I thought that "A Rage To Live" was a fine -yet tragic- portrayal of a nymphomaniac (Suzanne Pleshette) struggling to find personal identity outside of the bedroom, auto backseat, etc. Also, the meaning & outer realms of "love" and how it factors into a one-sided, non-monogamous marriage. Ben Gazzara's character is very dark; a hard-working Irishman who desires material wealth as well as the flesh. There are several story lines that branch from Pleshette's infidelities, one of which brings a psychologically tragic aspect to the film. A feminist approach to this film might suggest that all of the other women in the film were overly (yet appropriately for the times) supportive of their husbands alone, living or deceased. Pleshette's character felt the need to find her true self with the help of emotional love, given to her for the first time by her husband. She constantly admits to having a "problem that she is embarrassed about", however she seeks no real counsel or help. Pleshette almost appears too aware of her faults yet acts baffled when she is caught. Her character is too assuming of others' forgiveness, using the age-old "I said I was sorry" routine almost every time. The "encounters" are subtle and portrayed very tactfully as well, I suppose because it was still the 1960's; I would hate for this film to be remade because I'm sure that some of the scenes would have overblown sexual situations.
41 Reviews
Adaptation of a John O'Hara novel
blanche-230 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Suzanne Pleshette has "A Rage to Live" in this 1965 potboiler also starring Bradford Dillman, Ben Gazzara, Linden Chiles, Carmen Matthews, Bethel Leslie and Peter Graves. The film is an adaptation of a John O'Hara novel, and I understand from people who have read the book that it's not a very good one.
Pleshette plays Grace Caldwell, a young woman who feels validated and loved only when she's having sex. After an incident with a boy in her home town, Grace's mother (Matthews) suffers a heart attack. The two take a vacation, where Grace takes up with a waiter. While she's with him one night, her mother has a fatal heart attack and dies. Eventually Grace meets Sidney Caldwell (Dillman). They fall in love, and Grace confesses her misdeeds to him; he wants to marry her. They have a son, and for three years, all is well. Then construction worker Roger Bannon arrives to work on the Caldwell property and admits to Grace that he's always wanted her. The two have an affair, which Grace ends, only to have Roger beat up a hooker and call her Grace and talk about what a slut she is before he's killed in a car accident. Sidney finds out and wants to end the marriage; she talks him into giving her one more chance. Then she's publicly accused of having an affair with an old friend (Graves) by his wife (Leslie), which isn't true.
The end of this film is not very satisfying. We are led to believe that Grace is finished. She probably is - after that public humiliation, it's doubtful Sidney will want to continue the marriage. However, certainly he is assured by the Graves character that nothing went on between him and Grace. So in the end, Grace is doomed because of something she didn't do.
Suzanne Pleshette hit Hollywood about ten years too late - she would have had a chance to become a major star before the studios dissolved. She was beautiful with a gorgeous figure, a sexy voice and one other attribute - she was a wonderful, honest actress. Her big career would be in television, and it was a good one, but nothing like she could have had. Here she rises above some overblown material to give a strong, sympathetic performance. The rest of the cast is good. Bethel Leslie as the alcoholic Amy Hollister has some good scenes as Peter Graves' insecure and unreasonable wife. Ben Gazzara does a fine job with an off-the-wall, obsessive character.
In the book, Sidney dies before he can divorce Grace, and Grace moves away. I suppose having her cry in the middle of the road was more effective. "A Rage to Live" is good to see for Pleshette and for the way an explicit subject matter was handled in the '50s. With a lesser actress in the lead, it might have seemed very campy.
Pleshette plays Grace Caldwell, a young woman who feels validated and loved only when she's having sex. After an incident with a boy in her home town, Grace's mother (Matthews) suffers a heart attack. The two take a vacation, where Grace takes up with a waiter. While she's with him one night, her mother has a fatal heart attack and dies. Eventually Grace meets Sidney Caldwell (Dillman). They fall in love, and Grace confesses her misdeeds to him; he wants to marry her. They have a son, and for three years, all is well. Then construction worker Roger Bannon arrives to work on the Caldwell property and admits to Grace that he's always wanted her. The two have an affair, which Grace ends, only to have Roger beat up a hooker and call her Grace and talk about what a slut she is before he's killed in a car accident. Sidney finds out and wants to end the marriage; she talks him into giving her one more chance. Then she's publicly accused of having an affair with an old friend (Graves) by his wife (Leslie), which isn't true.
