Girl Week 2021

 

This whole, full week (ends Sunday) is all about the gals who were important in film whether they are actresses, directors, writers, etc... Dell on Movies is the originator and host of this blogfest and I hope you check out more who are participating. Here is my next entry...

GASLIGHT-1944 WITH INGRID BERGMAN (AUG. 29, 1915- AUG. 29, 1982)

Ingrid Bergman won the Oscar for this role as a woman who feels she is losing her sanity. Her husband, The "man with the bedroom eyes", Charles Boyer is becoming less and less patient with her when she describes the gaslit lamps in the home grow dim at a certain time in the evening and that she hears someone in the attic even though it has been boarded up for years. She meets a young man, played by Joseph Cotton, who seems genuinely interested in her but is he real? The young maid, played to slut like quality by Angela Lansbury just adds to Ingrid's horrible life. We find out that she was swept up off her feet by the charming and dashing Boyer (never trust charm as we must purposely use it. It is not inwardly innate...think of all the sales people out there) becoming husband and wife and moving into her late Aunt's home but soon things started to change for her. Ingrid could play the quivering, fearful woman and a young, naive but sure of herself gal all in one film. I am unsure who else could have played this character as I could never see Betty Davis, Katherine Hepburn or Joan Crawford in the role as they would have eaten Boyer for breakfast and then dug out the remains with a toothpick from their teeth. Bergman brings it and more, to me anyway. Bergman actually went to a mental institution and studied one woman, in particular,  taking her mannerisms for her role. Gaslighting is now meant as a form of abuse which many people have experienced or seen others go through this abusive treatment. I bet it happens more than we think.

Ingrid Bergman lost both her parents by the time she was 13 years old. Her mom, who was German, died when Ingrid was about 2 1/2 yrs old and her beloved father when she was 13. She was sent to live with an Aunt and Uncle and would live in Sweden but summer in Germany. The loss of both parents might be why she often fell head of heels in love with many of her co-stars.

She was first married to Petter Lindstrom and had a daughter, Pia but, while married had many affairs like Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck (Hell, I'd be tempted!..tempted!), Gary Cooper and Robert Capa who was a famous Life Photographer and landed on D-Day with the troops risking his life to take some very famous pictures. Actually, Hitchcock, who also was smitten with her (many male stars were) used her Affair with Capa as the romantic basis for "Rear Window."

When she came over from Sweden to star in the Hollywood version of "Intermezzo", the studio and David O'Selznick wanted to change her hair, her eyebrows and cap her teeth. She told them where to go and would be on the next boat home but, thankfully, they relented. At that time many actresses dyed their hair, plucked all their brows into arched ones and the teeth would all get done (just like now). They could do nothing about her height which was 5' 10" so most of her male co-stars had to stand on boxes and she had to wear flats or go barefoot. One she was happy that she did not have to do this with was Gary Cooper. 

She won 3 Oscars and is matched by Frances McDormand and Meryl (raise and eyebrow and win an Oscar) Streep and surpassed by Katherine Hepburn who won 4. Ingrid also won a Tony and 2 Emmy's.

Ingrid spoke 5 languages fluently-Swedish, German, English, French and Italian. When films were dubbed, she did her own. She always wanted to be an actress which her father indulged her in often taking many photos of her. She is beloved around the world and often chosen as one of the best actresses ever (I found out there is a German magazine that ranked her #1 and Sean Connery #1 for men. The name..."Funk Uhr"..hahahaaa Say that 10 times fast.).

When she started out in films, she got a contract to make 4 German films. Not taking the political climate seriously, naive/dumb, whatever you want to call it, she made 1 film, "The Four Companions" but while filming she realized the true climate and that you had to be a member of the Nazi Party if you wanted to get ahead. She left and did not return feeling guilty all her life for not taking the political climate more seriously. 

By the late 40s, after appearing as a nun in one film and Joan of Arc in another, with her wholesome looks, most Americans thought of her as almost saintly. Ingrid saw the film "Rome, Open City" directed by Roberto Rossellini, she was so moved by the film that she wrote a fan letter to the director who wrote back inviting her to Italy. Whoops! They started an affair resulting in a pregnancy which spread like wildfire all over the world. Her native country of Sweden denounced her and the States were so revolted by her indecency that she was denounced in the Senate, by an idiot, as a "powerful influence for evil." She did not return to the states, being in self-exile, until 1956 when she won her 2nd Oscar for "Anastasia." Unfortunately, her husband would not allow her to see her daughter Pia even though Ingrid would often be gone for film shoots and other occasions. Pia never blamed her mother and helped her in later years when she became ill with cancer. 

Ingrid had her son(named after daddy) with Roberto and twin daughters, Isotta and Isabella Rossellini who is, herself, an accomplished actress and former model.

There are a few things named after Ingrid Bergman including a Ferrari, a rose and a song, written by Woody Guthrie who was a big fan. If you want to listen to it, here it is

Other Films:

Intermezzo (1936)-Swedish film that made her famous

En Kvinnas Ansikte (1938)- "A Woman's Face" remade in 1941 with Joan Crawford.

Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939) - Brought her here to Hollywood

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1941)

Casablanca (1942)

For Whom The Bell Tolls (1943)

Spellbound (1945)

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

Notorious (1946)

Arch of Triumph (1948)

Joan of Arc (1948)

Stromboli (1950)

Anastasia (1956)

Indiscreet (1958)

Cactus Flower (1969)- Goldie Hawn won an Oscar in this film

Murder on The Orient Express (1974)- won her 3rd Oscar

Autumn Sonata (1978)

A Woman Called Golda (1982)-TV movie. Won Emmy posthumously. Excellent movie about Golda Meir which I wish to watch again through adult eyes.