p 　　Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson br 　　If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 一九三四 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play quot La Morte in Vacanza quot by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much Why he has waited 五,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained br 　　 Spoiler After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert Guy Standing , and he is sworn to secrecy Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration br 　　To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia Evelyn Venable , the daughter of one of Duke’s friends Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado Kent Taylor who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming br 　　More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 一九九八 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching br 　　 Howard Schumann, talkingpix co uk br 　　In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it br 　　 Dennis Schwartz, homepages sover net br 　　I 三九 ve heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line quot The Weirdest Love Story ever told quot this is probably a paraphrase , but at heart, I 三九 ve never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role It 三九 s quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed It 三九 s not perfect some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound But I am certainly glad they didn 三九 t try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts br 　　 Dave Sindelar, scifilm org br 　　See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday 一九七一 p