AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

dglink Based on "The Aspern Papers" by Henry James, the 1947 Walter Wanger production "The Lost Moment" is an atmospheric mystery with a touch of "Great Expectations." A 19th-century poet, Jeffrey Ashton, wrote a series of love letters to an woman named Juliana Brodereau. The poet disappeared mysteriously, and the letters were similarly lost. Over the years, the poet's reputation had grown, and the letters, if found, would create a publishing sensation and sell millions of copies. Publisher Louis Venable, played by Robert Cummings, has traced the letters' location to Venice, where they are still in the possession of Juliana, who he is astonished to discover, is still alive at age 105. Posing as a writer named William Burton, Cummings rents a suite of rooms from the old woman and her niece, Tina, played by Susan Hayward. Once settled into the decaying Venetian palazzo, Cummings searches for the letters and discovers more secrets than he bargained for. Despite the suspicions of a severely protective Hayward, Cummings enlists the aid of Amelia, a simple servant girl played by Joan Loring, but gets a stern warning from Eduardo Ciannelli as the local priest, Father Rinaldo.With a screenplay by Leonard Bercovici, the film is well written, literate, and engrossing. Shadowy photography by Hal Mohr illuminates the cobweb-hung corners, dim recesses, and dust-covered furniture reminiscent of Miss Haversham's manor in "Great Expectations." Indeed, the aged Juliana, played by an unrecognizable Agnes Moorehead under layers of latex make-up, presides like a Miss Haversham over her hermetic realm crowded with memory. The eerie music by Daniele Amfithreatof enhances the suspense and mystery.Under the direction of Martin Gabel, most well known for his decade as a panelist on "What's My Line?", the cast is adequate and professional. Cummings is somewhat bland as a leading man, and the usually fiery Hayward is initially restrained as Tina, although more animated later in the film. Moorehead is too heavily disguised to judge her performance, although the reliable character actor Ciannelli is always a pleasure. The film would have benefited from location shooting in Venice, because the faux canals and palazzos resemble the obviously fake Venice in "Top Hat," when the sinister look captured in "Don't Look Now" would have been better. While "The Lost Moment" is entertaining and generally holds attention, more charismatic leads with some mutual chemistry could have produced a classic.

Spikeopath The Lost Moment is directed by Martin Gabel and adapted by Leonardo Bercovici from the Henry James novel, The Aspern Papers. It stars Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and Eduardo Ciannelli. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and cinematography by Hal Mohr.Lewis Venable (Cummings) is a publisher who travels to Venice in search of love letters written by poet Jeffrey Ashton. Insinuating himself into the home of the poets lover and recipient of the letters, Juliana Bordereau (Moorehead), Venable finds himself transfixed by the strangeness of the place and its inhabitants, one of which is Juliana's off kilter niece, Tina (Hayward).A splendid slice of Gothicana done up in film noir fancy dress, The Lost Moment is hauntingly romantic and ethereal in its weirdness. It's very talky, so the impatient should be advised, but the visuals and the frequent influx of dreamy like sequences hold the attention right to the denouement. The narrative is devilish by intent, with shifting identities, sexual tensions, intrigue and hidden secrets the orders of the day. Cummings is a little awkward and his scenes with Hayward (very good in a tricky role) lacks an urgent spark, while old hands Moorehead (as a centenarian with an outstanding makeup job) and Ciannelli leave favourable marks in the smaller roles. Mohr's (The Phantom of the Opera) photography is gorgeous and bathes the pic in atmosphere, and Amfitheatrof's musical compositions are powerful in their subtleties. As for Gabel? With this being his only foray into directing, it stands as a shame he didn't venture further into the directing sphere. 7/10

secondtake The Lost Moment (1947)A highly romanticized version of the dark and complex story by Henry James called the Aspern Papers. It's glorious in many ways, ultra moody and mysterious. It lacks some of the delirious gloss and superb acting of, say, "Rebecca" though the similarities are clear. The leading actor, an American in Venice, is maybe the weakest link, because he comes off as more of a naive innocent than a slightly lost and duplicitous conniver, one who gets seduced by his own mission (a common James theme). But Robert Cummings has the advantage of letting the story and the scenes dominate. The leading woman, playing a complex role, is Susan Hayward, a better actor though the main side of her role is to be steely and lifeless, which she does very well. Agnes Moorehead plays the old woman, and you won't recognize her, she's so heavily made up.It's 1947 and still the studio era, so the entire film was shot in Hollywood, but the sets are fabulous, and the photography and lighting makes the most of it. It's beautiful, above all.But what about the story? A great and somewhat fantastic love story. Or is it so fantastic? It seems some of the time that there is something magical happening, a crossing of time zones. But our protagonist discovers the truth, and falls in love, and the problem gradually changes. The original goal, of discovering some key lover letters from fifty years earlier, seems secondary, though it rears its head (suddenly) at the climax.Some people might find this film "old fashioned" or a little false, somehow, with the actors playing types rather than real people. I mean, they are convincing, and compelling for sure, but they only have the qualities needed for the plot. But other people will be able to buy into all this as style, which it is, and let it take over. It's a curious and beautiful enterprise, whatever its flaws.

negevoli-44 I now own this movie and can say it basically still stands up for me as an adult, with the caveat that I first saw it as a child, when it seemed wonderfully mysterious to me. Seeing it recently did not have quite the same effect, but I still enjoyed it very much. One reason is that as an adult I fell in love with Venice and found it to be the most beautiful and colorful of cities, whereas the film, though set in Venice, is dark and noirish. I am sure that has affected my appreciation of this movie. That aside, it is still an effective romantic mystery and manages not to be a tear-jerker. I loved Robert Cummings, both in movies and on TV, and this is one of his best. There was just something about those old-time actors that the new generation(s), by and large, seem to lack. I think maybe the old guys took their work more seriously and maybe the new guys are only interested in the big bucks, nose candy, fast cars, and you fill in the blanks.