May Britt Movies
Blonde, blue-eyed actress May Britt was the daughter of a Swedish postal inspector. She was brought to films as a protege of Italian producer Carlo Ponti, who cast the 19-year-old May in Le Infideli (Affairs of a Model) 1952. In 1956, she appeared in her first English-language film, War and Peace (1956); this led to a brief leading-lady tenure at 20th Century-Fox in such films as The Young Lions (1957) and The Hunters (1958). May was bombarded with adverse criticism for having the "audacity" to step into the Marlene Dietrich role in the 1959 remake of The Blue Angel, though in fact May was a far more experienced actress at this stage of her career than Dietrich had been back in 1929. She was subject to even crueler attacks when she retired from the screen to marry black entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. in 1960; as one of the first interracial couples in Hollywood, Sammy and May were the target of nasty jokes, vicious slurs and death threats, but both survived the ordeal thanks to the strong and protective support of industry friends. Unfortunately, the marriage broke up in 1968, at which point May all but disappeared from public view. May Britt made a long overdue comeback to the screen in 1977's Haunts (aka The Veil). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As originally screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, at the Cannes Film Festival, and on Turner Classic Movies, the mammoth, epic-length documentary Brando chronicles in encyclopedic detail (and with a consistently reverent overtone) the life and career of the man widely regarded as the most formidable American actor of the 20th century - famous for not only reshaping, but reinventing the craft of film acting and teaching audiences how to view a motion picture performance. Divided into chronological, thematically-unified segments, the film first treats Marlon Brando's dysfunctional upbringing - his alcoholic mother, his abusive father, his stint at a military academy - before charting his acting tutelage at the behest of Stella Adler and his early cinematic and theatrical roles, including work for Elia Kazan, who famously made many aggressive (and unsuccessful) attempts to discipline the headstrong actor onscreen. Throughout this segment, many Hollywood A-list actors appear - among them, Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Robert Duvall - expostulating at length on Brando's influence over their approaches to performance, and attempting with great effort to define the elusive style known as "method acting" that Brando helped to create. The second half of the documentary moves into Brando's career during the '70s, '80s and '90s, covering the production of The Godfather, the actor's noteworthy political activism, and his tumultuous personal life. Francis Ford Coppola, who of course teamed with Brando for the first Godfather installment and for Apocalypse Now, is noticeably absent from the proceedings. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, (more)
- 1977
- PG
Despite bearing the earmarks of a cheap slasher outing, this quirky little thriller emerges a surprisingly original murder mystery with some well-executed twists. May Britt (formerly Mrs. Sammy Davis Jr.) plays a seemingly innocent farm girl (with more than a few toys rolling loose in the attic) convinced that her slovenly uncle (played by a delightfully grumpy Cameron Mitchell) is the man responsible for the grisly scissor-murders of several local girls. The validity of her suspicion has little bearing on the story's outcome, however, as the plot takes a rather unexpected turn halfway through. This seedy but fun horror film is buoyed by Britt's enjoyably loony performance coupled with the cranky antics of Mitchell and the town's drunken sheriff, Aldo Ray. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Guest stars Torin Thatcher and May Britt are cast as Rados and Eva Gollan, respectively the exiled dictator of a South American nation and his ambitious wife. In preparation for regaining power, Gollan has deposited millions in a Swiss bank account. In order to get the account's number, the IMF must convince Gollan that World War III has started. Lee Meriwether makes her first appearance as IMF agent Tracey, here impersonating a nurse in an elaborate "simulated disease" scam. First broadcast October 5, 1969, "The Numbers Game" (aka "The Key") was written by Leigh Vance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