The end of this film is not very satisfying. We are led to believe that Grace is finished. She probably is - after that public humiliation, it's doubtful Sidney will want to continue the marriage. However, certainly he is assured by the Graves character that nothing went on between him and Grace. So in the end, Grace is doomed because of something she didn't do.
Suzanne Pleshette hit Hollywood about ten years too late - she would have had a chance to become a major star before the studios dissolved. She was beautiful with a gorgeous figure, a sexy voice and one other attribute - she was a wonderful, honest actress. Her big career would be in television, and it was a good one, but nothing like she could have had. Here she rises above some overblown material to give a strong, sympathetic performance. The rest of the cast is good. Bethel Leslie as the alcoholic Amy Hollister has some good scenes as Peter Graves' insecure and unreasonable wife. Ben Gazzara does a fine job with an off-the-wall, obsessive character.
In the book, Sidney dies before he can divorce Grace, and Grace moves away. I suppose having her cry in the middle of the road was more effective. "A Rage to Live" is good to see for Pleshette and for the way an explicit subject matter was handled in the '50s. With a lesser actress in the lead, it might have seemed very campy.
interesting steamy film
Denise_Noe26 December 1998
Grace Caldwell differs from the usual "bad girl" in that she's not trading sex for money, social advancement, etc. Nor is she detached from a "normal" life of home and family. Rather she is an intelligent wife & mother who has a fling on the side just because she's horny, in the manner expected of men. A good film with strong performances by Suzanne Pleshette as Grace & Ben Gazarra as her lover.
I was thoroughly entertained.
TokyoGyaru4 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I used to be hooked on black and white films, usually ones involving some femme fatale, but I hadn't watched one in years. So maybe that's partially why I got so much enjoyment out of this. It was great to relax to at the end of the work week. I simply found it entertaining, so much so I told my sister about it so we can talk about it.
If I disliked anything, it was the fact that Grace was clearly forced into activity (there's a more appropriate word for that) in the beginning even though she went along with it (likely so she wouldn't get hurt, no matter how the movie framed it). I don't like the judgment placed on her for doing things everyone knew good and well young men were doing at the time as well. For who were young women doing it with if not them? Yet society only judges the women. So, I didn't like that, but I understood the mindsets at the time, and I appreciated that they skipped the whole ostracization bit. Don't get me wrong, I HATE cheating. It's one of my most hated things.
So I felt bad for her husband because he seemed like a good guy (though I got worried for a second there when it seemed like he was gonna hit her but knocked something over instead -- still not cool), and I appreciate that he pointed out the fact that, no, he doesn't deserve praise just for being true but he stayed true because he believes in it. I also like that they didn't do the predictable thing at the end by having Grace get shot. If the film had come out in the 40s and not the mid-60s, she likely would have.
I feel like this: Grace was taken advantage of as a minor, and as often happens, she became promiscuous thereafter. I'm not saying it's solely due to that, but there's a moment when she's outside of her party and she looked disturbed by what she's doing. It's brief, but it told me something.
Still, though, she got the ending she deserved. Because I don't believe in the kind of love in which my partner can cheat on me either.
S/N: This has made me curious about the book.
If I disliked anything, it was the fact that Grace was clearly forced into activity (there's a more appropriate word for that) in the beginning even though she went along with it (likely so she wouldn't get hurt, no matter how the movie framed it). I don't like the judgment placed on her for doing things everyone knew good and well young men were doing at the time as well. For who were young women doing it with if not them? Yet society only judges the women. So, I didn't like that, but I understood the mindsets at the time, and I appreciated that they skipped the whole ostracization bit. Don't get me wrong, I HATE cheating. It's one of my most hated things.
