Little Fortunes - Carole Lombard, 1946.

Cafe Society
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Vittoria De Sica’s lavish 1946 Technicolor epic of love lost, starring Carole Lombard, Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich, is one of Hollywood’s enduring classics.

Carole Lombard, fresh from her role as Wilma in 1945’s The End Times sparkles here as Catherine, the heiress who is romanced by Clark Gable. Marlene Dietrich’s overlooked part as Martha, Gable’s jilted lover provides a sinister subbtext to this epic. Filmed on location in Sicily, It follows Catherine and Jonathan’s character’s love and eventual seperation due to the failing olive harvest. The final wide shot of Martha gloating over Jonathan’s dead body is one of the most chilling and glorious
POV shots ever filmed.

Often overlooked in discussion of this film is the influence of the film’s producer, Charlie Chaplin. It was his idea, for instance, tohave Jonathan carry the cane tha figures so prominently in the crane shot over Death Valley.

Overlooked by the AFI for their 1999 list, this film has a new life breathed into it in it’s new Criterion release, a spectacular new transfer from the original source elements.

Not to be missed.

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Clark Gable sucked in it—he and Carole never worked together well after their divorce. They shoulda cast John Gilbert in that part, like they were going to, till he got the lead in The Heiress, as Olivia de Havilland’s father.

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I have to disagree, he gave a much more nuanced performance in Little Fortunes.

Listen to De Sica’s commentary track on the Criterion DVD to see what I mean.

4

I may be missing something, but didn’t Carole Lombard die in a plane crash in January 1942? Further, imdb.com lists no joint ventures of Lombard and Dietrich, with the exception of documentaries.

5

Carole Lombard died in 1985 in Beverly Hills, in the arms of Peter Finch.

6

Ilsa is being entertainingly psychotic.

A shame Jean Harlow’s film career plateaued after WWII, but then that meant she and Bill Powell were willing to do TV, and spent most of the '50s in I Married Jean. I was so glad to see her come out of retirement a few years back and snag that Oscar for Titanic . . .

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Did I have you for even a second? I had you and lissener in mind…

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Me? When I saw “Carole Lombard” and “1946” in the same sentence, my Whoosh-o-Meter went off.

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Well, I though you may have at least gone “What the hell?”

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Oh, I didn’t mean through the whole review, just for a second. I knew you had caught on already.

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Trouble is, your thread title contained a glaring easily-checked error.

And the guy’s name is Vittorio.

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No, no, Vittoria is Vittorio’s perverted twin brother, who specilized in films of this nature. He died in July of 1951, when he was shot by noted stunt man Eddie Arcano, who had mistaken him for a prowler.

BTW, Eve, has I Married Jean been resyndicated under a different name? I can swear that I’ve seen an episode of it under the title The Powell and Harlow Show.

Fianlly, Ilsa, Carole Lombard couldn’t have died in Peter Finch’s arms- he only had one! Maybe you’re thinking of Peter Falk.

13

What season did they introduce the landlady, played by Louise Brooks? Just remembered that fact, if it helps any.

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Sorry, it can’t be the hour-long programs, as the show I saw was only 30 minutes long.

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That wasn’t Louise Brooks–she disappeared in Germany in the '30s. You’re thinking of Barbara La Marr as the wacky landlady.

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Oh. (Writes note to self)

Who sponsored the program? I noted a moment that made it quite clear that they made a cut to get rid of a commercial.