Natasha Lytess Movies
- 1952
George and Helen Pasashvily's colorful memoir Anything Can Happen was delightfully brought to the screen by the Paramount producing team of William Perlberg and George Seaton. Jose Ferrer heads the cast as Eastern European immigrant Giorgi Pasashvily, whose wide-eyed innocence and uncertain grasp of the English language causes him no end of trouble during his first months in America. Things take an upward turn when Giorgi falls in love with American girl Helen Watson (Kim Hunter). The film, like the book that preceded it, is told episodically, with moments of high comedy alternating with scenes of tender pathos. As miserly-but-golden-hearted Uncle Besso, Oscar Karlweis has a death scene that is one of the best and most moving of its kind. When originally released in 1952, Anything Can Happen was heralded with a coming-attractions trailer hosted by Edmund Gwenn, which was every bit as enjoyable as the film itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Ferrer, Kim Hunter, (more)
After surviving the hell of a Nazi death camp, a refugee faces even greater dangers in America in this tale of murder, deceit, and assumed identities. Victoria Kopwelska (Valentina Cortese) is a Polish woman imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp near the end of World War II. Desperate to survive, Victoria learns that her best friend has family in the United States, and if they are ever freed, she pledges to take Victoria to America with her. Victoria's friend, however, is killed shortly before American troops can liberate the camp. With nowhere to go, Victoria steals her friend's papers and sails to America, where she is accepted as her friend by her family. Victoria learns that she is now the godmother to a young boy, as well as the heir to a sizable fortune, following the death of her "aunt." Alan Spender (Richard Basehart), the boy's guardian, has been making secret plans to get his hands on the money, and Victoria's arrival causes him to draft a new scheme. Alan begins wooing Victoria, hoping to take her hand in marriage and then murder her, gaining her estate in the process. However, after several accidents befall the youngster, Victoria begins to believe that her new sweetheart is up to no good. The House on Telegraph Hill was directed by Robert Wise, who went on to helm such blockbusters as West Side Story and The Sound of Music. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Basehart, Valentina Cortese, (more)
- 1942
- NR
The surrealistic opening sequence, featuring a WW2 calendar as written "by A. Hitler", should be indication enough that Once Upon a Honeymoon is no ordinary lighthearted romantic trifle. Ginger Rogers plays Katie, an American chorus girl who seeks to better herself by marrying titled European Baron von Luber (Walter Slezak), despite the warnings of reporter Pat (Cary Grant). Katie thinks Pat is just jealous, but both he and the audience are aware that Von Luber is secretly a high-ranking Nazi, whose "unofficial" visits to Czechoslovakia, Poland and France precipitate the German invasions of those countries. When Katie wises up, she agrees to help counterespionage agent LeBlanc (Albert Dekker) in his efforts to stop Von Luber before he can reach New York-and along the way, she falls in love with the ubiquitous Pat. The bizarre ending, in which one of the main characters is casually murdered, is played for laughs, as if WW2 is merely fodder for a screwball comedy. In the film's most unsettling scene, Katie and Pat, mistaken for Jews, are briefly interred in a Polish concentration camp; their outrage over this treatment seems to be founded not on Germany's crimes against humanity, but over the fact that the Gestapo would have the audacity to incarcerate two non-Jewish Americans! A curious and often tasteless misfire from producer-director Leo McCarey, One Upon a Honeymoon is an undeniably fascinating historical artifact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1940
A half-hearted derivation of Ninotchka, Comrade X stars Clark Gable as an American news reporter stationed in Russia. Gable is actually the mysterious Comrade X, who has been smuggling provocative stories about the crumbling Soviet government out of the country. Threatened with exposure by a hotel porter (Felix Bressart), Gable agrees to help sneak the porter's beautiful daughter (Hedy Lamarr) out of Russia. The girl is a devout "old line" Communist, and thus is regarded as a potential counter-revolutionary by the paranoid Soviet leaders. Gable pretends to be a Communist himself to win Hedy's trust, inviting her to America to espouse her cause. He finds he can only secure her passport by marrying her, which leads to the anticipated complications. The Soviet higher-ups imprison Gable and Lamarr, sentencing them to death--but suddenly the counter-revolutionaries take charge of the government prison and arrest the arresters! The new man in charge (Sig Rumann) is Lamarr's political idol, but when he reveals himself to be vulnerable to blackmail and bribes, Lamarr becomes disillusioned by the Party Line and accompanies her new husband Gable to America. Filmed just before the "shifty" Communists were metamorphosed into brave freedom fighters by World War II-vintage filmmakers, Comrade X is of marginal historical value. Otherwise, it is an unfunny low point in the careers of Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr, (more)
