La Habanera

Having seen "La Habanera" a few years ago, I had relegated it in my mind to the second ranks of Sirk pictures. But a re-viewing tonight was a surprise. The melodrama plot is, perhaps, just a touch too sketchy, but the handling of it is magnificent. This is a film of extremely subtle montage, aided by a flawless sense of framing, angle and composition. Sirk's visual imagination is seemingly inexhaustible, and he is aided by first-rate art direction. It should be no surprise, really, that his last film in Germany should be a masterpiece. One is prepared for it, certainly, after seeing the wonderful "Hofkonzert," a delicious rococo bon bon, or the excellent melodrama "Zu neuen Ufern." But in "La Habanera" the easy flow of genre to genre (adventure film to comedy of the Hawksian type -- some very fine work from Boris Alekin as Dr. Gomez -- to musical to melodrama) makes for something very special. A near-contemporary comparison is Stahl's "Letter of Introduction" - - which similarly moves effortlessly from genre to genre without disconcerting its audience. No mean feat!