Saturday, February 07, 2009

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Somehow The Husband just hasn't gotten on board my old science fiction movie train -wonder why that is- and he picked The Strange Love of Martha Ivers for our movie tonight. It's an odd choice for him since there's nary a joke to be heard, no humor or light-hearted playfulness, and to describe the ending as "happy" is only possible if you totally ignore the entire plot and half the characters. But choose it he did. He had never seen it before, so maybe he didn't realize what a grim little jewel it is. Or maybe he just really likes Barbara Stanwyck (Sorry Wrong Number, Christmas in Connecticut, Stella Dallas). Also starring are Van Heflin (3:10 to Yuma, Shane, The Greatest Story Ever Told), Kirk Douglas (Spartacus, Out of the Past), Lizabeth Scott (known for her many film noir roles) and Judith Anderson (Rebecca). The main reason I remember Dame Judith Anderson is that she stopped a Shakespeare performance I attended to fuss at the audience from the stage. I felt sorry for her that she was so easily distracted.... Or not, but it was a strange experience, and it detracted from the performance for me in a way that audience chatter never could.

It's online at youtube in 11 sections. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, or in 4 sections at the Internet Archive.

The DVD we have is a $1 disk with no special features of any kind. It's a decent print, though.

Reviews:
Ferdy on Film

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