死神假期(1934)

　　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)

截止到2023-10-08 21:29，这部美国电影现在已经更新至HD 本片约100-130分钟，本片是英语发音，中文字幕 观看部分外语对白(如英语、美语、日语、韩语、泰语等)的影视节目对口语发音和口语培训有较好的效果，可以一定程度的训练听力和发音，这部影片的上映时间是1934年，具体多少分钟，上映时间可以去百度问答看看。电影观看小贴士:DVD:普通清晰｜BD:高清无水印｜HD:高清｜TS:抢先非清晰

豆瓣电影网友：《死神假期》是一部美国电影，1934年播出以来就受到广大观众的喜爱，经常看美国电影，喜欢的原因：首先觉得美国电影比较有剧情，内容比较丰富多彩，只有你想不到没有美国电影想不到的情节。再有就是众所周知的特效，美国电影的超级特效特别好、特别炫、特别高逼格，自然而然会带给你很多视觉冲击。当然我们国内的影视特效也有飞快的进步，现在很多大片的特效都在国内做得，最后应该就是人物了，演员演技不说，人物角色往往都贴满鲜明的标签。当然美国电影也有让我有分分钟弃剧冲动的，槽点满满，所以一部好电影，好美国电影在以上三点（情、特效、角色设置）的选择上是至关重要的。它重视个人成就、崇拜个人奋斗，讲究个人价值最大程度的实现。美国电影是灌输个人主义的主要工具，从上一篇:士兵之歌 下一篇:同心草，“救世主们”一次次让美国扮演拯救世界的角色，英雄来到地球是“为了美国式的真理和正义”，让观众在不知不觉中认同美国具有拯救并主导世界强权地位的天然能力。