The film involves the attempted suicide of a woman (Hedy Lamarr) who is involved with a married man. A doctor (Spencer Tracy) stops her from committing suicide on board a ship. After they both return to the US, Hedy goes to visit at Spencer's clinic in an effort to forget about her past and to start a new life. Spencer eventually gets the courage to propose to her, but harbors feelings that she still has ties to her past boyfriend. Hedy's character has ambivalent feelings on her previous boyfriend, but eventually breaks it off with him even though he is granted a divorce from his wife. Near the film's end, a suicide death brings Spencer back to his "senses" about trying to live like the rich and famous in order to impress his wife. A question of medical ethics comes up and Spencer decides to quit his fancy medical practice job and to go overseas to China as he sees his attempted lifestyle change as a failure both for his career and his marriage. He described Hedy like a perfect gem on black velvet and always harbored a deep feeling that he went after something outside of his "boundaries". Through a final scene involving local people who come to the clinic to express their gratitude for his medical service to the community, he has an eventual change of heart about leaving the area.
The movie ends with a scene that is reminiscent of "It's a Wonderful Life" and you feel that movie copied the final scene from this movie. In fact, even the ending song is the same (Auld Lang Syne).
Spencer and Hedy may appear to be a little miscast in this movie, but they still do an admirable performance in their roles in this film. Verree Teasdale gives an excellent supporting role in this movie and has several great one liners in this film.
The movie has several very familiar quotes - One is uttered by Hedy where she tells Spencer that when you save someone's life, you become responsible for that person. Verree Teasdale has a great one liner when she is talking to Hedy in a restaurant and mentions that "time wounds all heels" - a pointed reference to her former boyfriend.
They might have had better casting for the movie since it appears to have had several cast changes before it could be completed. But, the story of an "uptown" girl going to a "downtown" man's world still comes out as a pretty good storyline.
The movie ends with a scene that is reminiscent of "It's a Wonderful Life" and you feel that movie copied the final scene from this movie. In fact, even the ending song is the same (Auld Lang Syne).
Spencer and Hedy may appear to be a little miscast in this movie, but they still do an admirable performance in their roles in this film. Verree Teasdale gives an excellent supporting role in this movie and has several great one liners in this film.
The movie has several very familiar quotes - One is uttered by Hedy where she tells Spencer that when you save someone's life, you become responsible for that person. Verree Teasdale has a great one liner when she is talking to Hedy in a restaurant and mentions that "time wounds all heels" - a pointed reference to her former boyfriend.
They might have had better casting for the movie since it appears to have had several cast changes before it could be completed. But, the story of an "uptown" girl going to a "downtown" man's world still comes out as a pretty good storyline.