An awfully long time ago I started a thread asking what was the most beautiful movie ever made. Eve probably won the discussion with Sunrise, but then yesterday I watched Vertigo for the first time in decades. The color saturation would have made it worthwhile even with the audio turned off.
Unfortunately, I also recently watched A Portrait of Jenny again, but it wasn’t as beautiful as I’d remembered it. It wasn’t the schmaltziness that put me off. If I faulted old movies for that I’d be left with nothing to watch. The Debussy-filled score was still enjoyable, and Ethel Barrymore remains the most self-assured American actor of all time. But if any old movie could be improved by an update rather than insulted by one, this story of an artist repeatedly encountering the ghost of a young girl/woman as she reaches different stages of life has unrealized potential.