Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
一个女明星，本不长这样，却动手抢其他外形稍逊的胖女人的角色，把自己脸型贴成这样，极尽用力过猛之能事，拍这种showy但又臭又长完全不知所云的好粉丝类glamorous传记电影，就是为了骗那尊小像。之前有某位影后也有这种化妆抢胖子角色的新闻好在后来角色又交回胖姐儿手里人家获得了认可。没想到这种事会发生在自己喜欢的演员身上，制片的还是她自己鼓吹“为更多各色少数群体/女性提供平台”的公司。我只感觉虚伪与羞耻。【qrbt之王龟头小二真的不能看了，已产生生理不适，口区
编剧觉得小朋友真的能忍住这么长时间的电影吗？
没达到预期，叙事流畅，服化道没问题，但是这样四平八稳、妄图在两小时内讲完一生、过于“丰满”但实则空洞的传记片注定不可能有任何作为，完全没有走进甚至根本没有走近人物内心，也无法感觉到创作者对创作对象的态度，也没有展现历史人物带来的影响力，让服化道呈现的“时代”完全沦为背景板，当然其中有一些亮点，但是Tam作为虔诚信徒、同妻又只身逆流对少数群体的支持又欠缺说服力，对男权制的婚姻和社交关系的笔触太浅，可惜了女神的表演，加菲也很不错。
可能是原型人物的原因，劳模姐的表演总让我觉得不那么信服，不过看别的短评说劳模姐认为女主百分百真诚，那或许吧……电影要抓的点太多导致太散，故事本身还行。今年应该就是劳模/妮可二选一，我偏向妮可，劳模和这个角色还差点。
两星半，Period.
p.s.劳模姐贡献了一次整容级别的演技，的确是这届奥斯卡最有力的竞争者。
当真的样子-09/25/21 at AMC Garden State 16
本片属于根本看不进去的类型，就根本不会在意表演好不好了。我也不是以看电影为工作，自然只看想看喜欢看的电影。不过还蛮喜欢劳模姐的，就是她演的多数电影都是这种看不进去的我好无奈。
劳模姐都化在角色里了，电影却没兜住，遗憾呢
和里卡多一家真的互为对照，两部都是写一个美国电视icon，对于不熟悉的人都有些难以下咽，但是两部其实是两个极端。里卡多一家承载了太多议题，但是索金至少是有表达的意图，这部直接放弃了表达，只是截取几个高光时刻，没有组织，看完对塔米菲反而有很多疑问。当然劳模演的是好的，但称不上好的表演
可以与教皇奥利十世媲美，塔米·菲也是一个虔诚基督徒同时又是一个超级享乐主义者。她和她的丈夫吉姆——男女通吃的骗子，两人创办的电视台在基督教世界里无线风光二十年，一时无两。
为什么要在六一这天去看 被隔壁和后面的小屁孩给气死。 胆子挺大啊 big brother is watching u
果然再看童年的动画片也没办法共情了呢！解封第一天无意中包了儿童厅无脑欣赏，结果和朋友都困得不要不要的！就剩下情怀啦哈哈
从剧情来讲也就一般，但还是被劳模姐的表演感染到，最后一曲我居然感动到流泪，太大意了，被阿美莉卡打了牌。加菲和原型有种微妙的相似，当然比原型帅好多，但也越来越像老费了。。
属实一般，这届奥斯卡人物传记电影真的拉跨啊！
焦点失真/只为表演而看，劳模姐是这几年所有奥斯卡影后的统一表演模板/用力过猛的表演让我想到香港的《翠丝》，劳模姐和加菲就像惠英红和姜皓文，都是好的演员，但都太用力/还是觉得影后应该是《平行母亲》or《世界上最糟糕的人》，但也不觉得劳模姐不应该，因为这是Oscar^_-
看杰西卡挤眉弄眼的演技已经值回票价了。再看安德鲁把两颊肉鼓鼓撑起来，还很卖力的表演更是叫人拍案叫绝！以宗教信仰包装的爱情家庭伦理悲剧。不是神棍，却依然被金钱和利益给迷惑。杰西卡虽然有出轨，终其一生也只爱他一个，安德鲁再怎么样伪装也还是被爆出婚外情和同性恋丑闻……所以说人非圣贤孰能无过？连上帝也救不了了！
要不是六一无处去，也不会陪女儿来看这个电影。好在女儿看完了，我在一旁无聊的抠脚。
在影院几对家庭组合中无数次问自己，天赋自由？怎么过S的啊？
Reagan, Christian, 70/80s America. formulaic biography, brilliant acting
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