I rate this film 3 stars - one for each good performance by three of it's stars. Walter Pidgeon is likable as Mark, a kindly gentleman who reaches out to those in need and treats everyone with equal courtesy, regardless of their social class. Angela Lansbury is convincing as his cold, snobby wife. Janet Leigh tugs the heartstrings as Effie, the pregnant girl Mark tries to help when she's cast out by her strict, religious father.
Acting aside, I found the story too melodramatic, with poor pacing. For instance, there are several scenes in a row with Mark and his former flame, Nona (Deborah Kerr). Personally I would've spread them out a bit - inserted scenes with other characters inbetween to indicate more of a passage of time. The way it stands, her character development and the evolution of their relationship, suffers - and I suffered whiplash! First Nona's apologizing for the abrupt way she dumped Mark for another guy, but they plan to stay faithful to their current spouses - in fact it's not clear that she still carries a torch for Mark anyway. BAM! Now she can't stand it anymore, she's going to be selfish and throw herself at Mark. BAM! Next scene Nona's telling him they've made a mistake and giving him up. The way these events happen in quick succession, didn't help endear this character to me.
We're obviously meant to see her as Mark's one true lost love, and Deborah Kerr gives a nauseatingly saintly performance. The script even contrives to give her perfectly nice husband, who adores her, a gambling problem - weakly implied by one late-night party scene - it doesn't really seem like a big deal to me, but Nona freaks out. I assume this is meant to justify her infidelity and convince us that she belongs with Mark? Nevertheless, she comes across as indecisive and incapable of true depth of feeling.
Nona pretty much disappears til the end of the film (Pacing!), showing up to defend Mark when the town's turned against him. She loves him *SO* much that she burns the letter Effie wrote, which would prove his innocent involvement in that girl's tragic circumstances. Nona would rather show him that she doesn't care about the wrongful accusations made against him - that *she* will stick by him even if the rest of the world thinks badly of him. Well, isn't that nice. Nice for her martyr/saint/guilt complex. But if Nona really loved Mark, she'd be thinking more about him than herself and trying to show herself in a positive light! She'd want to restore his reputation and make all the people who believed the worst, ashamed of themselves. She'd want to prove that he's a good person. At least, I would, in her shoes. I just can't stand this character. Maybe with another actress...but I'm not impressed by Deborah Kerr.
I hated the ending, and found the film dreary overall. Needed more humour - more moments like Walter Pidgeon's jokey interactions with the servants, "High" and "Low" Jinx.
Acting aside, I found the story too melodramatic, with poor pacing. For instance, there are several scenes in a row with Mark and his former flame, Nona (Deborah Kerr). Personally I would've spread them out a bit - inserted scenes with other characters inbetween to indicate more of a passage of time. The way it stands, her character development and the evolution of their relationship, suffers - and I suffered whiplash! First Nona's apologizing for the abrupt way she dumped Mark for another guy, but they plan to stay faithful to their current spouses - in fact it's not clear that she still carries a torch for Mark anyway. BAM! Now she can't stand it anymore, she's going to be selfish and throw herself at Mark. BAM! Next scene Nona's telling him they've made a mistake and giving him up. The way these events happen in quick succession, didn't help endear this character to me.
We're obviously meant to see her as Mark's one true lost love, and Deborah Kerr gives a nauseatingly saintly performance. The script even contrives to give her perfectly nice husband, who adores her, a gambling problem - weakly implied by one late-night party scene - it doesn't really seem like a big deal to me, but Nona freaks out. I assume this is meant to justify her infidelity and convince us that she belongs with Mark? Nevertheless, she comes across as indecisive and incapable of true depth of feeling.
Nona pretty much disappears til the end of the film (Pacing!), showing up to defend Mark when the town's turned against him. She loves him *SO* much that she burns the letter Effie wrote, which would prove his innocent involvement in that girl's tragic circumstances. Nona would rather show him that she doesn't care about the wrongful accusations made against him - that *she* will stick by him even if the rest of the world thinks badly of him. Well, isn't that nice. Nice for her martyr/saint/guilt complex. But if Nona really loved Mark, she'd be thinking more about him than herself and trying to show herself in a positive light! She'd want to restore his reputation and make all the people who believed the worst, ashamed of themselves. She'd want to prove that he's a good person. At least, I would, in her shoes. I just can't stand this character. Maybe with another actress...but I'm not impressed by Deborah Kerr.
I hated the ending, and found the film dreary overall. Needed more humour - more moments like Walter Pidgeon's jokey interactions with the servants, "High" and "Low" Jinx.