1943 - FLESH AND FANTASY - excellent 1940's anthology film

The actor Charles Boyer and the director Julien Duvivier teamed up to produce this fantasy film for Universal Studios kind of the home for these kind of films.  Duvivier was a French filmmaker who left France during World War II and settled in Hollywood for a while working for the Hollywood studio system.  Duvivier was also a superb director.

The film consists of three stories about a half and hour each and frankly time has worn a bit on the stories themselves.  Shows like The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery have kind of reused this material over and over.

However what hasn't aged in this film are the performances of an excellent cast with actors like Charles Boyer, Edward G. Robinson, Thomas Mitchell, Robert Benchley (playing Robert Benchley as usual). Barbara Stanwyck and Betty Field.  Also to be commended is Duvivier's technique behind the camera who along with his production team put together a film that shows a real command of the film medium, this film is a pleasure to watch.

The writers were Ellis St. Joseph, Oscar Wilde, László Vadnay, Ernest Pascal and Samuel Hoffenstein.  The running time is 94 minutes.