Lost Ladies: Joan Greenwood (1921-1987)For the Ealing masterpiece Kind Hearts and Coronets (194
Lost Ladies: Joan Greenwood (1921-1987)For the Ealing masterpiece Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Dennis Price is indeed a close study of ruthless scheming, and the exquisite understatement with which he narrates his murderous past is a thing of wonder. But for a superb example of effortless guile and cunning, we look to Joan Greenwood in her turn as Sibela. It doesn’t hurt that her very screen presence conjures up lust such that the entire history of work by Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, or Nicole Kidman is reduced to something like a single, tawdry flirtation at a hotel bar. Greenwood’s inimitable voice is a honey-and-liquor-laced, come-hither coo superbly modulated for pillow-talk seduction (or more ideally, the morning after) that can stop any sentient male in his tracks. A barely noticeable smirk at the left side of her mouth suggests that she’s aware of her sensual effect; those vaguely arched brows hint that she’s willing to do something about it. She’s a walking aphrodisiac of contradictions; perfect diction in husky tones emanating from a smoldering ice-queen. In keeping with the Edwardian setting, or perhaps to more fully devastate male viewers, the scintillating elements of this calculating minx are quite delicately registered. Maybe it all comes down to perfect posture, but Greenwood’s Sibella is libidinous without being lascivious; she’s lusty but never lewd. One suspects that, underneath the lace and corsets, this graduate of England’s best finishing school hides considerable wickedness, yet one can’t envision her engaged in wantonness. Why call her wayward just because she knows her way around? -- source link
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