So I felt bad for her husband because he seemed like a good guy (though I got worried for a second there when it seemed like he was gonna hit her but knocked something over instead -- still not cool), and I appreciate that he pointed out the fact that, no, he doesn't deserve praise just for being true but he stayed true because he believes in it. I also like that they didn't do the predictable thing at the end by having Grace get shot. If the film had come out in the 40s and not the mid-60s, she likely would have.
I feel like this: Grace was taken advantage of as a minor, and as often happens, she became promiscuous thereafter. I'm not saying it's solely due to that, but there's a moment when she's outside of her party and she looked disturbed by what she's doing. It's brief, but it told me something.
Still, though, she got the ending she deserved. Because I don't believe in the kind of love in which my partner can cheat on me either.
S/N: This has made me curious about the book.
Hilariously outdated thinking
mls418222 July 2022
Grace isn't that bad. She just meets the wrong men. With the right partner she'd have been pretty normal.
This is nothing but unintentional comedy. I know double standards still exist today, but did people really take this seriously in 1965? Strictly for laughs.
Watch out for the brief appearance by Brett Somers as a big crouch.
This is nothing but unintentional comedy. I know double standards still exist today, but did people really take this seriously in 1965? Strictly for laughs.
Watch out for the brief appearance by Brett Somers as a big crouch.
A soaper about an attractive woman with amorous attentions of young men , resulting in fateful and tragic consequences
ma-cortes7 October 2021
A Soap Opera dealing with Grace Caldwell (Suzanne Pleshette ) , a young Pennsylvania newspaper heiress living with her widowed mummy (Carmen Matthews) get in trouble restraining herself when she meets handsome young men . As word starts to spread about her behavior , manipulative Grace becomes a major source of heartache for her mother and a big source of concern to her brother , Brock (Linden Chiles) . One evening , at a Christmas party , Grace meets Sidney Tate (Bradford Dillman) , a gentleman farmer , and both of them fall in love . Grace accepts marriage with him , but only after making it clear that there are some things about her past she's not at all proud of . Grace promises to be faithful to Sidney , it's a promise she has every intention of keeping , until two former casual acquaintances , Roger Bannon (Peter Graves) and Jack Hollister (Peter Graves) , re-enter her life. But the unfortunate husband becomes involved in problems due to his wife and her troublesome relationships . Then the woman's sexual compulsions and her nymphomanic tendency threaten to destroy the distressed marriage ."A Rage to Live " goes where no motion picture has ever dared go before ! The names and places didn't matter . . . Only when! Take it easy Grace...! Think of a good lie to tell your husband. Tell him you're late because the car broke down ...tell him anything!...the John O'Hara best-seller that dares to probe a woman's intimate desire! Take it easy, Grace...! Think of a good lie to tell your husband. Tell him you're late because the car broke down...tell him anything! Even make love to him...after all, you need him more than other men! The story of Grace Caldwell Tate really began in the back seat of a car... ...and went from man...to man...to man... Charlie, Sidney, Roger... The names and places didn't matter... only 'when'
This soapy picture is based on a popular best seller by John O'Hara and made in similar style to Harold Robbins' Soap-operas in the Sixties . Dealing with an explosive , nympho woman who becomes involved in various love affairs resulting in lousy and distressed consequences . This twisted story seems to be been suggested by the real life of a famous actress in distress . Main and support cast are pretty good . Standing out the gorgeous Suzanne Pleshette , though Anne Bancroft , Sue Lyon and Natalie Wood were previously sought for this thorny character who eventually played by Suzanne . As the charming Suzanne is nice as the nymphomaniac woman whose passion leads her to twisted paths , she gives a fine performance , though overacting at times . She was deemed to be one of Hollywood's best but underrated actresses . While Bradford Dillman performs decently the young man who falls in love, and he asks her to marry him . They are well accompanied by a familiar plethora of secondaries giving adequate interpretations , such as : Ben Gazzara, Peter Graves , Bethel Leslie , Carmen Mathews , Linden Chiles, James Gregory , Ruth White, Virginia Christine , Mark Goddard , among others .
