Fannish 50 S3 Post 58: Sleep, My Love (NOIRVEMBER)
Nov. 25th, 2025 12:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitteryvSleep, My Love
A 1948 film from Triangle Productions that was directed by Douglas Sirk. It's based on a novel by Leo Rosten.
Allison (played by Claudette Colrbet) wakes up in a train headed to Boston. Her confusion turns into panic. Last night, she'd gone to bed in her home in NYC. Now she's going somewhere with no idea how she got on the train or WHY her husband's gun is in her possession.
At the same time, her husband Richard (played by Don Ameche) has called the police to report Allison missing. But, just before the investigation gets going, she calls Richard from the train station. He sends her a plane ticket for her to return home . . .
I'm gonna be vague in order to keep the mystery of the plot under wraps.
FWIW, I'm not super familiar with Colbert's work outside of It Happened One Night, so my impression of her when I started watching this movie was v. incomplete. Like the rest of the cast, she does a decent job in her role as a devoted wife of a rich architect. To my utter lack of shock, I liked Robert Cummings as Bruce, a friend of a friend of Allison's. He rocks it in his role.
A special shoutout goes to Hazel Brooks as Daphne. First of all, she's gorgeous. Secondly, her voice is surprisingly deep. And that, combined with her glamourpuss aesthetic elevates her dialogue to a deliciously campy level. EVERY LINE SHE SAYS has this undercurrent of vampiness that I LOVED. I do wished the movie had been from her point of view cuz she was a lot of a lot.
This next thing is something that really surprised me abt the movie. Because there was a moment where Bruce and Allison go to Bruce's brother's wedding. His brother, Jimmie (played by Keye Luke) is Chinese American. The wedding is fully Chinese. As far as I could tell, I didn't see anyone in yellowface. FTR, I'm not Chinese, so take my lack of squickiness because I didn't pick up on any blatant or oblique racism against Chinese folks with a tiny grain of salt.
Douglas Sirk and Joseph A. Valentine, his cinematographer, KNEW what kind of movie they wanted to shoot. The majority of the film takes place in Allison and Richard's 3-story brownstone that has a gorgeous terrace. Throughout the movie, there's excellent use of SPACE. Frex, there were scenes where characters would be looking for someone who happened to be hiding up on the 3rd floor. Also some scenes of ppl going up and down the stairs that truly worked. There's a good sense of how tall and expansive the home is (which includes a conservatory.)
The story is okay. It's watchable.
Do I have any criticisms?
I have 3, but two of them are SPOILERS.
SPOILER 1
By the end of the first 10 minutes, it was super clear that the main plot was one of intense gaslighting. NGL, that made me lose some interest in the movie a little.
SPOILER 2
The potential romance between Allison and Bruce was poorly handled.
OK, so iMO, Allison did love her husband, but it was more of the kind of love someone has for a friend. However, she'd only known Bruce for abt a week. And yet they not only had excellent chemistry but, whenever they talked, Allison would GLOW. She'd come alive regardless of the conversation topic. It legit didn't matter if it was the weather, food, his friends, etc cuz it was their INTERACTIONS that livens her up.
OFC, since she's married, though, the movie gets as close to the edge of the line that she'd have to cross into infidelity as it can get. By the end, Allison and Bruce as holding each other and it's super clear that they'll be together, but they had so much sparkage that it drove me nuts that they never kissed.
END OF SPOILERS
The third one has to do with Det. Sgt. Strake (played by Raymond Burr). As soon as he showed up, I perked the F up because he's one of my faves. Unfortch, he's deffo a background character who only pops in two scenes. :|
Do I recommend it?
I do . . . if you have an hour and a half ot kill? Some of the romantic aspects are much subtler than I'd generally liked and the mood was a bit uneven. It's online. I give it a 2.4 out of 5.
Queerness level
Zip.
A 1948 film from Triangle Productions that was directed by Douglas Sirk. It's based on a novel by Leo Rosten.
Allison (played by Claudette Colrbet) wakes up in a train headed to Boston. Her confusion turns into panic. Last night, she'd gone to bed in her home in NYC. Now she's going somewhere with no idea how she got on the train or WHY her husband's gun is in her possession.
At the same time, her husband Richard (played by Don Ameche) has called the police to report Allison missing. But, just before the investigation gets going, she calls Richard from the train station. He sends her a plane ticket for her to return home . . .
I'm gonna be vague in order to keep the mystery of the plot under wraps.
FWIW, I'm not super familiar with Colbert's work outside of It Happened One Night, so my impression of her when I started watching this movie was v. incomplete. Like the rest of the cast, she does a decent job in her role as a devoted wife of a rich architect. To my utter lack of shock, I liked Robert Cummings as Bruce, a friend of a friend of Allison's. He rocks it in his role.
A special shoutout goes to Hazel Brooks as Daphne. First of all, she's gorgeous. Secondly, her voice is surprisingly deep. And that, combined with her glamourpuss aesthetic elevates her dialogue to a deliciously campy level. EVERY LINE SHE SAYS has this undercurrent of vampiness that I LOVED. I do wished the movie had been from her point of view cuz she was a lot of a lot.
This next thing is something that really surprised me abt the movie. Because there was a moment where Bruce and Allison go to Bruce's brother's wedding. His brother, Jimmie (played by Keye Luke) is Chinese American. The wedding is fully Chinese. As far as I could tell, I didn't see anyone in yellowface. FTR, I'm not Chinese, so take my lack of squickiness because I didn't pick up on any blatant or oblique racism against Chinese folks with a tiny grain of salt.
Douglas Sirk and Joseph A. Valentine, his cinematographer, KNEW what kind of movie they wanted to shoot. The majority of the film takes place in Allison and Richard's 3-story brownstone that has a gorgeous terrace. Throughout the movie, there's excellent use of SPACE. Frex, there were scenes where characters would be looking for someone who happened to be hiding up on the 3rd floor. Also some scenes of ppl going up and down the stairs that truly worked. There's a good sense of how tall and expansive the home is (which includes a conservatory.)
The story is okay. It's watchable.
Do I have any criticisms?
I have 3, but two of them are SPOILERS.
Again, keep in mind that I'm gonna spoil HUGE THINGS abt this film
SPOILER 1
By the end of the first 10 minutes, it was super clear that the main plot was one of intense gaslighting. NGL, that made me lose some interest in the movie a little.
SPOILER 2
The potential romance between Allison and Bruce was poorly handled.
OK, so iMO, Allison did love her husband, but it was more of the kind of love someone has for a friend. However, she'd only known Bruce for abt a week. And yet they not only had excellent chemistry but, whenever they talked, Allison would GLOW. She'd come alive regardless of the conversation topic. It legit didn't matter if it was the weather, food, his friends, etc cuz it was their INTERACTIONS that livens her up.
OFC, since she's married, though, the movie gets as close to the edge of the line that she'd have to cross into infidelity as it can get. By the end, Allison and Bruce as holding each other and it's super clear that they'll be together, but they had so much sparkage that it drove me nuts that they never kissed.
END OF SPOILERS
The third one has to do with Det. Sgt. Strake (played by Raymond Burr). As soon as he showed up, I perked the F up because he's one of my faves. Unfortch, he's deffo a background character who only pops in two scenes. :|
Do I recommend it?
I do . . . if you have an hour and a half ot kill? Some of the romantic aspects are much subtler than I'd generally liked and the mood was a bit uneven. It's online. I give it a 2.4 out of 5.
Queerness level
Zip.
