Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
请这么好的演员，拍得这么差，用互联网黑话说就是：ROI太低！
比我预期要好，但是前半段发家史实在太、太长了至少可以缩短三分之一。首尾呼应有宿命轮回之感，高潮部分有些强行让我一度觉得是男主业务能力不行导致的。怀念潘神时期的陀螺btw再次感叹凯布太适合这种很攻的角色
滥用“心理学”？
7.0 production design是一脉相承的作者性，在细枝末节的角落里创造了很多诡异的奇观符号，可主线完全抹去了原作的神秘主义符号而着重于迂腐而俗套的精神分析，甚至把stan设计了一个随波逐流的懦弱小人，可能是陀螺自己都不相信库神这样的气质拥有任何妖言惑众的能力，只能把他放在若有若无的二战背景之中，被凯特·布兰切特和鲁妮·玛拉生吃活剥。
黑色电影版《行骗天下》，复古哥特版《美国恐怖故事》（第五季还是第几季来着），一点也不creepy，陀螺终于还是拉了。
当你陷入了一种狂热的地步不能自拔的时候，你还能告诉自己马上结束吗。self destructive trait is on everyone
cooper依旧帅气迷人，电影进行到一个小时了才切入正题，全程无聊，最后一个反转还挺有意思的，本来自己是风靡一时的“心理师”最后还是上当被变成“怪人”喝酒的梗埋的好高级
值得称道一点的就是光影和凯布的表演……有些故事属于写了开头结尾就已然注定了。库珀之于本片男主约等于大本之于gone girl男主——气质是服帖的演技是没有的
还行，无功无过，挑不出来毛病，也说不上哪里出彩，现在好莱坞到底是怎么了，以往创新的精神都去哪儿了？十个提名，八个半都是翻拍。
资本主义旧社会把人变成鬼！很好看呀，画面和音乐都很华丽，是非常抓人的类型片。大魔王气质真的太A了，和男主的对手戏很好看，她的眼神又危险又撩人。库珀在这片奉献了我看过的最好演技，尤其是最后那句“I was born for it.”
整部电影的节奏都太慢了，一直在铺垫，铺垫，实在很难坚持看完，要不是陀螺估计直接弃了，当下的世界已经离电影艺术越来越远，在这样的环境下做复古没问题，但是这么陈旧和拖沓，只会离观众更远了
第3593-马戏团部分有点长，凯特布兰切出场以后故事才有点意思，男主诠释得不像八面玲珑的骗子，倒确实是个不听人劝的冒险者。
2.5/5 比较喜欢前半Carnival的部分 虽然拖拉了 但至少发挥了陀螺的风格 后半部分叙事乏味 演员之间又毫无火花😪
还不错。走出影院仍余留高压。吐槽一句女王从13年蓝茉莉之后在失真高压贵妇的路上越走越远，再无别的形象出现。一路“我高贵我强大我经历很多承受非人高压却仍能随时掌控操纵你却又不屑为之却仍然时不时为一为”情境。15年卡罗尔她也是完全在演戏而完全没入戏的，所以大家看到这个卡司无须歪歪。性张力，我觉得也就那样。职业素养和经验惯力为之而已。目中无光。译名真是匪夷所思。
场景美轮美奂，故事乏善可陈。小红帽和小白兔的梗，冗长拖沓着实浪费了一众卡司。
如此强大的阵容，却只让人看到一个平庸的故事。心怀恶魔的小镇青年一直想出人头地，缺不料强中更有强中手，被人玩弄于股掌间，最后只能回到原点。但里面对于为何弑父却没能提供有力支撑；对于演砸的拿出戏，铺垫很多但高潮不够……导演一直在用一种节奏，比较平乏。
这什么倒霉译名？ 铺陈介乎到位与不到位之间 结尾无惊喜
第一个小时的剧情和后面太不相关以至于我总觉得像看了两部电影
所以电影的主题是想表达酒精害人吗？好的那我知道了，喝完这杯我就收手。
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