film historians Foster Hirsch, Robert Osborne, etc plus your resident Preminger and Crawford experts. But what really makes this interesting are the family members. Preminger's daughter, Crawford's grandson and Dana Andrews' son and daughter were all interviewed. Preminger's daughter Victoria spoke extensively about her dad. I always think it's a treat to watch offspring of legends talk about their parents. It gives you a perspective that no historian or expert could provide. This isn't something often seen in Special Features, so take advantage of this and watch it!

You Otto See It: Daisy Kenyon (1947)

An earlier Otto Preminger film, Daisy Kenyon is a film about a working artist, played by a too-old Joan Crawford, who finds herself caught in a love triangle. There is the married lawyer, played by Dana Andrews. He's suave, charming and tough but has a frustrated wife and two scared daughters depending on him. Then there is the vet/widower, played by Henry Fonda, who is doting and caring and available but tormented by his war past and the suddent death of his first wife. Shot in lots of darkness and soft focus (mostly to hide Joan Crawford's age), it's a romantic drama with a noir twist.

It's funny how a single moment in a film can have such a great impact. I was particularly struck by one scene. Maybe because it's a slice of life from the late 1940s. To set it up for you, Henry Fonda just stood up Joan Crawford who then was stood up by Dana Andrews. Fed up with the both of them, she takes her friend out to a picture. Fonda tries to make up for it by inviting her out but she refuses. He follows her to the movies and enters a restaurant right across from the cinema to watch for her (can you say "stalker"?). You can see in the image below that the marquee lists the pictures showing as Mr. Lucky, a Cary Grant film as well as the Edward G. Robinson classic Woman in the Window.

The scene goes...

Henry Fonda: Scotch and soda please.

Waiter: This isn't a bar. This is a restaurant or haven't you noticed?

Fonda: In that case bring me a steak sandwich and a glass of milk.

Waiter: Who's in there buddy? Your wife? I can give you the name of a guy, he's very cheap and will save you all this trouble.

Fonda: If I had a wife, it would be when she wasn't at the movies that I'd worry not when she was.

Waiter: [muttering to himself] Steak sandwich and a glass of milk.

I still don't get it. Why can't I get this scene out of my head? Before I go on ranting any more, I'll just say that you Otto see Daisy Kenyon!

And this is for Ginger. You're welcome.