Described by William Faulkner as ' a writer not of the heart but of the glands', novelist John O'Hara considered 'A Rage to Live' to be his magnum opus and it is to be lamented that this film adaptation is, for this viewer at any rate, something of a damp squib. Directed by the merely capable Walter Grauman, this chronicle of American life has been given a truncated and distinctly anodyne treatment, further weakened by a poor script and an insipid score.
O'Hara's original is essentially a Bildungsroman of highly sexed Grace Caldwell but despite the presence of the immensely appealing and seductive Suzanne Pleshette(oh, those eyes!) in the role and a strong performance by Ben Gazzara as her bit of rough, this glorified soap opera is strictly two dimensional and fails to pack a punch. Even allowing for censorship restrictions of the time, what should be hot stuff is as cold as yesterday's mashed potatoes.
The title is taken from Alexander Pope's 'Epistle to a Lady' which is quoted at the film's end but one calls to mind lines from the same poem in relation to O'Hara's depictions of female sexuality:" Men, some to Bus'ness, some to Pleasure take; but ev'ry Woman is at heart a Rake."
O'Hara's original is essentially a Bildungsroman of highly sexed Grace Caldwell but despite the presence of the immensely appealing and seductive Suzanne Pleshette(oh, those eyes!) in the role and a strong performance by Ben Gazzara as her bit of rough, this glorified soap opera is strictly two dimensional and fails to pack a punch. Even allowing for censorship restrictions of the time, what should be hot stuff is as cold as yesterday's mashed potatoes.
The title is taken from Alexander Pope's 'Epistle to a Lady' which is quoted at the film's end but one calls to mind lines from the same poem in relation to O'Hara's depictions of female sexuality:" Men, some to Bus'ness, some to Pleasure take; but ev'ry Woman is at heart a Rake."