There's nothing wrong with this film. It's a "good" movie. The problem with the film, in my opinion, is expressed by Mary Jane (Lois Wheeler) in the last few minutes of the film -- that all that happened could have happened to anybody. There's nothing exceptional about the plot here, except perhaps for the last 10 minutes (sorry, no spoiler here).
So, if its not the plot, what's good about this movie? Well, I just re-watched this film after 9 years, and I've changed my mind a bit. I still give it a "7", but it's a weak "7"...not as strong as I saw it before. Perhaps I was fooled by my general liking of Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews. But before I said their performances were "superb". Now I would say they were "run of the mill". Not bad. Just average.
This is not the forceful Susan Hayward I enjoy...but still good in a rather subdued role. For Dana Andrews, this was one of the last of his great films before he sunk into alcoholism, which led to a decline into B films (and lower). In addition to the performances of the two stars, I quite enjoyed the role of the father, as played by Robert Keith (who I just discovered was the father of Brian Keith). Keith was a fine character actor, and this was one of his stronger roles. And, best friend Mary Jane (Lois Wheeler) is an actress that I am not familiar with, but who does a really nice job here. Jessie Royce Landis. here as the mother, is one of those character actresses that you always enjoy seeing, even if you never know her name.
I'm glad to have seen this film, but as I said before, I won't be adding this one to my DVD collection...and probably won't watch it a third time around.
So, if its not the plot, what's good about this movie? Well, I just re-watched this film after 9 years, and I've changed my mind a bit. I still give it a "7", but it's a weak "7"...not as strong as I saw it before. Perhaps I was fooled by my general liking of Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews. But before I said their performances were "superb". Now I would say they were "run of the mill". Not bad. Just average.
This is not the forceful Susan Hayward I enjoy...but still good in a rather subdued role. For Dana Andrews, this was one of the last of his great films before he sunk into alcoholism, which led to a decline into B films (and lower). In addition to the performances of the two stars, I quite enjoyed the role of the father, as played by Robert Keith (who I just discovered was the father of Brian Keith). Keith was a fine character actor, and this was one of his stronger roles. And, best friend Mary Jane (Lois Wheeler) is an actress that I am not familiar with, but who does a really nice job here. Jessie Royce Landis. here as the mother, is one of those character actresses that you always enjoy seeing, even if you never know her name.
I'm glad to have seen this film, but as I said before, I won't be adding this one to my DVD collection...and probably won't watch it a third time around.