This true crime story was hardly "ripped from today's headlines," since the events took place some 20 to 30 years before the movie was released. Still, Murder, Inc. is not afraid to name names, notably those of syndicate boss Louis "Lepke" Buchalter (David J. Stewart) and killer Abe Reles (Peter Falk), who squeals on the Mob to earn immunity. The activities of Buchalter's murder-for-hire operation are played against a fictional story about a nightclub singer (Stuart Whitman) and a dancer (May Britt). Murder, Inc. has a queasy, unsettling quality, due in part to some offbeat casting: TV comedian Henry Morgan co-stars as a dead-serious federal agent, while "human joke machine" Morey Amsterdam shows up as a cabaret entertainer who is stabbed by the Mob. The film was a major boost for the career of Peter Falk, who very nearly managed to parlay his Murder, Inc. supporting role into an Academy Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, May Britt, (more)
- 1959
May Britt attempts to follow in the footsteps of Marlene Dietrich in this glossy Hollywood remake of the German classic. Professor Immanuel Rath (Curt Jurgens) is shocked to discover a number of his students have been frequenting a nightspot called the Blue Angel, where a scandalous entertainer named Lola (May Britt) performs. Rath attends the show one night in order to catch some of his boys in this den of wickedness, but he is soon drawn into Lola's sensual spell, and in time becomes involved in an obsessive romance with her that costs him his job, his savings and his dignity. Josef von Sternberg's original version of The Blue Angel was actually a good bit franker and more sensual than this version, which adds a happier ending, along with color and CinemaScope. A year after this film's release, star May Britt made headlines when she married entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, May Britt, (more)
Directed with crisp efficiency by Dick Powell, The Hunters is a romantic melodrama with an aviation angle. Robert Mitchum plays veteran Air Force pilot Maj. Cleve Saville, in charge of a group of young flyboys in 1952 Korea. Among the men under Saville's command are cocksure Lt. Ed Peil (Robert Wagner) and timorous Lt. Abbott (Lee Phillips). Much against his better judgment, Saville falls in love with Abbott's gorgeous wife Kris (Mai Britt). When Abbott crashes behind enemy lines, Saville and Peil are sent out to rescue the downed pilot-and Peil has an inkling of the Major's feelings towards Mrs. Abbott. During their grueling journey back to their own lines, both Peil and Abbott benefit from the military expertise of the no-nonsense Saville, who knows where and when to separate his private life from his responsibilities. Distinguished by excellent aerial sequences, The Hunters is adapted from the novel by James Salter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, (more)
Though several concessions to the censors and the box-office were made in adapting Irwin Shaw's bestseller The Young Lions to the screen, the end result is generally effective and satisfying. Set during World War 2, the film concentrates on three individuals, one German, two American. Marlon Brando (whose accent ebbs and floes from scene to scene) plays an idealistic German whose early fascination with Nazism leads to doubt and disillusionment. American entertainer Dean Martin, on the verge of the Big Time, does his best to dodge the draft but ends up in uniform all the same. And American Jew Montgomery Clift, so sensitive that he's practically breakable, must come to grips with anti-Semitism, not only from the Germans but also from his fellow soldiers. Romance enters the picture in the form of Hope Lange as Clift's gentile girlfrind, Barbara Rush as the socialite who shames Martin into joining up, and May Britt as Brando's vis-a-vis. Screenwriter Edward Anhalt was obliged to shoehorn in a boot-camp sequence indicating that the Brass disapproved of the bigoted behavior of Clift's topkick Lee van Cleef (as if racism was a mere aberration during the 1940s), and to "slightly" alter the ending of the book, in which the embittered but still patriotic Brando character, shouting "Welcome to Germany!," machine-guns the Martin and Clift characters (in the film, it is Brando who bites the dust, symbolically dying for Hitler's sins). Maximillian Schell offers a starmaking turn as Brando's cynical comrade, while an uncredited John Banner, "Sergeant Schultz" on Hogan's Heroes, shows up as a pompous burgomeister who feigns ignorance of the hellish concentration camp in his community. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, (more)
