boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (02/01/85)
> From: inuxc!sem > If you like Jane Seymour, you should love SOMEWHERE IN TIME. Although it was > critically disliked, it is a film which deserves better than the *1/2 stars > which Leonard Maltin awarded it in "TV Movies". I find some kind of fascination > with the time traveling theme of the movie but what really makes the film > worthwhile is the sheer beauty of the photography. Add to this the period > costumes, the complete redecoration of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island plus > the grandiose symphony soundtrack; and you will find a romantic film which has > few peers outside of the 1930's and 1940's Hollywood. I agree most heartily. First the method of time travel is the ultimate solipsistic viewpoint. I enjoy solipsism from a purely intellectual point of view. Secondly, I, too, found the location use of the Grand Hotel to be inspired (I'd like to stay there some time and damn the cost), and the period styles to be quite attractive. The photography was well-done --- it's my understanding that the cinematographer (Isidore Mankofsky) used a soft-focus film (Fuji) for the past sequences to lend them a more dreamlike quality in comparison to the present-day sequences. I think it worked. BTW, HALLIWELL'S FILM GUIDE also gives this film only one "*", but in his synopsis of the plot, he betrays his ignorance about what's going on: "A playwright finds a way back in time for another encounter with the girl he loved and lost in a previous incarnation." > Act One of the play in which Seymour begins a soliloquy (not in the play's > dialogue) in which she describes what she would say to the man of her dreams > while she stares at Reeve in the audience. This secret and yet public > confession of her love for him never fails to send chills down the spine. > A truly moving film scene. This is one of my favorite film scenes of all-time. Add to it the expression on Robinson's (Plummer's) face when he realizes what caused her ad lib. > Finally, when Reeve has been kidnapped, bound and gagged and upon escape, > discovers that she is gone; slumps on the porch of the hotel. The screen > shows Seymour far behind him, walking aimlessly in the garden on the lower > hillside. She pauses, looks up at the hotel, and suddenly recognizes Reeve > sitting on the wall. Another moving and beautifully filmed scene. Agree again. Brings a tear or two to my eye, also. > I have viewed multiple times and still enjoy with each screening. I don't > believe Jane Seymour's classic beauty in this film has ever been surpassed. No question. It's my opinion that Jane Seymour is the most beautiful actress ever, and she looks her most beautiful in this film. It was love at first sight for me. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA