Golden Earrings (1947)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Frank Butler (writer)
Helen Deutsch (writer)

Release Date:

27 August 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

Strange . . . Amazing . . . Their Love Story !

Plot:

On the eve of World War II (1939) English officer Ralph Denistoun is in Nazi Germany on an espionage mission to recover a poison gas formula from Prof...

Plot Keywords:

Gypsy | Poison Gas | Mission | Secret | Escape

Cast

Ray Milland	...	Col. Ralph Denistoun
Marlene Dietrich	...	Lydia
Murvyn Vye	...	Zoltan
Bruce Lester	...	Richard Byrd
Dennis Hoey	...	Hoff
Quentin Reynolds	...	Himself
Reinhold Schünzel	...	Prof. Otto Krosigk
Ivan Triesault	...	Maj. Reimann
Hermine Sterler	...	Greta Krosigk

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #12068, Adult Audience)

Filming Locations:

Castle, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

In the climax where Lydia is escaping though the wilderness from the Nazis, in some shots she is seen wearing high heels and at other times appears in bare feet. This was because Marlene Dietrich refused to wear high-heeled shoes in spite of the fact that shots had already been filmed with her stunt double wearing heeled shoes.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the climax where Lydia is escaping though the wilderness from the Nazis, in some shots she is seen wearing high heels and at other times appears in bare feet.

Soundtrack:

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1

"When You Wear Those Golden Earrings, Love Will Come To You"

I made my earthly debut on September 26, 1947 and according to my parents when they were alive, as an infant I had a particular liking for the song Golden Earrings that came from this film. It served as my best lullaby in those formative months. I wish it had come from a better film than the one it served as a title tune for.

The film's story is told in flashback by Ray Milland to real life war correspondent Quentin Reynolds on a plane to Paris. Milland's got pierced ears which today would not raise a ripple, but back in 1947 was hardly in vogue, especially for a British brigadier.

Back in 1939 Milland went on a mission to Germany just before war was declared to get a poison gas formula from a German scientist of liberal sympathies. But he and partner Bruce Lester get caught, but manage to escape and split up.

Milland's route takes him to the Black Forest where gypsies are known to hang out and Hitler hasn't started rounding them up yet. They became targets for extermination as surely as Jews were later on. He runs into Marlene Dietrich and she teaches him a few survival tricks and a few tricks of another kind. With that kind of distraction, Milland can barely keep his mind on his mission.

Golden Earrings gets very campy indeed, remarkable since Milland and Dietrich did not get along during the making. On that level it's enjoyable, as serious drama it falls real short as an espionage story.

Murvyn Vye is the head gypsy and if Milland ain't got enough trouble with the Nazis, he's got to fight Vye to get Marlene and the help he needs from the clan. It'a all very silly. Vye was making his film debut and he introduces the song Golden Earrings. Vye had come from the Broadway stage where he played Jigger in the original Broadway production of Carousel.

Paramount got it's number one star and biggest recording star in America at the time, Bing Crosby, to make a record of it. Bing's record sold well, but the big hit came from Peggy Lee. I'm surprised that Marlene didn't sing a full version in the film, it's just her kind of material.

Could have definitely helped the film a lot.