Two men vie for the love or, at a minimum, the obedience of a poor girl who has just managed to graduate from charm school. One man is rich,bitter, domineering, and has eyeballs of steel. His name is Smith Ohlrig. The other man is a handsome, hard-working but poor doctor dedicated to serving the disenfranchised. His name is Larry Quinada. Guess which one wins her.
It's not as stupid as it may sound, for a couple of reasons. One is the performances, both as the roles are written and as the parts executed. Robert Ryan is Smith Ohlrig and there was no one better than Ryan at projecting a pungent hatred of humanity than Ryan. He was superb, for instance, in "On Dangerous Ground" and "Crossfire." Barbara Bel Geddes as Leonora, the blond in contention, is fine as the winsome young charm school graduate who is sufficiently attracted to the immensely wealthy Ryan to marry him, not knowing that he proposed on a dare from his psychiatrist. She's pretty too, though she sounds like she came from the kind of background that Ryan enjoys in this movie. Speaking of that, though, at the beginning the impoverished Bel Geddes is rooming with another girl who refers to their apartment as "this dump." That particular "dump" looks more spacious and well appointed than the dump my brother and I knew as children. Right, Bucky? If you're not careful, you could get the impression that production designers and set dressers in Hollywood don't have any real conception of poverty.
James Mason is not the stereotype he might have been -- you know, quiet, patient, understanding, "caring" -- and thank God for that. It might have been sickening. Bel Geddes has left Ryan and taken a job as Mason's receptionist. And when we first meet him, and more or less throughout the movie, he's impatient, scolding, and only rarely concerned about Bel Geddes welfare. He shows no appreciation when she works overtime or even stays all night at the office. At one point, he drives her to quit.
That's rather a nice touch, having the obvious winner of her love being a little nasty to her. Not TOO nasty. In that case, you might as well have called this movie "All Men Are Brutes." But just edgy enough so that he avoids the soap opera formula. He's strong enough to allow Bel Geddes the final decision, but he's not a sap either.
I'm afraid the script could have used a little more polish. Mason's character may not be a stereotype (neither is Ryan's flunky, Franzi), but Ryan's certainly is and, to an extent, Bel Geddes' is as well.
Some crises and some of the dialog are plain terrible. Bel Geddes is pregnant with Ryan's fetus, he apparently having reserved usufruct rights over her reproductive system, and he has her imprisoned in her room, torturing her by keeping her awake with constant calls and demands, while she lies sweating and helpless on the satin sheets. Here are some of her lines. "Don't take my BABY, Smith! Oh, Larry, please help me. I want you." I'm not making that up.
The direction is by Max Ophuls and it's above average, overcoming the benthic depths in the script. Nice shots of Ryan and the exhausted Bel Geddes speaking through a bedroom door ajar. And there's another scene that is quietly impressive. Mason is pacing around in his office. His partner, Frank Ferguson, is using an electric razor on his chin across the room. They are quietly discussing Bel Geddes, whom Mason has just fired. Mason is turning the affair over in his mind. The perceptive Ferguson makes an occasional remark. Meanwhile, as the two speak, the camera drifts slowly from one man to the other, each time crossing Bel Geddes' vacant desk which sits between them. As the scene ends, the camera slows to a halt, with the deafeningly empty desk in the center of the frame.
It's not as stupid as it may sound, for a couple of reasons. One is the performances, both as the roles are written and as the parts executed. Robert Ryan is Smith Ohlrig and there was no one better than Ryan at projecting a pungent hatred of humanity than Ryan. He was superb, for instance, in "On Dangerous Ground" and "Crossfire." Barbara Bel Geddes as Leonora, the blond in contention, is fine as the winsome young charm school graduate who is sufficiently attracted to the immensely wealthy Ryan to marry him, not knowing that he proposed on a dare from his psychiatrist. She's pretty too, though she sounds like she came from the kind of background that Ryan enjoys in this movie. Speaking of that, though, at the beginning the impoverished Bel Geddes is rooming with another girl who refers to their apartment as "this dump." That particular "dump" looks more spacious and well appointed than the dump my brother and I knew as children. Right, Bucky? If you're not careful, you could get the impression that production designers and set dressers in Hollywood don't have any real conception of poverty.
James Mason is not the stereotype he might have been -- you know, quiet, patient, understanding, "caring" -- and thank God for that. It might have been sickening. Bel Geddes has left Ryan and taken a job as Mason's receptionist. And when we first meet him, and more or less throughout the movie, he's impatient, scolding, and only rarely concerned about Bel Geddes welfare. He shows no appreciation when she works overtime or even stays all night at the office. At one point, he drives her to quit.
That's rather a nice touch, having the obvious winner of her love being a little nasty to her. Not TOO nasty. In that case, you might as well have called this movie "All Men Are Brutes." But just edgy enough so that he avoids the soap opera formula. He's strong enough to allow Bel Geddes the final decision, but he's not a sap either.
I'm afraid the script could have used a little more polish. Mason's character may not be a stereotype (neither is Ryan's flunky, Franzi), but Ryan's certainly is and, to an extent, Bel Geddes' is as well.
Some crises and some of the dialog are plain terrible. Bel Geddes is pregnant with Ryan's fetus, he apparently having reserved usufruct rights over her reproductive system, and he has her imprisoned in her room, torturing her by keeping her awake with constant calls and demands, while she lies sweating and helpless on the satin sheets. Here are some of her lines. "Don't take my BABY, Smith! Oh, Larry, please help me. I want you." I'm not making that up.
The direction is by Max Ophuls and it's above average, overcoming the benthic depths in the script. Nice shots of Ryan and the exhausted Bel Geddes speaking through a bedroom door ajar. And there's another scene that is quietly impressive. Mason is pacing around in his office. His partner, Frank Ferguson, is using an electric razor on his chin across the room. They are quietly discussing Bel Geddes, whom Mason has just fired. Mason is turning the affair over in his mind. The perceptive Ferguson makes an occasional remark. Meanwhile, as the two speak, the camera drifts slowly from one man to the other, each time crossing Bel Geddes' vacant desk which sits between them. As the scene ends, the camera slows to a halt, with the deafeningly empty desk in the center of the frame.