Watching the ssloppily made up Yvonne Mitchell go from always smiling and pretending that she's the happy homemaker to becoming a bit of a heartbeat when she realizes that she's losing her husband to younger woman Sylvia Syms. He happens to drop the bomb one morning that he wants a divorce, and she can't get herself to let him go out the door to be on time to his office without pleading with him in a pathetic way that shows how 20 years of marriage and motherhood and homemaking have turned her into a piece of clay that has molded yet melted into something unattractive. He's barely arrived at the office when he's gotten a call from her, asking her to bring the woman he wants to leave her for over, and it turns out to be his secretary. Anthony Quayle, as the husband, tries to remain as calm as he can, but it's obvious that both guilt and determination to move on are his top priorities.
It's easy to see why Quayle would want to leave Mitchell, and it's also easy to paint her instantly as pathetic. But when she finally has had enough, having had a horrible day and trying to dress to impress where everything ends up going wrong, the viewer help but feel sorry for her. There are no real sides to take because none of the three people involved in this situation are bad people, but this being the 50's with divorce and infidelity, the wife has to come out the winner. A cheating husband the same year on "As the World Turns" was killed off in a car accident after viewer complaints, but this being a movie can take a different turn. It's also obvious that going forward, the marriage is going to be quite different, and that as unhappy as he will be, Quayle is bound by duty and not love, and that is his punishment.
This is a very claustrophobic movie with only a few outside scenes, and watching Mitchell plead to get her hair done then for it to all fall apart when she's stuck out in the rain, getting drunk and passing out before her husband and his girlfriend arrive. It's after this where she comes to that the L first occurs, and that also results in a confrontation between their son, obviously aghadt by his father's behavior. This seems very much like a stage play, and the performances are intense whilw the characterizations are truly believable. The result is an interesting but depressing film that shows a view of marriage from the perspective of all the people involved, and the very depressing black and white photography is certainly an interesting metaphor for the dour situation those involved. It's also a very different film topic for director J. Lee Thompson, best known for directing Charles Bronson action flicks.
It's easy to see why Quayle would want to leave Mitchell, and it's also easy to paint her instantly as pathetic. But when she finally has had enough, having had a horrible day and trying to dress to impress where everything ends up going wrong, the viewer help but feel sorry for her. There are no real sides to take because none of the three people involved in this situation are bad people, but this being the 50's with divorce and infidelity, the wife has to come out the winner. A cheating husband the same year on "As the World Turns" was killed off in a car accident after viewer complaints, but this being a movie can take a different turn. It's also obvious that going forward, the marriage is going to be quite different, and that as unhappy as he will be, Quayle is bound by duty and not love, and that is his punishment.
This is a very claustrophobic movie with only a few outside scenes, and watching Mitchell plead to get her hair done then for it to all fall apart when she's stuck out in the rain, getting drunk and passing out before her husband and his girlfriend arrive. It's after this where she comes to that the L first occurs, and that also results in a confrontation between their son, obviously aghadt by his father's behavior. This seems very much like a stage play, and the performances are intense whilw the characterizations are truly believable. The result is an interesting but depressing film that shows a view of marriage from the perspective of all the people involved, and the very depressing black and white photography is certainly an interesting metaphor for the dour situation those involved. It's also a very different film topic for director J. Lee Thompson, best known for directing Charles Bronson action flicks.