6/10
Fair to Middlin' melodrama
20 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I've always liked Barbara Stanwyck. She's one of a handful of actresses who could make a film even if it was ordinary. This is not one of those films.

A concert Pianist heads to a Sanitarium for a stay to convalesce. She's told very little about why she's gotta be there but she acquiesces and stays. The doctor continually averts her attention from her condition to the "things are gonna be alright" type of philosophy. Over time she gets bored staying there and questions why he never tells her the results of his tests on her so she decides to go out into the local town. She meets a race car driver whom she likes and decides she's had enough of the Sanitarium and goes with the race car driver...but not for very long.

This was one of those films that never ends up telling you what she has but it's pretty clear by the X-rays she gets and a few comments in the film that she's suffering from an advanced state of Tuberculosis and will not recover. The Sanitarium is just a place to go to die basically. Back In the day when this was rampant these places were rife with this illness. Among all this she falls in love with the Race Car Driver and the Doctor. You basically deal with a woman who's dying and she doesn't realize it. It's good for a decent cry but Stanwyck has done better. It's not bad In any way but it's a pretty generic drama of it's day. It doesn't stand out amongst others of the time.

Decent cast with an ordinary story means you should decide for yourself. I liked it for what it was but this isn't a Stanwyck film I would hang my hat on.
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