John got me thinking of the Powell and Pressburger film, 'Black Narcissus' and I said that the bulk of the credit for its success should go to Alfred Junge, the brilliant art director they used in many of their pictures.
Most of it was shot at Pinewood studios, and the scene above was shot in the car park. These were the days before CGI and Junge would hand-paint the scenery on a sheet of glass, then place it in front of the camera in a fixed position. The painting was shaped to fit the set, and the actors stood on the set and acted. That vertiginous drop which Kathleen Byron is looking down on is actually the tarmac of the Pinewood Studios car park.
In another scene, a window opens onto a breath-taking vista of the snow-capped Himalayas. The mountain peak was, in fact, a large pile of salt - also in the car park.
The exterior scenes were shot in a Surrey garden close to Pinewood which was the home of a retired officer of the Indian Army. He had collected many Indian plants and shrubs which were planted incongruously in his little patch to remind him of the old days.
The final scene is the beginning of the monsoon season, and large drops of rain begin to splat down on the huge leaves of some tropical plant as the credits roll up. Michael Powell was up a ladder out of shot with a specially made watering can.
They don't make films like that any more. They don't make directors like Michael Powell, actors like Kathleen Byron or artists like Alfred Junge anymore either. I really fancied Kathleen Byron, even without lipstick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGrq6hCD30o
It's worth watching the other clips by the Tired Old Queen that follow this one!
It puts a whole new spin on the nuns at my convent school and what they might have been thinking about. One never thought of it at the time. The only film they ever took us to see was St Bernadette.
ReplyDeleteI think it could be frightening on the inside of a nun's head.
DeleteThey probably passed it on to me by osmosis.
DeleteAlmost every time I put up a post these days, I have a sneaking feeling I have done it before. I might have run out of things to say.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favourite films.
ReplyDeleteMine is A Canterbury Tale, but you know that.
DeleteIt's a stunning, multi layered, and beautifully shot film
ReplyDeleteMysterious and haunting
It made Deborah Kerr a star
And the bell climax is one of my all time favourite scenes in movie history
Everyone's a critic.
DeleteGreat film, and it was based on a book by one of my all-time favorite authors, Rumer Godden. I spent years looking for the book (it's long out of print) and finally was able to download it onto my e-reader. I'm sad to say I found the book slightly disappointing. It definitely wasn't one of her better works, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe film adaptation was fantastic, though.
Sometimes the films are disappointing compared to the books, and vice versa. I've never read a Harry Potter but I love the films.
DeleteMother commandeered the television for these old movies.
ReplyDeleteGood for her.
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