Luise Rainer ROCKED! - The Great Ziegfeld (1936) Discussion

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] bjnevin 17 years ago

I simply must agree! I saw the film about three days ago and definitely agree that she should have won despite the spurious rumour that she won only for the phone-call scene. I must say that she maintained an excellent performance throughout and was totally believable. You's really feel sorry for her character. I ordered The Good Earth about a week ago and can't wait to see her in that either.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] xavierPoulain 17 years ago

If you look past the racism of The Good Earth, it is a beautiful movie and Luise Rainer did an excellent job playing O-Lan.

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[–] JenniferLynne73 17 years ago

I've seen Luise Rainer in a few movies, including this, and must say I find her annoying. I have yet to see her in a role I was impressed with. I do not feel she deserved the Oscar. I would've given it to either Dunne, Lombard or Shearer. I personally liked Lombards performance best. But that's probably prejudged b/c I'm not a big fan of Dunne, either.

Bill Powell is the reason I watch this movie. You just can't go wrong with his performances, no matter what movie. He is the consummate actor. The fact that Myrna Loy shows up in the movie doesn't hurt either.

Luise Rainer made three movies with Bill Powell, and I've seen them all. I must say I think she is one of his worst costars ever.

And I've seen almost every one of his films, too.... Almost as painful as watching him with Annabella in The Baroness and The Butler.

Yikes!!!!!!

"All you need to start an Asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people"-(My Man Godfrey)

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[–] xavierPoulain 17 years ago

try The Good Earth.

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[–] dwgryph 12 years ago

Luise Rainer made three movies with Bill Powell, and I've seen them all.

You've seen "Escapade" ? How was it? What was it ? (IMDb has nothing but a cast list, not even a synopsis.)

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[–] JenniferLynne73 12 years ago

No, I'm sorry. I misspoke. I have seen two of the three movies he did with her, I have never seen Escapade. One of the few Bill Powell movies I haven't seen. I think when I wrote that, I was thinking of another movie and mistaken it for a Powell/Rainer pairing when it was a Powell/Russell movie. For some reason I mixed up Escapade with Rendezvous - and I was thinking that Bill Powell made Rendezvous with Luise Rainer - but he made it with Rosalind Russell. Sorry. My bad.

"All you need to start an Asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people"-(My Man Godfrey)

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[–] homeimp 17 years ago

I agree that Luise Rainer was a worthy winner. I was apprehensive about the rumours why she won (i.e. the telephone scene) In fact I like all her appearances in the film at least as much and maybe more than that particular scene. I particularly like the scene in her dressing room in London with William Powell and whoever played the maid. I love the staging of Ziegfeld taking back his hat and cane to the maid and then returning it when Anna changes her mind. I think I know why some might find her annoying, but that was the essence of her character, and I think she captured it perfectly.

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[–] xavierPoulain 17 years ago

She was and/or became the underdog worth supporting.

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[–] O'Malley 15 years ago

She's mannered and irritating as Anna Held -- a deadly combination; no wonder Flo Ziegfeld left her. It's a travesty that she beat Carole Lombard and Irene Dunne,

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[–] lf1234 14 years ago

Whatever. I thought she rocked as well. Lead, supporting, who cares? When a performance is this vibrant and involving, it can take Best Actress any day.

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[–] digitaldiva 14 years ago

Hi if1234,

It's a matter of taste. I thought she rocked and was much more natural than most actresses of the time. I watched an interview with her, one that took place in the summer. Luise is over a 100, very frail and is almost deaf but the fire for acting remained. She is superb.

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[–] dionblackler 14 years ago

I thought she was funny and captivating in the role. A worthy winner.

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[–] ibbi 13 years ago

She did. She lit up the screen whenever she was on it.

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http://tinyurl.com/6beuand

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[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 13 years ago

"She's mannered and irritating as Anna Held -- a deadly combination; no wonder Flo Ziegfeld left her. It's a travesty that she beat Carole Lombard and Irene Dunne,"

Luise Rainer played a spoiled, temperamental star in TGZ...and still managed to be totally winning, funny and heartbreaking. Your post is baffling - if she was "mannered and irritating" it's because the character was so...which is really the whole point of the performance (to be like the character).

Unless you think that Luise Rainer had an alter ego called "Anna Held"...and that Flo Ziegfeld left both of them...?

"Love has got to stop some place short of suicide."