It displays an evocative and brilliant cinematography in black and white by Charles Lawton Jr. , being shot in Burbank , California . As well as atmospheric and dramatic musical score by Nelson Riddle . This Soap Opera motion picture was professionally directed by TV craftsman Walter Grauman . He was a good artisan who made a large number of Television movies and episodes in a long career and eventually directed some films . As he shot episodes of popular series such as : Murder, She Wrote , Columbo , V , Blacke's Magic , Cover-up , Barnaby Jones , Streets of San Francisco , Manhunter , Most wanted , FBI , Mission Impossible , Blue Light , The New Breed , Untouchables, Steve Canyon , Peter Gunn , Colt 45 , Perry Mason , Will Banner , The Fugitive, among others .
This soapy picture is based on a popular best seller by John O'Hara and made in similar style to Harold Robbins' Soap-operas in the Sixties . Dealing with an explosive , nympho woman who becomes involved in various love affairs resulting in lousy and distressed consequences . This twisted story seems to be been suggested by the real life of a famous actress in distress . Main and support cast are pretty good . Standing out the gorgeous Suzanne Pleshette , though Anne Bancroft , Sue Lyon and Natalie Wood were previously sought for this thorny character who eventually played by Suzanne . As the charming Suzanne is nice as the nymphomaniac woman whose passion leads her to twisted paths , she gives a fine performance , though overacting at times . She was deemed to be one of Hollywood's best but underrated actresses . While Bradford Dillman performs decently the young man who falls in love, and he asks her to marry him . They are well accompanied by a familiar plethora of secondaries giving adequate interpretations , such as : Ben Gazzara, Peter Graves , Bethel Leslie , Carmen Mathews , Linden Chiles, James Gregory , Ruth White, Virginia Christine , Mark Goddard , among others .
It displays an evocative and brilliant cinematography in black and white by Charles Lawton Jr. , being shot in Burbank , California . As well as atmospheric and dramatic musical score by Nelson Riddle . This Soap Opera motion picture was professionally directed by TV craftsman Walter Grauman . He was a good artisan who made a large number of Television movies and episodes in a long career and eventually directed some films . As he shot episodes of popular series such as : Murder, She Wrote , Columbo , V , Blacke's Magic , Cover-up , Barnaby Jones , Streets of San Francisco , Manhunter , Most wanted , FBI , Mission Impossible , Blue Light , The New Breed , Untouchables, Steve Canyon , Peter Gunn , Colt 45 , Perry Mason , Will Banner , The Fugitive, among others .
Every bit as trashy as I thought it would be........
661jda20 December 2020
If you pick a bad movie from every year - 1960 on -- this film would be a top contender for all of the years rolled into one. Not that it tries to be a bad movie --- it's just predictably bad. From the first scene when Mark Goddard spies on Suzanne Pleshette while she's taking off her clothes and then she decides to neck with him. Then she moves thru a string of men. The "OMG - SCANDAL!!!!" of her first necking sessions where her mother finds out and has a heart attacks to other scandals that finally kill her mother - she just never learns. The story might be compelling if it weren't so predictable and then the dialogue -- almost like it was from 1965 instead of 1965! I will say this.... If they had the Golden Raspberries back then for bad film making, this would have scored so many, you could made jam with them.
Soap Opera Delight
Joan-520 October 1998
I really love this movie. Grace Caldwell is the ultimate bad girl, tries to turn her life around, but is crushed in the end. Nothing like the book, A Rage To Live was considered racy for the 60's. Suzanne Pleshette acted her heart out. I've been waiting for years for this to come out on video; in fact, I haven't even seen it on TV for several years.
The lady is a tramp.
brogmiller18 January 2024
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."
Trash with many notable TV stars
GMJames30 October 2004
I caught "A Rage to Live" on the fly while switching channels. The film was not very good. I thought it was a lower-grade version of the lush, trashy, morality tales like Butterfield 8. (Both movies were based on novels by John O'Hara.) Suzanne Pleshette does her best as the nymphomaniac who tries to overcome her insatiable appetite towards men.
