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Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Spanish ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Biographies, Black & White, Filmographies, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Writer/director Billy Wilder (in collaboration with producer/writer Charles Brackett) earned his first critical condemnation with A Foreign Affair. Reviewers accused Wilder (as they would so often in the future) of moral bankruptcy, challenging him to prove what could possibly be funny about the Nazi war guilt, the bombed-out city of Berlin, the postwar European black market or attempted suicide. All of these elements are in Foreign Affair, and all are very funny. John Lund is an American army captain carrying on a casual affair with Berlin songstress Marlene Dietrich, who accepts Lund's attentions so long as there are contraband cigarettes and nylons added to the bargain. Iowa congresswoman Jean Arthur is sent as part of an American fact-finding delegation to Berlin, and Lund is compelled to clean up his act--or at least pretend to. Despite her initial shock at the corruption all around her, straitlaced Arthur eventually falls for Lund, but Dietrich has been at this game a lot longer. For an interesting cinematic and sociological exercise, A Foreign Affair should be shown in tandem with Wilder's 1961 Cold War comedy One, Two, Three. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Oscar Academy Awards, ...A Foreign Affair
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Stunning for the visuals of a bombed-out Berlin and a glamorous Marlene Dietrich, this is one of Billy Wilder's fluffier confections. It's sort of Ninotcha-esque in how Jean Arthur shows up in Berlin, fresh from Iowa, completely uptight and rigid, but has her head turned by John Lund (showing yet again what an amazing actress Miss Arthur was). Wonderful, evocative songs and an interesting story make this a winner. It's a shame that Jean Arthur only made one more film after this.
Particularly effective was a scene in which Marlene is walking with Jean and telling her what things have been like since 1933 and throughout the war - "do you know what it was like to be a woman in this town when the Russians took over?" The aerial views of a post-war Berlin are incredible, and there is a note at the beginning of the film that a large part of it was shot there.
Particularly effective was a scene in which Marlene is walking with Jean and telling her what things have been like since 1933 and throughout the war - "do you know what it was like to be a woman in this town when the Russians took over?" The aerial views of a post-war Berlin are incredible, and there is a note at the beginning of the film that a large part of it was shot there.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By W. Russell
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This Billy Wilder story is gloriously cynical and incidentally a reminder of just how horrific the wartime bombing of the German cities was. The opening scenes of ruined Berlin are appalling. Against the background the occupying forces enjoy themselves with the local women, playing the blackmarket and generally having a good time. Jean Arthur, a brilliant comedienne, sparkles as the straight laced congresswoman there on a fact finding mission whose laces come undone, and Dietrich is even better as an eternal survivor, the mistress of a Nazi leader who is being hunted and who comes out of hiding when the fact she is now the 'friend' of an American officer played by John Lund becomes known. The thriller aspect of the plot is rudimentary, but the film is not really a thriller anyway but a scathing look at what people will do and how they get away with it. Dietrich as a cabaret singer with a wardrobe to die for is extraordinary. But she often was.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The women steal the honours in this film about a soldier John Pringle (John Lund)who has a lover Erika (Marlene Dietrich) in Germany but falls for a Congresswoman Phoebe (Jean Arthur) who is on a 5-day stay in Berlin investigating morale and morals within the US army. Jean Arthur is funny, determined and innocent while Dietrich is sexy, stylish, streetwise and playfully wicked. The story has humour and sadness and it ends well for all parties, but it is the acting of the 2 lead women that makes the film worth seeing.
As usual, Dietrich sings some rubbish songs but it doesn't get in the way of the film and she wears nice sparkly outfits which takes the attention away from the music. My favourite scene is when Dietrich and Arthur are in a club that gets raided and Dietrich points out a few home truths. Jean Arthur makes you feel genuinely sorry for her and it's a good contrast to the humour which has gone beforehand. There is also a story about a jealous Nazi who is coming to dish out some revenge to John but this thread is only picked up in the latter stages of the film. It's quite a long film but it's enjoyable enough to watch again.
As usual, Dietrich sings some rubbish songs but it doesn't get in the way of the film and she wears nice sparkly outfits which takes the attention away from the music. My favourite scene is when Dietrich and Arthur are in a club that gets raided and Dietrich points out a few home truths. Jean Arthur makes you feel genuinely sorry for her and it's a good contrast to the humour which has gone beforehand. There is also a story about a jealous Nazi who is coming to dish out some revenge to John but this thread is only picked up in the latter stages of the film. It's quite a long film but it's enjoyable enough to watch again.
By Allan Wood
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Not a Dietrich fan, usually, but Arthur is always fun and no exception here. What a great closing scene this movie has! Even my kids thought it was memorable.
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By The CinemaScope Cat
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In post war Berlin, a congressional committee from the United States arrives to observe the morale of the servicemen stationed there. Among them is an uptight, hard nosed "plain Jane" Republican congresswoman (Jean Arthur) who is shocked at the open fraternization between the G.I.s and the local female populace. When she hears that a former Nazi (Marlene Dietrich), the ex-mistress of a high ranking Gestapo officer, is receiving favors and protection from an unknown American serviceman, she demands an investigation. Did I mention this was a romantic comedy? It's laughless and without charm or wit but it tries and the film is filled with the patented cynicism of its director Billy Wilder. I don't know how amusing 1948 audiences thought it was but I found some of the humor off putting, like when a swastika obsessed child draws swastikas over everything including his father's clothes, ha-ha, so funny ... not! Arthur, in her late 40s at this time, is about 10 years too old for the part and her attempts at playing girlish are awkward. The post war Berlin locations are interesting though Wilder (this is one of his weakest films) doesn't use them effectively. Dietrich drones several dreary songs in that unpleasant manner that some find fascinating. With the uncharismatic John Lund as the Army Captain romancing both women (couldn't Wilder have gotten Fred MacMurray?) and Millard Mitchell as his superior.
The Universal DVD via Great Britain is a decent transfer overall though the transfer shows evidence of tear like an annoying vertical line in several sequences.
The Universal DVD via Great Britain is a decent transfer overall though the transfer shows evidence of tear like an annoying vertical line in several sequences.
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