Showing posts with label Madame Butterfly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Madame Butterfly. Show all posts

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Madame Butterfly (1932)

   "...the Japanese settings are almost always pretty..."

With Sylvia Sidney

Madame Butterfly - Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"The plot of this film is taken from the Puccini opera and the incidental music is by the composer, but it does not attempt to be a reproduction of the opera.  The story is not very suitable for this new medium, and though the long-drawn tragedy might be bearable if it were expressed in music or poetry, without any such embellishment it is apt to be painfully pathetic.  Nevertheless, Miss Sylvia Sidney, who plays the part of the Japanese girl, acts with a grace and delicacy which are a great relief from this prolonged assault upon our emotions.  And the Japanese settings are almost always pretty; an admirable use is made of what Swinburne called "the fortuitous frippery of Fusi-yama."  Moreover, Miss Sidney fits so well into the setting that all the purely Japanese parts of the film have a certain style and consistency.  But the intrusion of the American lieutenant (Mr. Cary Grant) has as disturbing an effect on the film as he had on the unfortunate Madame Butterfly.  In fact, the inarticulate sentimentality of all the American characters seems to have been nicely calculated to sound a jarring note in this carefully constructed world of oriental conversion, and nothing is done to accommodate these two modes of feeling."

The Times (London)

New Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36 -
Number 7 - Madame Butterfly (Lobby Card Style)

Part Of


For more, see also:

Quote From Today - December 30th 2022

On This Day - December 30th 2021

On This Day - December 30th 2020

Friday, December 30, 2022

Quote From Today.... Madame Butterfly (1932)


"Oh, I guess she'd pass in a crowd"

With Sylvia Sidney.full-length


Madame Butterfly was Cary Grant's 7th full length feature film.


Cho-Cho San: [Cho-Cho San has found Adelaide's photo in Pinkerton's trunk. She brings it to him with the pipe cleaners] I found them like this

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Thank you very much, Cho-Cho San

[he puts the photo aside]

Cho-Cho San: She very beautiful, that American lady

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Oh, I guess she'd pass in a crowd

Cho-Cho San: She some lady you know very well?

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Sure, sure. We've known each other for years

Cho-Cho San: She love you very much, perhaps?

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: No, of course not

Cho-Cho San: [she picks up the photo and points to the inscription that reads 'To Bin with all my love always'] What this writing say?

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Oh, that. That just says 'lots of luck'

Cho-Cho San: Oh. But maybe you very much in love with her?

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: How can I have room in my heart for anyone but Madame Butterfly?

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

On This Day...Madame Butterfly (1932)

Well, as the year draws to a close, we see the last film release of the year. Madame Butterfly was released on this day in 1932 and was Cary Grant's 7th full length film.


Synopsis:

Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton (Cary Grant) and Lieutenant Barton (Charlie Ruggles) are two American Naval officers onshore in Japan. 


At a gathering, Pinkerton meets Cho-Cho San (Sylvia Sidney), a beautiful Japanese maiden who is about to become a Geisha.


She disgraces her family by accepting Pinkerton's love to become his bride. Although she takes her marriage vows seriously, theirs are not truly bound with love. 


After the "honeymoon" is over, Pinkerton returns to the States with the fleet, with Cho-Cho San, whom Pinkerton has nicknamed "Butterfly," remaining in Japan, where she keeps his home until he returns. Three years pass. During that time, Cho-Cho San, has given birth to a son she names "Trouble" (Philip Horomato). She is still confident that someday her husband will return to her. But what has happened to Pinkerton during that time? 


He has married his fiancé, an American girl named Adelaide (Sheila Terry), whom he intends on taking with him to Japan.


Did You Know?

The Japanese censor cut a scene where Cary Grant and Sylvia Sidney share an embrace, because Miss Sidney's elbow was exposed.

Gary Cooper was originally slated for the role of Lieutenant Pinkerton.

When the US Navy returns to Tokyo Bay/Yokohama, mountains are seen rising from the sea. There are no mountains in that area.

The story is based on Puccini's opera of the same title.


On set with Sylvia Sidney.

Cast:

 Sylvia Sidney ... Cho-Cho San
 Cary Grant ... Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton
 Charles Ruggles ... Lt. Barton
 Irving Pichel ... Yomadori
 Helen Jerome Eddy ... Cho-Cho's mother
 Edmund Breese ... Cho-Cho's grandfather
 Louise Carter ... Suzuki
 Sándor Kállay ... Goro
 Judith Vosselli ... Madame Goro
 Sheila Terry ... Mrs. Pinkerton
 Dorothy Libaire ... Peach Blossom
 Berton Churchill ... American Consul
 Philip Horomato ... Trouble


Lobby Cards and Posters:





Directed by Marion Gering.
Distributed by Paramount Publix.
Running time: 86 minutes.

Friday, June 26, 2020

"Lights, camera...action!" - The Directors - Part 4

So there were four directors who worked with Cary Grant on three films each.

They were, Marion Gering, George Cukor, Leo McCarey and George Stevens.

Marion Gering:

19th June 1901 - 19th April 1977

Devil and the Deep (1932)


With Charles Laughton and Tallulah Bankhead.

Madame Butterfly (1932)


With Sylvia Sidney

Thirty-Day Princess (1934)


Again with Sylvia Sidney

George Cukor:

7th July 1899 - 24th January 1983

On Grant -"One of the reasons he was so successful as an actor was that he truly just behaved like he was a normal guy and like he didn't look like that."

Sylvia Scarlett (1936)


With Katharine Hepburn.

Holiday (1938)


Again with Katharine Hepburn.

The Philadelphia Story (1941)


With George Cukor, John Howard and Katharine Hepburn.

George Cukor was awarded an Oscar for Best Director for The Philadelphia Story. He also directed many Oscar nominated performances.


Leo McCarey:

3rd October 1898 - 5th July 1969


The Awful Truth (1937)


Publicity shot with Irene Dunne and Leo McCarey.

Leo McCarey won the Oscar for Best Director.

Once Upon A Honeymoon (1942)


With Ginger Rogers.

An Affair to Remember (1957)


With Deborah Kerr.

George Stevens :

18th December 1904 - 8th March 1975

Gunga Din (1939)


On the set of Gunga Din (above) relaxing and (below) with George Stevens.


Penny Serenade (1941)


On set of the film that bought him his first Oscar nomination.

The Talk of the Town (1942)


With George Stevens, Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman.

Four directors completed two film projects each with Cary Grant...
..."Lights, camera...action!" - The Directors - Part 5