Countess from Hong Kong

 

 

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Universal Pictures presents "COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG" (15 March 1967) (108 mins/Color) (Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- Marlon Brando is an out of sorts politician, Sophia Loren gives a tug at your heart performance and almost carries the film by herself --- She is absolutely stunning and shines even when she wears Brando's character's pajamas --- Must make mention of the haunting beautiful score composed by Chaplin himself --- Take note there is a plus with cameos from Margaret Rutherford (British films of the 50s Miss Marple) and Angela Scoular as the society girl just about steals the entire film, also great comedy scenes from Patrick Cargill as the butler, Tippi Hedren as Martha gives a so-so outing --- Sydney Chaplin might have been a better choice for the lead, but didn't have the star power Brando had during the 60's.

Under the production staff of:
Charles Chaplin - Director, Producer & Original Screenplay
Charles Chaplin - Original Music
Jerome Epstein - Producer
Arthur Ibbetson - Cinematographer
Gordon Hales - Film Editor

BIOS:
1. Marlon Brando
Date of Birth: 3 April 1924 - Omaha, Nebraska
Date of Death: 1 July 2004 - Los Angeles, California

2. Sophia Loren
Date of Birth: 20 September 1934 - Rome, Lazio, Italy
Date of Death: Still Living

3. Sydney Chaplin
Date of Birth: 30 March 1926 - Beverly Hills, California
Date of Death: 3 March 2009 - Rancho Mirage, California

4. Tippi Hedren
Date of Birth: 19 January 1930 - New Ulm, Minnesota
Date of Death: Still Living

5. Charles Chaplin - Director
Date of Birth: 16 April 1889 - Walworth, London, England, UK
Date of Death: 25 December 1977 - Vevey, Switzerland

the cast includes
Marlon Brando ... Ogden Mears
Sophia Loren ... Natascha
Sydney Chaplin ... Harvey
Tippi Hedren ... Martha
Patrick Cargill ... Hudson
Michael Medwin ... John Felix
Oliver Johnston ... Clark
John Paul ... The Captain
Angela Scoular ... The Society Girl
Margaret Rutherford ... Miss Gaulswallow
Peter Bartlett ... Steward
Bill Nagy ... Crawford
Dilys Laye ... Saleswoman
Angela Pringle ... Baroness
Jenny Bridges ... Countess
Charles Chaplin ... An old steward

Check out the Marlon Brando 4-Movie Collection (The Ugly American / The Appaloosa / A Countess from Hong Kong / The Night of the Following Day)
also available on this Amazon site:
http://www.amazon.com/Collection-American-Appaloosa-Countess-Following/dp/B0007RTBA6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1248618787&sr=1-2

This is probably a good case of miscasting between Brando and Loren, there is no spark to their performances when together --- Another character to the film is This is My Song one of Charlie Chaplin's famous tunes from this film --- 'This Is My Song' reached number one after a week in 1967 when sung by Petula Clark --- She recorded the tune in French, Italian, and German --- Don't regard this film as Chaplin's best work, but it is far from being a bad film --- All in all not bad for a director 77 years young!

Total Time: 108 min on DVD ~ Universal Pictures ~ (02/04/2003)

after the recent passing of brando i picked up a magazine celebrating his career. it listed this as one of his 10 best films and said this film was beautiful and vastly underrated.
couldnt agree more.
the misfire was in misrepresentation of it as an out and out comedy. of course chaplins films were rarely 'just comedies'.
countess of course relates to the earlier 'woman of paris' and this is indeed a throwback to 1920s sensabilities.
critics have for years pounced on this film (and brando was one of those critics, but then brando pounced on a lot of his own films and his method acting didnt simply gel with chaplins direction)but brando is indeed good as is the film itself.
its a nice small charmer. you'll enjoy it.

A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG was director/comedian Charlie Chaplin's final film. In this film he is the director, writer and composer.

The story concerns a beguiling Russian countess named Natascha (Sophia Loren - HOUSEBOAT), a young woman forced into prostitution in Hong Kong, when she happens to meet an American politician named Ogden Mears (Marlon Brando - A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, SUPERMAN). She stows away in his stateroom aboard a ship headed back to the States, where she belives she can escape her miserable life.

The usual battle-of-the-sexes ensues, when Natascha and Ogden are forced to spend the entire voyage together, bickering and fighting over their different opinions and tastes. But its soon evident that they are in love. Things become complicated when Ogden's icy wife (Tippi Hedren - THE BIRDS, MARNIE) joins the ship at Hawaii, while Natascha finds herself marrying Ogden's valet in order to gain an American passport!

This is a film that feels a little old-fashioned for the 1960s, but it is a rather charming and engaging romantic comedy. Perhaps the film is best-known for launching the hit single "(Love) This is My Song", made famous by Petula Clark. The movie also stars Sydney Chaplin, Patrick Cargill and Margaret Rutherford in a rather-clever cameo.

The DVD includes the trailer. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

This DVD is part of a new series of classic releases from Universal that also include "Pillow Talk", "Send Me No Flowers", "The Thrill of It All!" and a twofer of "Man's Favorite Sport?/Strange Bedfellows".

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2.0 out of 5 stars Another review
I see there's several reviews already for this film, but here goes my two cents worth. Even though this is Chaplin's last film, it's his first and only film in color and... Read more

Published on April 27 2003 by gende

2.0 out of 5 stars Goodbye Charlie
This is the final motion picture written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. He was 78 years old when it was released and had been in political exile from the United States for the... Read more

Published on Mar 7 2003 by Charles Lean

4.0 out of 5 stars Under-rated
"Countess" was Chaplin's final film and sadly I think it has been labelled as being awful. This is not the case. Read more

Published on May 17 2001 by T. Schoon

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all time favorite movies!
This is a great romantic comedy and should be taken for just that. Though Marlon Brando does a great job he was an odd choice for this role, so his fans would probably not enjoy... Read more

Published on Aug 10 2000 by drosenz

4.0 out of 5 stars A badly underrated gem
This film has been trashed mostly by people who are holding this up to Chaplin's earlier masterpiece films. Read more

Published on Jun 1 2000 by Think Kam™

1.0 out of 5 stars One of the worst movies I ever watched (well, almost)
The main reason why I bought (!) this movie is because I wanted to collect all of Brando's movies (I'm a Brando fan, U see). Read more

Published on Aug 23 1999 by jsmags

1.0 out of 5 stars A Sad Swansong
"A Countess From Hong Kong" is painfully unfunny and depressing to sit through, particularly since it was Charlie Chaplin's final film. Read more

Published on July 31 1999 by Scott T. Rivers

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