What got to me while watching this movie was how many of these actors appeared in other TV programs. Starting with Ms. Pleshette (The Bob Newhart Show) Bradford Dillman, who plays Pleshette's husband (according to IMDb, he's appeared in over 90 TV programs), Ben Gazzara (Run for Your Life), Peter Graves (Mission: Impossible), Mark Goddard (Lost In Space), James Gregory (Barney Miller), Virginia Christie (Mrs. Olsen in the Folger's Crystals coffee commercials of the 60s and 70s), and, in an uncredited role, Brett Somers (Match Game, The Odd Couple). Even director Walter Grauman is known in television as a workhorse. He's credited with directing over 200 television movies and shows.
In the end, I did not have much fun watching this turgid drama but it was lot of fun playing TV trivia.
What got to me while watching this movie was how many of these actors appeared in other TV programs. Starting with Ms. Pleshette (The Bob Newhart Show) Bradford Dillman, who plays Pleshette's husband (according to IMDb, he's appeared in over 90 TV programs), Ben Gazzara (Run for Your Life), Peter Graves (Mission: Impossible), Mark Goddard (Lost In Space), James Gregory (Barney Miller), Virginia Christie (Mrs. Olsen in the Folger's Crystals coffee commercials of the 60s and 70s), and, in an uncredited role, Brett Somers (Match Game, The Odd Couple). Even director Walter Grauman is known in television as a workhorse. He's credited with directing over 200 television movies and shows.
In the end, I did not have much fun watching this turgid drama but it was lot of fun playing TV trivia.
Wonderful Performance by Susanne Pleshette
oliverpenn13 April 2004
Warning: Spoilers
"A Rage to Live" had beautiful, haunting theme music which crept in at just the right moments. The story of Grace Caldwell, a beautiful young girl with a "problem," not unlike most men, everywhere, she loved sex and had no control over her actions. She was a nympho.
Women like Grace are scorned and hated by other women, because men are so drawn to her type -- women who crave sex just like men. There wasn't a lot of "dating and cat and mouse" with a girl like Grace. A brief look into her eyes and the next stop was the bedroom.
Personally, I felt sorry for Grace after her marriage to Bradford Dillman and the birth of her child. She seemed truly happy. Into her life walks Ben Gazzara, with a bulging crotch and sexy Italian bravado. Much too much for Grace to resist, especially when he tells her that he has the hots for her. Obviously, Grace is not getting the KIND of sex she craves: cheap, tawdry, motel sex with strange men. Well, that's what she got with Ben, but he was mentally "off" and easily fell in love with Caldwell. Trying to break off the affair with Gazarra, she tells him, "You knew what this was. I have a husband and child that I love." His response, of course, is to call her a "dirty slut" and a "rotten, filthy whore!"
Ben is not the only man that is after Grace. Every man she comes across "knows" her and "her kind." Unfortunately, it's difficult for her to say "no." Even on a vacation with her mother, who has a bad heart, Grace sneaks out in the middle of the night to have tawdry sex with a hotel worker. She copulates with a college buddy of her brother's, plus, it was insinuated that she had "entertained" other men.
The ending is sad, especially because her husband deserts her after a drunken, jealous wife accuses Grace of "sleeping" with her husband (Peter Graves.) After calling Grace a "tramp," the woman breaks down in tears and tells Bradford that her husband "admitted it!!!"
Susanne Pleshette was wonderful. Her performance was as good as any other actress's in 1965, certainly better than Liz Taylor's in 1960's "Butterfield 8." Perhaps if Grace had been a prostitute, the role would have been more appealing to the Academy. They just LOVE giving Oscars to actresses who play ladies of the evening. Nymphomania, obviously, is too strong for their coffee.
Too bad Susanne didn't become a major movie star -- she certainly had the looks and the talent.
I'd love to have this on DVD. And, that THEME music was lovely.
Women like Grace are scorned and hated by other women, because men are so drawn to her type -- women who crave sex just like men. There wasn't a lot of "dating and cat and mouse" with a girl like Grace. A brief look into her eyes and the next stop was the bedroom.
