writers_reign Here's the thing. Scott Fitzgerald died in 1940. He published his first novel in 1920 and his last in 1934. In the twenties and early thirties he turned out some fifty or so short stories for which, initially, he earned top dollar but when his wife, Zelda, was diagnosed as schizophrenic and hospitalized he turned to the bottle and apart from a series of pot-boilers about a Hollywood hack named Pat Hobby and a series of essays, The Crack-Up, published in Esquire magazine around 1936, he produced little of any merit, albeit he was working on a novel when he died. He owed his success, particularly where short stories were concerned, to his gift of both understanding and interpreting the 'voice' of young people in the 'Jazz' Age. Bablyon Revisited is one such story dating from his peak years so the minute MGM chose to 'update' it to some thirteen or fourteen years AFTER his death its uniqueness i.e. the 'voice' of the Jazz Age, was totally destroyed. Even the central sequence, a flashback that begins in 1945 can't do much to help as that was still five years after Fitzgerald died. That being said it is, of course quite possible that movie buffs who couldn't care less about Fitzgerald would have checked this out on the strength of Elizabeth Taylor - who had grown up at MGM - Van Johnson, who had starred in several big-budget MGM movies in the forties and Walter Pigeon, who had likewise appeared in some top grossing MGM fodder (and had, ironically, just appeared in The Bad And The Beautiful, also from MGM which lifted a few rocks in the tide-pool that is Hollywood to reveal the unsavory marine life scrabbling around there). These people may well have come away content and serenely oblivious to Fitzgerald's ending, diametrically opposed to the one on offer here. The bad news is that even as I write the semi-amateur Baz Luhrman has got his claws into The Great Gatsby and is no doubt even now attempting to outdo the joke he entitled Moulin Rouge.

cornelius siccama What is the use of speaking of a romantic drama when there is hardly any romance and the drama is not detectable in the script but in the character of the ever worst casted actor in a romantic role: i.e. Van Johnson. Enjoy the repeating entree of Elisabeth Taylor. She suffers from playing in a worn-out movie (Richard Brooks, eat your hat) and has to deal with an actor who is depressed all along with an up-tight hair-do. Hopefully this movie is the last of its kind. Scene after scene put in front of a camera without any expressions of feeling. You never will be dragged into it. Within a few years (after release) the french cinema (Truffaut, Malle etc) will lead the way to a new kind of filmmaking. And in that wake Brooks resurrected as director and writer with movies like Key Largo, Elmer Gantry etc. Luckely Scott Fitzgerald did not live long enough to see "his" film.

willemarchie Yeah, it could use a script rewrite, but with all the celebrities and the Paris and coastal scenery, it is pretty cool. Also, it is fun to see the ever-smooth Roger Moore as a sort of cad. Van Johnson plays well as a drunken, tragic figure. Seriously, the colorization by Ted Turner or whoever doesn't do justice to the print, but just look at the sets and tell me they didn't pay attention to detail. Plus, the rally car race from, presumably, Nice or Monaco, is great with all the Porsches and Bugattis. And, while brief, provides a foretelling of future film races with the likes of James Bond and Cary Grant (in "To Catch A Thief"). Again, it is a film worth watching, but isn't in the same class as other films of the year, such as "On The Waterfront" or "The Caine Mutiny" or "Rear Window".

ma-cortes A successful writer ( Van Johnson) remembers about his love story with a gorgeous American girl ( Elizabeth Taylor ) in post WWII Paris . As we watch bright scenarios from Paris as the Arc of Triumph , river Sena , Cathedral of Notre Dame , promenade of Eliseos ; furthermore a horsemen race and Montecarlo car race , among others . Based on a semi-autobiographic novel titled ¨ Babylon revisited ¨ by F. Scott Fitzgerald who is well incarnated by Van Johnson and in which Helen played by Elizabeth Taylor represents Zelda , Scott's wife .This interesting movie reminisces the love affair between a wealthy war reporter and a feisty young woman ; it packs romance , drama , and colorful scenarios . Good support cast as Donna Reed , Eva Gabor , Kurt Kasznar , John Ducette and Walter Pidgeon who steals the show as joyful and sponger father . Glamorous cinematography in glimmer Technicolor by Joseph Ruttemberg and adequate musical score . The motion picture is professionally written and directed by Richard Brooks . He's an American filmmaker and screenwriter who won an Oscar for ¨ Elmer Gantry ¨ writings ; Brooks so consistently blended the good with average which it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next . In the 50s , the harder his movies impacted , the more successful they were ; and the gentler they were , the less effective as ¨The last time saw Paris ¨ . Thus , the Brooks pictures that have the biggest hit in the 50 are the following : ¨Blackboard jungle ¨, ¨Something of value ¨ ¨The Brothers Karamazov ¨ , and in the 60s are ¨ Sweet bird of youth¨, Cat on a hot tin roof ¨, ¨In cold blood ¨ and ¨ The professionals ¨ ; in addition during the 70s a special mention to ¨ Bite the bullet ¨. Rating : : Good film that appeal to Elizabeth Taylor fans .