daleholmgren
I don't get these people who nastily compare this movie to the original French movie. Don't bother - what movie is EVER better the second watching? It's the delightful discovery the first time of the amusing dialogue, the unfolding of the plot, that brings so much amusement. Basil Rathbone has a wonderful part, and the movie gets off to a rollicking start with some very funny classroom scenes. Adolph Menjou brings charm and class to everything he does, and Ginger Rogers proves again why she, and not so many other actresses, was in the upper echelon of Hollywood royalty. That's the other thing - all these nasty comments about Ginger playing an 18 year old at 35. Why? She was gorgeous, and it's easy to suspend disbelief. It's a fricking movie. Why don't they complain that it REALLY wasn't filmed in Paris, as long as they are whining about authenticity?
writers_reign
When will they learn? That's purely rhetorical if anybody asks you. Born in 1917 - and still with us - Danielle Darrieux began her career in movies at the start of the Sound era and before the end of the thirties was the biggest female star on the French screen playing essentially the same role over and over in a series of lighter=than air romantic comedies that often required her to sing a song or two. In the mid-point of the decade she teamed up with writer-director Henri Decoin for The Green Domino, an entry with slightly more substance, they married and made a string (six) of successful souffles before divorcing in 1941 after Premiere Rendez- vous, but remained friends and made a further three films together. One of the biggest successes was Battement de coeur in which Darrieeux played a fugitive from Reform School who enrolled in a school for pickpockets under the leadership of Saturnin Fabre and, after a series of adventures encountered her Prince Charming in the shape of Claude Dauphin. It was delightful and enchanting in equal measure the perfect antidote to the outbreak of war. For reasons best known to themselves RKO decided to remake it in 1946 with a decidedly mid-thirtyish Ginger Rogers in the Darrieux role, Basil Rathbone replacing Saturnin Fabre and authentic, albeit wooden, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Aumont in the Claude Dauphin role. In a reverse alchemy a soufflé turned into a suet pudding and no one came out of it well. One to be avoided.
Snow Leopard
Despite having some talent and material to work with, this feature produces just a few good moments, and it never really comes together the way it might have. The cast, headed by Ginger Rogers and including some fine supporting actors, certainly supplied plenty of talent. The story idea was only mildly imaginative, but it had the potential for some decent comedy and entertaining romantic mix-ups. But it seems to go in too many different directions at different times, and perhaps as a result, it has a few stretches of good material packed amidst some longer, less interesting parts.Rogers was easily one of the more attractive and talented actresses of her era, but the role of Arlette just doesn't seem to work for her. The character is not really as interesting as the situation, and Rogers often seems to be trying too hard. In any case, the character never quite rings true.The story starts with Arlette, a reluctant enrollee in a school for petty criminals, getting roped into a scheme by an unscrupulous aristocrat that plunges her into a series of romantic and personal complications, as she develops a tangled relationship with a diplomat played by Jean-Pierre Aumont. The story is pure fluff, deliberately implausible but with some good possibilities, and it would likely have worked better with a lighter, more farcical touch all around.Basil Rathbone is well cast as the 'professor' at the crime school, and there are some amusing details in his classes and teaching methods, but all of the sequences in the 'school' are essentially just elaborations on the basic gag idea. Adolphe Menjou was an ideal choice for the unprincipled nobleman, but he has to contend with some clunky dialogue in his part. For all of these and other reasons, "Heartbeat" - though probably worth seeing - never hits its stride, and it delivers less than it could have.
moi-23
As much as I like Ginger Rogers (and so many other members of the cast) it was impossible for me to relate to her at age 35 and wearing a dreadful part "fright wig" passing for an 18 year old reform school delinquent; it was just too big a stretch for this viewer's imagination and I thought in general the film lacked verve. In relation to Ginger playing a much younger character than her years how can one forget her in "The Major and The Minor" at age 32 passing herself off as a 12 year old? With the softest focuses available at the time this was still an incredible piece of casting! I believe this film was a remake of a French film entitled "Battement De Coeur" made in 1939 which I intend to track down for comparison purposes.
AD