- 1955
Eddie Constantine is the principal reason to see Ca Va Barder. Once more, Constantine plays a fellow of dubious ethics who nonetheless does the right thing when necessary. This time, he's trying to find out who's been stealing shipments from a gunrunner pal. Posing as his friend, Constantine plunges into the demimonde of European organized crime. He also runs across an ex-lover, now married to a menacing professional knife-thrower. Even without the obligatory chase and fight scenes, Ca Va Barder keeps jumping from first frame to last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, May Britt, (more)
- 1954
The brilliant Italian screen comedian Toto stars in the modestly titled Il Piu Comico Spettacolo de Mondo (Funniest Show on Earth). Lensed in 3D, the film is a broad spoof of Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth, with Toto essaying the James Stewart role as a fugitive from justice posing as a circus clown. Marc Lawrence, that pockmarked specialist in gangster roles, is incongruously but amusingly cast in the Charlton Heston part as the circus manager, while Tania Weber lampoons Betty Hutton as the show's star trapeze artist. Also on hand is May Britt, who went on to American fame as the wife of Sammy Davis Jr. Anthony Quinn and Silvana Magnano make guest appearances as audience members revelling in Toto's tried-and-true comedy routines. Il Piu Comico Spettacolo del Mondo sets up more subplots than a Dickens novel, then abruptly comes to a halt, resolving absolutely nothing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marc Lawrence, May Britt, (more)
- 1953
Le Infedeli is graced by two internationally popular leading ladies: Italy's Gina Lollobrigida and Sweden's Mai Britt. The two actresses are but small portions of a larger plot mosaic, all about keeping up appearances no matter what the provocation. A group of "respectable" people are all partly responsible for the suicide of a servant girl. They are pounced upon by a wily blackmailer (Pierre Cressoy), who knows that these people will pay dearly rather than inform on themselves or others. The villain's comeuppance may seem a bit extreme, but it's undeniably satisfying. This Carlo Ponti-Dino DeLaurentiis production also features Irene Papas and Marina Vlady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, May Britt, (more)
- 1953
La Lupa (The She-Devil) was filmmaker Alberto Lattuada's first film after his classic The Overcoat. Based on a short story by Giovanni Verga, the film stars Kerima as the title character. Aptly named, La Lupa is a predatory female who considers every man she meets a potential conquest. When it seems as though Manni (Ettore Manni) will slip through her clutches, La Lupa arranges for a marriage between Manni and her own daughter Marrichia (May Britt). Eventually she is thrown out of that household, but does this slow her down? Not when there's a whole village full of bachelors, ripe for plucking. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
The English title of this Italian melodrama is Ship of Damned Women. After murdering her illegitimate baby, Isabella (Tania Weber) pins the blame on her innocent cousin Consuelo (May Britt). Despite the strenuous efforts of her attorney-lover DeSylva (Ettore Manni), Consuelo is found guilty and shipped to a penal colony along with several other female prisoners. En route, the women mutiny, and the ship is sunk. Among the few survivors are Consuelo, her attorney, and through an improbable coincidence, Isabella. Likewise improbable, though eminently satisfying, is the film's finale. Featured in the cast is craggy-faced character actor Eduardo Cianelli, who returned to his native Italy after nearly 20 years in Hollywood to make a handful of films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerima, Ettore Manni, (more)
- 1952
