Film Review
It is almost a tragedy of Greek proportions that Erich von Stroheim,
one of the great pioneers of cinema, should end his filmmaking career
by working on such low grade offal as this.
Hello Sister! is a soppy melodrama
based on a mediocre stage play, whose only redeeming
feature is its likeable cast. To add insult to injury, Stroheim's employers, his
bosses at Fox Studios, were unimpressed with his work and hired another
director, Alan Crosland, to re-shoot several scenes. One of the
scenes which was excised is believed to have hinted at a lesbian
relationship between the two leading female characters, which would at
least have given the film some pep.
As his original cut was destroyed, we will never know if Von Stroheim's
concept for the film would have made
Hello,
Sister! any better than the lacklustre version that exists
today. There are one or two sequences which are recognisably the
work of Von Stroheim, but overall the direction of the film is as patchy
and uninspired as the screenplay. The plot is about as absurd as
it can be, culminating in a
deus ex
machina that will have any self-respecting cinéphile
burying his face in his hands in abject despair. Also, thanks to
some ill-conceived comic inserts (some of which look as if they were
supplied by Mack Sennett), it is hard to know whether the film
is intended to be vaudeville or a melodrama - and, in the end, you
hardly care. Alas, poor Erich...
© James Travers 2008
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Millie, Peggy and Mona are three friends who live in a cheap New York
apartment. Each dreams of hooking the perfect man, but their
experiences with men to date have left them disillusioned. One
evening, Millie, the older and less attractive spinster, persuades
Peggy to join her in a night out on the town. They meet two
good-looking men, Mac and Jimmy, who waste no time in plying them with
their charms. Peggy takes an instant dislike to the flash Mac and
instead falls for the more sensitive Jimmy, and even invites him back
to her room. A few months later, Peggy discovers that she is
pregnant. Knowing that Jimmy is the father, she persuades him to
marry her. But on the day they agree to tie the knot, Jimmy has
second thoughts. Is Peggy taking him for a ride...?
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.