Genre: settler drama
Director: Jan Troell
Release: 1974
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures – Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Rating: PG
MBiS score: 7.9/10
A Settler Can Always Use Good Cattle… And Sometimes A Wife
The Big Sur region of California, circa 1880. When Alexander ‘Zandy’ Allan (Gene Hackman) arrives in town to pick up his mail-order bride Hannah Lund (Liv Ullmann), his disappointment clearly shows. The spinster from Minnesota is much older than he had anticipated… and he wonders what other lies she may have told him to secure a marriage. With Eileen Heckart (Zandy’s mother) and Susan Tyrrell (Maria Cordova).
I really don’t know what were Jan Troell’s dramatic ambitions in making ZANDY’S BRIDE and I don’t care to find out. What I do know is that he has fashioned a film that will please both sadists and masochists. Not unlike THE JERK, Troell's work will make you squirm at first, then giggle in shame before wholly surrendering to whatever demon inspired such wickedness.
Now don’t get me wrong! ZANDY’S BRIDE is not one of those films so atrocious they unintentionally deliver a few good yuks. It boasts fine production values, irreproachable acting by bona fide stars and a pretty solid screenplay… but all of that is overshadowed by the sheer cruelty unleashed onscreen. It is mind-boggling to see the indignities the great Liv Ullmann (of Bergman fame!) was subjected to for our viewing pleasure. And if you think Gene Hackman was a tough customer in THE FRENCH CONNECTION, wait till you see him as Zandy the ‘loving’ husband. As I write this review, it comforts me to know that photos taken by Bob Willoughby during filming show Liv and Gene smiling in each other’s presence, proof positive that showmanship – and not malevolence – drove their every action in front of the camera. So there really was method to this madness after all!
Enough said for now… we all need surprises in life, especially as movie buffs. Whatever your mood, I do recommend ZANDY’S BRIDE, a matrimonial ‘drama’ played with straight faces and unchristian gusto. I hope feminists won’t hold it against me… love expresses itself in so many ways.
MBiS
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