Cavalleria Rusticana is adapted from the popular one-act play of the same name. Set in rural Sicily, the anecdotal story concerns a deserting soldier named Turiddu (Leonardo Cortese) who returns home to discover that his flirtatious sweetheart Lola (Doris Duranti) has married another. As consolation, Turiddu inaugurates a romance with Santuzza (Isa Pola), but before long he is carrying on an illicit relationship with Lola. The spurned Santuzza informs Lola's husband (Carlo Ninchi) of what's going on behind his back, and the result is a bloody duel. Written by Giovanni Verga, Cavalleria Rusticana had previously been transformed into an opera by Mascagni, whose music is absent from this adaptation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this multi-faceted Ingmar Bergman film, rich in dramatic and comic elements, three wives pass time in a summer house, awaiting the returns of their husbands, by entertaining each other with recollections of past marital traumas. In the first recollection, the sexually unfulfilled Rakel (Anita Bjork) shares a bathhouse, and more, with a former lover, Kaj (Jarl Kulle). When her emotionally withdrawn husband (Karl-Arne Holmsten), an antiques collector, returns and discovers the incident, he retreats to a garden hut and vows to kill himself. But he is dissuaded from self-destruction by his older brother, who blithely reassures him that an unfaithful wife is better than no wife! The narrator of this episode wearily allows that her husband is little more than a child. Marta (Maj-Brit Nilsson), the storytelling wife of the second episode, recalls her love affair and marriage to a Parisian artist (Birger Malmsten) whose family disapproved of the relationship. Included in her tale is a vivid child birthing. The third episode is a comic classic in which Bergman regulars Eva Dahlbeck and Gunnar Bjornstrand play emotionally estranged spouses who rekindle their marriage while trapped in an elevator. Kvinnors Väntan, which closes with the resolution of a framing tale involving the elopement of two younger lovers, shows Bergman in complete mastery of the film medium. Whether manipulating close-ups during an emotional give-and-take seduction or employing symbolic imagery to emphasize the joy of becoming a parent or merely allowing consummate pros to indulge in slapstick, he proves himself unfailingly adept at all facets of filmmaking. This is one of several lesser-known but nonetheless impressive Bergman films from the mid-1950s. ~ Les Stone, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eva Dahlbeck, Maj-Britt Nilsson, (more)
- 1951
Irina Baronova plays the title role in the Mexican Yolanda. Set at the turn of the century, the story concerns a Russian ballerina (Baronova) who accepts the invitation to tour in Mexico. Here she falls in love with handsome Army-officer Julio (David Silva), which does not rest well with big-time politician Carlos Villegrin (Miguel Arenas). Using his influence, Villegrin has Yolanda's family arrested by the Russian authorities, refusing to release them unless Yolanda agrees to marry him. Our heroine sadly acquiesces, but she remains faithful to Julio, a fact that leads to a denouement of operatic dimensions. Yolanda was co-directed by America's Dudley Murphy, best known for his Broadway theatrical work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
In this melancholy romance, a not-so-young ballerina recalls an earlier, tragic love affair. The heroine, Marie (Maj-Britt Nilsson), spends a summer with her possessive Uncle Erland (Georg Funkquist), who lives with his cancerous wife on an island near Stockholm. While staying with her uncle, who may have intimidated her into a sexual relationship, Marie befriends an innocent youth, Henrik (Birger Malmsten), with whom she soon falls in love. As the glorious summer comes to an end and autumn approaches, harkening Marie's return to the mainland and her dancing career, the lovers express their love to each other. But a fatal swimming mishap brings an end to the affair. Marie continues with her life, but she fails to come to terms with the tragic past. Later, Marie receives the diary that she kept during that memorable summer. She thereupon returns to the island, where she again meets her ghoulish Uncle Erland. Repulsed by his cynicism, Marie determines to recover her joy of living. She returns to Stockholm and shares the diary with her lover, a smarmy journalist (Alf Kjellin). In the concluding scene, she expresses her regained exuberance while dancing. A pivotal film in Ingmar Bergman's oeuvre, Sommarlek marked his maturation as a master filmmaker capable of evocative imagery and poignant expression. Of particular note are the unsettling scenes between Marie and her ominous uncle, framed and lit to emphasize the disturbing nature of their relationship. Maj-Britt Nilsson's performance as Marie is also remarkable, enhanced by Bergman's increasing mastery of the close-up. The splendid achievement of Sommarlek signalled a long succession of masterworks that ensued until Bergman's withdrawal from filmmaking in the 1980s. ~ Les Stone, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maj-Britt Nilsson, Alf Kjellin, (more)