Personally, I felt sorry for Grace after her marriage to Bradford Dillman and the birth of her child. She seemed truly happy. Into her life walks Ben Gazzara, with a bulging crotch and sexy Italian bravado. Much too much for Grace to resist, especially when he tells her that he has the hots for her. Obviously, Grace is not getting the KIND of sex she craves: cheap, tawdry, motel sex with strange men. Well, that's what she got with Ben, but he was mentally "off" and easily fell in love with Caldwell. Trying to break off the affair with Gazarra, she tells him, "You knew what this was. I have a husband and child that I love." His response, of course, is to call her a "dirty slut" and a "rotten, filthy whore!"
Ben is not the only man that is after Grace. Every man she comes across "knows" her and "her kind." Unfortunately, it's difficult for her to say "no." Even on a vacation with her mother, who has a bad heart, Grace sneaks out in the middle of the night to have tawdry sex with a hotel worker. She copulates with a college buddy of her brother's, plus, it was insinuated that she had "entertained" other men.
The ending is sad, especially because her husband deserts her after a drunken, jealous wife accuses Grace of "sleeping" with her husband (Peter Graves.) After calling Grace a "tramp," the woman breaks down in tears and tells Bradford that her husband "admitted it!!!"
Susanne Pleshette was wonderful. Her performance was as good as any other actress's in 1965, certainly better than Liz Taylor's in 1960's "Butterfield 8." Perhaps if Grace had been a prostitute, the role would have been more appealing to the Academy. They just LOVE giving Oscars to actresses who play ladies of the evening. Nymphomania, obviously, is too strong for their coffee.
Too bad Susanne didn't become a major movie star -- she certainly had the looks and the talent.
I'd love to have this on DVD. And, that THEME music was lovely.
A lady with a high sex drive and a strong desire for excitement and self-destruction.
planktonrules8 November 2017
Grace (Suzanne Pleshette) is an over-sexed teenage debutante when the story begins...so much so that she's earned quite the reputation. However, when she meets nice-guy Sidney (Bradford Dillman) she forsakes her wicked ways and promises to make him a good wife. Well, this is the case...for a couple years. However, Grace not only has a strong sex drive but a strong drive towards sex destruction. Soon, she begins a purely sexual affair with a neighbor (Ben Gazzara). He wants there to be more to it than that...so she drops him and heads off for her next conquest! Ultimately, however, her wicked ways catch up to her and she finds that great husband, home and baby she's worked for slipping out of her fingers.
This is an enjoyable, albeit sleazy, soap opera. It's the sort of film that must have seemed pretty steamy back in the day, though by modern standards it's relatively tame. Pleshette and the rest of the cast give it their best and it is quite entertaining trash.
This is an enjoyable, albeit sleazy, soap opera. It's the sort of film that must have seemed pretty steamy back in the day, though by modern standards it's relatively tame. Pleshette and the rest of the cast give it their best and it is quite entertaining trash.
Entertaining In The Way Eating A Quart of Ice Cream Could Be Called Nourishing
Handlinghandel3 September 2002
This thing is dreadful.. It treats "nymphomania" as if it were transmissible. I hope no teenaged girls saw, and were terrified by, this thing when it came out. It could have had lasting ill effects on their psyches. It probably got a far wider release than "The Naked Kiss," which came out at around the same time, is about a woman with "a reputation," and is infinitely superior.
Powerful performance by Suzanne Pleshette lifts the movie well above the sleazy soap opera it could have well became
sol121818 October 2004
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** The movie "A Rage to Live" is based on a John O'Hara novel about a young socialite Grace Cardwell, Suzanne Pleshette,who just can't stay away from men to the point where she's practically ostracized from her high society circles by an outraged group of parents who's sons she's accused of "corrupting". Grace's widowed mom Emily Cardwell, Carmen Mathews, tries to deal with her daughters problems and after a very emotionally packed exchange that ended with Grace telling her mom that she'll always be with her and try to make her proud of being her daughter her mom collapses in the living room from a stroke. Trying to live a normal life with sex only when she's married for Grace wasn't easy but for her mom's sake she tried as hard as she could.
