A Matter of Time

Director Vincente Minnelli's final bow--one that was taken out of his hands by nervous studio chiefs and rearranged completely, resulting in disaster. The main plot, about an eccentric Contessa taking an Italian chambermaid under her wing, is fairly intriguing and well-performed (especially by a luminous Ingrid Bergman). However, the film, as it now stands, stupidly uses all the main action as a flashback, framed by useless footage of the chambermaid--now an international celebrity--riding around in limos and giving gooey advice to fawning youngsters. It's a near-travesty. I did enjoy the bits of fantasy that allow Liza Minnelli's character to travel about in her imagination, putting herself in the Contessa's place; and much of Geoffrey Unsworth's cinematography is truly evocative (like all those black birds taking flight at once as seen from Bergman's window). But the bungled editing doesn't allow this thing to ever come together or absorb the audience. It's no wonder this was a box-office failure. *1/2 from ****