Article: The far side of Paradise: the style and substance of Yolanda and the Thief.

Yolanda and the Thief (1945) is perhaps the most widely underrated and misperceived of Minnelli's musicals. Minnelli himself, who conceived the film in avant-garde terms under the influence of the surrealists, defended it in his autobiography against generally lukewarm reviews. (1) Bosley Crowther's description of "a pleasing compound of sparkling mummery and glistening allure for eye and ear, hampered throughout by a flat script which doesn't match the visual elegance with wit" still exemplifies the critical consensus: whether evoking praise or contempt, Yolanda tends to be viewed as an exercise in formalism. (2) My aim here is to contest this assumption. The film's ...

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