One night when they were both on vacation Grace snuck out of their hotel room and has a tryst with one of the busboys. When she came back later that night she found, to her great shock, her mom dead on the floor from a heart attack. Grace holding herself responsible for her mom's death. Even though her mothers doctor Dr. O'Brien, James Gregory, told her that her mom had a very weak heart and that her night out with the busboy had nothing to do with her death. Later she finally found the man of her dreams Sidney Tate, Bradford Dillman, a stock turned real estate broker from San Francisco. Telling him the truth about herself, her wild life-style that she long ago abandoned, only impressed Sidney even more because of her honesty and married her and had a child, a boy, with him.
Everything was going swell until contractor Roger Bannon, Ben Gazzara, came over to the house to fix the barn. Roger had a crush on Grace ever since he met her some five years ago and now out of the army and working for himself wanted her to light the torch that he held for her all those years. Forcing himself on Grace she gave in and had an affair with him but later tried to break it off which led Roger to go insane. One night he get very drunk with a hooker at a motel and almost killed her. Screaming Grace's name and what a tramp she is, Roger thought that Grace left him for handsome news editor Jack Hollister, Peter Graves, he runs out of the motel and drives his truck into a tree killing himself. Hollister who tried to have an affair with Grace but was kindly rebuffed by her feels guilty about the whole mess and it makes his wife Amy, Bethel Leslie, suspect that he's having an affair with Grace and that drives her to drink and almost kill herself.
All this leads to where Grace's husband Sidney finds out about her affair with Roger in the newspaper and leaves her. Sidney later changes his mind when Grace tells him that the affair with Roger was only a more or less one night stand and that was the only time that she cheated on him. The movie ends at a social gathering with an almost unbearable confrontation with Amy and Grace where she accuses Grace of stealing her husband Jack. Grace's stunned husband Sidney present at the scene took away the gun that Amy pulled out and tried to shoot herself with then walking away from Grace, with their baby boy, and from out of her life forever. Grace in the end is left a broken and crying women who lost everything that she loved in the world. I found the film "A Rage to Live" not sleazy at all even though it's subject matter was highly explosive in the sleaze department. The writing directing and acting, especially that of young Miss. Pleshette, made the movie both touching and interesting without the sensationalism that you would have expected from a movie like the movie that it was.
One night when they were both on vacation Grace snuck out of their hotel room and has a tryst with one of the busboys. When she came back later that night she found, to her great shock, her mom dead on the floor from a heart attack. Grace holding herself responsible for her mom's death. Even though her mothers doctor Dr. O'Brien, James Gregory, told her that her mom had a very weak heart and that her night out with the busboy had nothing to do with her death. Later she finally found the man of her dreams Sidney Tate, Bradford Dillman, a stock turned real estate broker from San Francisco. Telling him the truth about herself, her wild life-style that she long ago abandoned, only impressed Sidney even more because of her honesty and married her and had a child, a boy, with him.
Everything was going swell until contractor Roger Bannon, Ben Gazzara, came over to the house to fix the barn. Roger had a crush on Grace ever since he met her some five years ago and now out of the army and working for himself wanted her to light the torch that he held for her all those years. Forcing himself on Grace she gave in and had an affair with him but later tried to break it off which led Roger to go insane. One night he get very drunk with a hooker at a motel and almost killed her. Screaming Grace's name and what a tramp she is, Roger thought that Grace left him for handsome news editor Jack Hollister, Peter Graves, he runs out of the motel and drives his truck into a tree killing himself. Hollister who tried to have an affair with Grace but was kindly rebuffed by her feels guilty about the whole mess and it makes his wife Amy, Bethel Leslie, suspect that he's having an affair with Grace and that drives her to drink and almost kill herself.
All this leads to where Grace's husband Sidney finds out about her affair with Roger in the newspaper and leaves her. Sidney later changes his mind when Grace tells him that the affair with Roger was only a more or less one night stand and that was the only time that she cheated on him. The movie ends at a social gathering with an almost unbearable confrontation with Amy and Grace where she accuses Grace of stealing her husband Jack. Grace's stunned husband Sidney present at the scene took away the gun that Amy pulled out and tried to shoot herself with then walking away from Grace, with their baby boy, and from out of her life forever. Grace in the end is left a broken and crying women who lost everything that she loved in the world. I found the film "A Rage to Live" not sleazy at all even though it's subject matter was highly explosive in the sleaze department. The writing directing and acting, especially that of young Miss. Pleshette, made the movie both touching and interesting without the sensationalism that you would have expected from a movie like the movie that it was.
