Tonight's Movie: Arise, My Love (1940) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland star in the superb World War II comedy-drama ARISE, MY LOVE (1940), available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

I first saw this film, which was written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder and directed by Mitchell Leisen, in the spring of 2010. It's fun to look back and realize that at that point I hadn't seen Colbert and Milland's other films together, THE GILDED LILY (1935) and SKYLARK (1941); in fact, at that point they weren't available on DVD, let alone Blu-ray!  (I'm still waiting for a Blu-ray of SKYLARK...)

That first viewing was also a couple of years before UCLA's marvelous series celebrating director Leisen, which remains one of my favorite UCLA series to date. I was quite fortunate to meet Leisen's biographer, David Chierichetti, who has since passed away, and have him sign a copy of his book.

Returning specifically to ARISE, MY LOVE, I was even more impressed on this viewing than I was nearly a dozen years go. It's a beautifully written adult drama featuring two characters who delight in one another but must figure out how to make their relationship work, balancing their love with their differing career goals.  It avoids contrived separations and misunderstandings, always carrying both their relationship and their careers forward in believable fashion.

If comments found around and about the internet are to be believed, this was Claudette Colbert's favorite of her films, and one could certainly understand the choice if it's true. She and Milland have absolutely marvelous chemistry, the dialogue is fantastic, and she gets to play an interesting character who is simultaneously committed to her career and the man who arrived in her life under most unusual circumstances.

ARISE, MY LOVE won the Oscar for Best Story, and it's easy to see why. Everyone involved in making the film deftly juggles comedy, drama, romance, and even a bit of disaster in a way that, as I mentioned in my earlier review, is a bit reminiscent of HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT (1938). Both films do a little bit of everything and do it all well.  (And, I would add, ARISE, MY LOVE has some amazing double-entendres, particularly in a very funny hotel room scene early on.)  It's a fast-paced 110 minutes which never flags.

I went into considerable additional detail in my 2010 review, and rather than completely reinventing the wheel, so to speak, I'd like to encourage readers to visit it in conjunction with reading this review.

The excellent supporting cast includes Dennis O'Keefe, Dick Purcell, Walter Abel, Frank Puglia, George Zucco, Esther Dale, and Ann Codee. The movie was filmed in black and white by Charles Lang.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray print looks and sounds terrific. Blu-ray extras consist of the trailer; 12 additional trailers for other films available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Kat Ellinger, which I hope to listen to in the near future.

ARISE, MY LOVE is highly recommended.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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