Mervin Le Roy's entry into the 50s Melodrama sweepstakes is, like most of this veteran director's work, compulsively watchable, and some sequences, like Charlotte's hysterical, Boston, Christmas shopping spree, is even a cut above that entertaining level and encroaches on the territory of interestingly deranged, a space in which better directors like Sirk and Minnelli luxuriated. Also helping elevate this film above the category of luridly trashy fun is wonderfully bleak, winter New England cinematography and location shooting by Joe Biroc in which you can literally feel the damp chill even if you're watching it on a couch in Los Angeles. Finally, there is Jean Simmons doing her best acting in a long, solid career (indeed it is not amiss to describe Ms. Simmons as the Mervin Le Roy of actresses). She is so good as the neurotic yet indomitable Charlotte that you forgive her an old England accent in one supposed to be from New. She certainly should have at least nabbed the Oscar nomination that absurdly went to Lana Turner for a lesser 50s meller, "Peyton Place". Ably assisting her are Dan O'Herlihy as her cold, stuffy husband, Mabel Albertson as her supremely annoying step mother and Rhonda Fleming, as always shining in a bad girl turn, as Charlotte's deceitful step sister.
So why just a 7/10? Blame the Bassings. Their adaptation of Ms. Bassing's novel is, by any measure, wanting. Not only do they provide us with a too stolid, dull love interest for Charlotte (played by stolid, dull Efrem Zimbalest Jr. In full on "FBI Story" as opposed to "77 Sunset Strip" mode) but they spend way too much time on Charlotte's unhappy marriage and not enough time on key subsidiary characters like step sister Joan and nasty servant Mattie. This results in scenes in the last third of the film, when Charlotte finally works up the courage to confront Joan and fire Mattie, not having the emotional and dramatic impact they should have.
Bottom Line: Not as good as "Some Came Running" but a helluva lot better than "Butterfield 8". Give it a B minus.
PS...Great moody, jazzy title song. Wonder why the singer, someone I've not heard of named Mary Kay, wasn't credited? Was she a lefty? Or did she just have a bad agent?
So why just a 7/10? Blame the Bassings. Their adaptation of Ms. Bassing's novel is, by any measure, wanting. Not only do they provide us with a too stolid, dull love interest for Charlotte (played by stolid, dull Efrem Zimbalest Jr. In full on "FBI Story" as opposed to "77 Sunset Strip" mode) but they spend way too much time on Charlotte's unhappy marriage and not enough time on key subsidiary characters like step sister Joan and nasty servant Mattie. This results in scenes in the last third of the film, when Charlotte finally works up the courage to confront Joan and fire Mattie, not having the emotional and dramatic impact they should have.
Bottom Line: Not as good as "Some Came Running" but a helluva lot better than "Butterfield 8". Give it a B minus.
PS...Great moody, jazzy title song. Wonder why the singer, someone I've not heard of named Mary Kay, wasn't credited? Was she a lefty? Or did she just have a bad agent?