For me, this movie was like a box of chocolates, where some will be fabulous, some will be okay, and lots will be like tolerable filler, or worse.
The good: Hedy lamarr. Never a fan of hers, she was my favorite element of the movie. Just interesting to watch, quirkily acted with a very unique personal style as she played a free-thinking, smart, independent, playful, cautious, fearful, fearless, ambitious, grounded character. I found her fascinating, which isn't surprising considering how smart she is alleged to have been in real life. It's the first time I've seen her on screen where her skill matched want I had read about her.
The good: The elements of the plot line that challenged the formula, whether it's girl marries to access wealth, or that people live happily ever after. There were little bits of iconoclasm, like Hedy's character wanting a scotch without feeling the need to hide it.
The bad: Sorry, Robert Young lovers. Look, I like Robert Young, too, as a person. He's a nice guy, warm , likable, but he was better for TV because he was so bland. He can't carry a movie, and certainly not one like that, that requires simultaneous layers of compromise, pain, frustration, ardor, denial, anger, honor. He's the principal reason the film is dull. When I read that Vidor wanted Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper it so made sense, and that Young was a compromise. Stewart would have brought the angst and layers to it that he brought to It's a Wnderful Life. The Gregory Peck of Valley of Decision had the power and range and internal drama to prople this movie. (he wasn't a star yet, or known).
The good: Ruth Hussey. Underrated actress. She really shines in this movie, and I've never seen her so luminous, war, beautiful. She was usually cast more unidimensionally brittle.
The so-so: Charles Coburn. Been there, done that.
The so-so: Bonita Granville. Same part, different movie.
The good: Hedy lamarr. Never a fan of hers, she was my favorite element of the movie. Just interesting to watch, quirkily acted with a very unique personal style as she played a free-thinking, smart, independent, playful, cautious, fearful, fearless, ambitious, grounded character. I found her fascinating, which isn't surprising considering how smart she is alleged to have been in real life. It's the first time I've seen her on screen where her skill matched want I had read about her.
The good: The elements of the plot line that challenged the formula, whether it's girl marries to access wealth, or that people live happily ever after. There were little bits of iconoclasm, like Hedy's character wanting a scotch without feeling the need to hide it.
The bad: Sorry, Robert Young lovers. Look, I like Robert Young, too, as a person. He's a nice guy, warm , likable, but he was better for TV because he was so bland. He can't carry a movie, and certainly not one like that, that requires simultaneous layers of compromise, pain, frustration, ardor, denial, anger, honor. He's the principal reason the film is dull. When I read that Vidor wanted Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper it so made sense, and that Young was a compromise. Stewart would have brought the angst and layers to it that he brought to It's a Wnderful Life. The Gregory Peck of Valley of Decision had the power and range and internal drama to prople this movie. (he wasn't a star yet, or known).
The good: Ruth Hussey. Underrated actress. She really shines in this movie, and I've never seen her so luminous, war, beautiful. She was usually cast more unidimensionally brittle.
The so-so: Charles Coburn. Been there, done that.
The so-so: Bonita Granville. Same part, different movie.