Can anybody explain to me why Anna, who has Bergman's Swedish accent, has a British sister? I could have bought it if Anna's Swedish mother had married a British man when Anna was little. Then Anna might have retained her Swedish accent while growing up in England. But the British sister is older. I know this is one of those things you are just supposed to accept, but I like to have things neat and tidy.
share"I know this is one of those things you are just supposed to accept, but I like to have things neat and tidy."
Oh, I'm so glad somebody else besides myself noticed this!
"I don't use a pen: I write with a goose quill dipped in venom!"---W. Lydecker
Yeah, that stuck me as pretty weird. I figured they might be half-sisters or something.
shareIt's a movie! I don't think it is expressed in the film but one can assume that they are half sisters OR that Ingrid was adopted.
The film was a Bway play in the mid-1940s called KIND SIR with Mary Martin and Charles Boyer.
Yes the plot is slim but some reason with these 2 stars it is as rich as chocolate mousse. :)
[deleted]
I also thought this curious - but if you are willing to believe this:
"I could have bought it if Anna's Swedish mother had married a British man when Anna was little. Then Anna might have retained her Swedish accent while growing up in England. But the British sister is older ..."
Even if we assume that Kalman is a Swedish name (which I'm willing to assume) why couldn't Anna's mother have left Sweden for Britain when she married a British man - given birth to eldest Margaret, then when Margaret was 10 or so, married a Swede and moved back to Sweden with the English nanny they'd already employed for Margaret? In Sweden, she had second daughter Anna -- margaret always retained her English accent growing up in Sweden with her sister Anna. Or else mom could have stayed in Britain with the Swedish husband and agreed to speak Swedish around the house (but Margaret's accent was already fixed). I really don't see the problem if you're willing to assume two marriages.
However it might have made sense in the Hollywood way of these things, to have given her a sister with a non-English native accent - perhaps Lilli Palmer (though German) would have been a good idea? Marlene Dietrich? Oh, surprise the audience with Greta GARBO!
It's only a movie.
"Either it's raining or I'm dreaming."
"Maybe it's both."--Jules and Jim
As far as I know, accents weren't really required for character acting in these days. For instance, in I Was a Male War Bride Cary Grant is supposed to be French, yes? Now *blush* I've never seen this, but been told he doesn't try to fake a French accent in that movie. In all of Bergman's movies, she wasn't intentionally playing a 'Swedish' person she just happens to have that accent. I also had read in Notorious that Hitchcock's first choice before Bergman had been Vivien Leigh. I'm not sure how they would have pulled that off. Americans fall for Bergman's Swedish accent and believe she is actually a German citizen, so it's unknown whether had Leigh played the role whether she would have used any accent at all. Okay, true, in Gone With the Wind she turns her British accent into a southern accent, but my understanding of this period in movies is that you sort of 'ignore' the natural accent of the actor and believe instead whatever the character's history is. Maybe someone a bit more expert than me can chime in on this.
shareWhile I can agree that the accent thing could be overlooked, there is line in the movie that really doesn't make sense to me regarding their nationalities...
In the scene where Phillip and Anna are discussing which job he should take, he says something slightly derogatory about London and Anna says that London is her "adopted home" which suggests that she was born elsewhere.
just agreeing with the opening post.
and ... the sister is repulsive. She is annoying, creepy, and refuses to leave Anna's apartment.
and her voice sounds weird. She sounds different than anyone else. As if they used a different machine to record her.
she's like a character from a horror flick, not a frothy romance.
It does seem strange.
You can't help but notice Anna's accent, and there is no clear explanation of this in the movie.
Did you ever see the original "Parent Trap"? One sister, played by Hayley Mills, was raised in California by Brian Keith. The other sister, also played by Hayley Mills, was raised in Boston by Maureen O'Hara (back when she didn't speak with an Irish accent). Yet both sisters have British accents. You're just not supposed to ask questions.
shareMaureen O'Hara (back when she didn't speak with an Irish accent)
In most of O'Hara's movies of the late 1930s through 1960s, she did not have an Irish accent. "The Quiet Man" might be the only exception.
shareThe actress, Ingrid Bergman, has the Swedish accent. It is not stated what accent the character, Anna, has.
share