Joan of Arc (1948) YTS - Download Yify Movie

Reviewed by John Chard 7 / 10

But if I had a hundred fathers and

But if I had a hundred fathers and a hundred mothers, I could not go back. I must go forward now. In the Fifteenth Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. Up steps a teenage farm girl who claims to hear voices from heaven telling her to lead God's army against Orleans and to crown the weak Dauphin Charles VII as the King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army and advances on Orleans - from here real history is formed in all its heroic and tragic glory... Savaged by some critics, cut by the studio to various run times, it really is a case of asking film fans to at least see the now readily available full 145 minute version to give it a fair trial. Starring Ingrid Bergman in the title role and directed by a clearly fawning Victor Fleming (he takes every single opportunity to focus on Bergman's natural beauty), it's unfortunately a mixture of a stirring historical epic with over theatrical stage bound theatricals. Bergman, although surrounded by a great array of superlative supporting players, carries the lead role with aplomb. She clearly dives into the role with a passion of some distinction and film lovers are rewarded with a performance of great depth and feeling, none more so with the sequences in the last tragic quarter of the pic. The screenplay by Maxwell Anderson and Andrew Holt (based on the play "Joan of Lorraine") is beautifully written, with dialogue passages that stir the blood whilst holding court. For some the literate passages may come off as long winded, even tedious, but in Bergman's hands they hopefully will entice the masses in the way that "The Maid of Orleans" actually did. 7.5/10

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 6 / 10

Whatever you do, try to avoid the dreadfully

Whatever you do, try to avoid the dreadfully hacked version of this - the original version; coming in at just under 2½ hours is far, far better. That said, however - it still isn't all that great. Ingrid Bergman doesn't so much act as Joan of Arc, she suggests quite strongly that Joan of Arc would have been just like her! The pained, saintly expression coupled with the rousing battle cries and heartfelt pleading make it hard to imagine the real woman could have been anything but! José Ferrer expertly plays the, duplicitous, selfish monarch who'd betray his own mother for a sou in a creepily magnetic fashion and, of course, Francis L. Sullivan is super as the presiding Bishop Cauchon serving whichever master suits him best so long as our heroine goes to the flames. The rest of the cast rather underperform though: Ward Bond, Gene Lockhart and Cecil Kellaway are fish out of water and Lief Erickson is frankly dreadful in the quite pivotal role of Dunois. The writing is dreary; way too wordy. The ensemble performances never seem to set foot out of doors, which renders the battle scene largely ineffective and the trial scenes are just all too bitty to establish any genuine sense of the threat she was under during this corrupt trial. Maybe it needed Cecil B. De Mille to take the grand scale cinematography to it - the story certainly merits it; but this is uncomfortably constricted and too physically theatrical. The costumes are glorious, though, and the lighting does go some way to compensate for the rigidity the production. Well worth watching, but it could have been much better had Victor Fleming had more imagination.

Reviewed by brogmiller 7 / 10

"My victory is my martyrdom."

'Joan of Lorraine' had enjoyed great success on Broadway and was a triumph for both playwright Maxwell Anderson and star Ingrid Bergman. It was only natural that Miss Bergman should relish the chance of transferring her performance to the silver screen but the commercial requirements of Hollywood required Anderson and his collaborator Simon Holt to depart from the the play's original pared down 'then-and-now' concept and to present a straightforward treatment in the form of a lush, big-budget mini epic.Our perception of certain films is often coloured by the reputation that precedes them and this one is no exception. Although disdained by critics and failing at the box office Victor Fleming's film is not nearly as bad as some would have us believe.It boasts ravishing Technicolour cinematography by Joseph Valentine, fabulous art direction by Richard Day and a magnificent score by Hugo Friedhofer. As one would expect, the script is literate but one suspects too much so for the average film goer. Although it espouses the glory of France and the perfidy of Albion there is not a single French accent to be heard although the performances by British/American actors are uniformly excellent notably José Ferrer making his screen debut, Francis L. Sullivan, Cecil Kellaway, John Emery, Ward Bond and J. Carroll Naish. Unsurprisingly the film fared pretty well in France where it no doubt symbolised recent liberation from Nazi occupation.Many have commented on Miss Bergman at thirty-three being too old for the part. Whereas it is true that Simone Genevois, Angela Salloker, Jean Seberg and Florence Delay were nearer Joan's actual age, Sandrine Bonnaire played the role at twenty-seven whilst Renée Falconetti whose portrayal is the template by which all others are judged, was a mere thirty-six! For this viewer at any rate Miss Bergman gets away with it here and her performance both touches the heart and engages our emotions which is all that really matters. It is probably best to draw a discreet veil over the lamentable 'Joan at the Stake' which she made for Rossellennui six years later.This turned out to be Victor Fleming's swansong and although claiming it to be a 'disaster', he has succeeded here in combining pageantry and sensitivity, action and intimacy. He had last worked with Miss Bergman on 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and he himself was something of a Jekyll and Hyde director if one thinks of his final film and the one that preceded it, 'Adventure'! Although his films are a mixed bag, Fleming is, in the words of Andrew Sarris, 'one of the few Metro directors who could occasionally make the lion roar.'

Joan of Arc

1948

Action / Biography / Drama / History / War

Joan of Arc

1948

Action / Biography / Drama / History / War

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But if I had a hundred fathers and

Whatever you do, try to avoid the dreadfully

"My victory is my martyrdom."

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