"Heavenly Body" is not a bad film, though it isn't all that good either. As a result of indifferent writing and a typically wooden performance by Hedy Lamarr, it's just a pleasant little time-passer. And, as a result, you can see why Joan Crawford passed when the part was first offered to her.
The film begins with a happily married couple--the astronomy professor (William Powell) and his pretty wife (Lamarr). Though very happily married, Hedy's love for her husband vanishes almost completely just because a local astrologer tells Hedy that she'll fall in love with another. This is a VERY weak point in the film. After all, if their love is that fragile, why should the audience care AND why should Powell try so hard to try to win her back from her new beau (James Craig)? I felt throughout the film that Powell would have been better off with this faithless idiot. But, he works hard to win her--and a few of his actions are pretty funny. Overall, the film offers few surprises and Powell is his usual competent and clever self.
By the way, didn't it seem odd Hedy played a French woman and not a Austrian? My guess is that the US was at war with her country of birth at that time and so she was supposed to be French!
The film begins with a happily married couple--the astronomy professor (William Powell) and his pretty wife (Lamarr). Though very happily married, Hedy's love for her husband vanishes almost completely just because a local astrologer tells Hedy that she'll fall in love with another. This is a VERY weak point in the film. After all, if their love is that fragile, why should the audience care AND why should Powell try so hard to try to win her back from her new beau (James Craig)? I felt throughout the film that Powell would have been better off with this faithless idiot. But, he works hard to win her--and a few of his actions are pretty funny. Overall, the film offers few surprises and Powell is his usual competent and clever self.
By the way, didn't it seem odd Hedy played a French woman and not a Austrian? My guess is that the US was at war with her country of birth at that time and so she was supposed to be French!