...I just don't. There are a lot of things right with the film: nice location shots of New York, good performances, and of course a wonderful title song. But the characters in the movie are all deeply flawed.
Tkae the Glenn Ford character. As the film begins, he is seen breaking off a relationship with his girlfriend. Why? Because his fiancee is coming to town. But this doesn't stop him from trying to pick up the girl at the card counter; and of course his meeting with the Geraldine Page character. The guy is a louse, and he's supposed to be a real nice guy.
Take Geraldine Page. She is flighty, a flibberty-gibbet, annoyingly talkative...she sends messages to herself, signed Bimbo Jones? Is that supposed to be amusing? She doesn't seem like a real person. Which is a shame, because she is a terrific actress and certainly deserved better.
And the character played by Michael Anderson Jr. I guess he's supposed to be a beatnik, but this ages the film tremendously. His dialogue is absurd (he refers to his mother as a "tomato"); a most obnoxious character. I guess the fact that his girlfriend is named Emile Zola Berkrandt is supposed to be good for a laugh, as well as the fact that she's always taking a bath.
And the Angela Lansbury character. As Glenn Ford's fiancee, she is so unsympathetic - indeed downright unlikeable - one wonders what Glenn Ford could have ever seen in her in the first place. No wonder he flirts with ever woman he meets. Her idea of life is to have all her meals catered; considering this film was made 56 years ago and Miss Lansbury is still alive...three meals a day, 365 days a year for 56 years...I hope Glenn Ford makes a lot of money.
Sorry, just don't get it.
Review of Dear Heart