Raging Double Standards Can't Dim Pleshette
daoldiges22 October 2023
I decided to watch A Rage to Live on a whim and am very happy that I did. Suzanne Pleshette gives a wonderful performance. Seeing her here makes me wonder why she never became a bigger star than she did. Along with her unique beauty she is also a completely unique and talented actress. Anyway, she's great and so are Dillman and Gazzara. The story seems a bit dated but looking back to my time a decade later than this film takes place, I can recall seeing this type of double standard between men, women, and sex quite often. As such, it's not as outdated as it seems or actually should have been by this time. Overall, I enjoyed A Rage to Live.
Good but Depressing
ldeangelis-757086 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I'm a Suzanne Pleshette fan and have yet to not like her in any role she played, and while she acted great as usual in this one, the character she played depressed me, as it seemed she was (whether she knew it or not) to blow up both her marriage and her life.
After a rather promiscuous past, she was given a chance to start over with a man (Bradford Dillman) who knew all about her and still wanted to marry and have a life with her. Yet, she seems almost compelled to betray him (having a hot affair with Ben Gazzara) and risk everything she cares about, as if she just doesn't want to be happy.
This movie shows irony in two instances. First, in having Ben be the one who falls in love and wants to make their fling into a relationship, which is usually the role women take, when involved with married men. Here, it's reversed and - like so many mistresses of married men - he's hoping there will be a divorce in the future, then gets his hopes dashed.
The other irony comes at the end, when she's accused of another infidelity where there wasn't one, shades of the boy who cried wolf.
There are familiar TV faces here: James Gregory ("My Favorite Martian"), Mark Goddard ("Lost in Space") and Aneta Corsaut ("The Andy Griffith Show").
No happy ending here, but a worthwhile film to watch.
After a rather promiscuous past, she was given a chance to start over with a man (Bradford Dillman) who knew all about her and still wanted to marry and have a life with her. Yet, she seems almost compelled to betray him (having a hot affair with Ben Gazzara) and risk everything she cares about, as if she just doesn't want to be happy.
This movie shows irony in two instances. First, in having Ben be the one who falls in love and wants to make their fling into a relationship, which is usually the role women take, when involved with married men. Here, it's reversed and - like so many mistresses of married men - he's hoping there will be a divorce in the future, then gets his hopes dashed.
The other irony comes at the end, when she's accused of another infidelity where there wasn't one, shades of the boy who cried wolf.
There are familiar TV faces here: James Gregory ("My Favorite Martian"), Mark Goddard ("Lost in Space") and Aneta Corsaut ("The Andy Griffith Show").
No happy ending here, but a worthwhile film to watch.
Soapy Guilty Pleasure
lesliedileo9 July 2023
I know this movie doesn't deserve a 7, but it's very entertaining if you like scandalous happenings amongst the small town elite.
Suzanne Pleshette is gorgeous and alluring even as she is conflicted by inappropriate liaisons with men. It's not her fault that she looks like a lush 30-year old when she's supposed to be 16.
We are led to believe she has a disorder (nymphomania), but maybe her actions are just outside the norms of the town which seems mired more in 1955 than 1965? There is no need to recap the plot here. If you like movies where upset people grip highball glasses and gulp down liquor, or make out with people not their husbands in cars with rain/steamed windows, you'll love A RAGE TO LIVE (based on the novel by John O'Hara).
Suzanne Pleshette is gorgeous and alluring even as she is conflicted by inappropriate liaisons with men. It's not her fault that she looks like a lush 30-year old when she's supposed to be 16.
We are led to believe she has a disorder (nymphomania), but maybe her actions are just outside the norms of the town which seems mired more in 1955 than 1965? There is no need to recap the plot here. If you like movies where upset people grip highball glasses and gulp down liquor, or make out with people not their husbands in cars with rain/steamed windows, you'll love A RAGE TO LIVE (based on the novel by John O'Hara).
A Girl Who Cain't Say No
richardchatten28 December 2016
What a disappointment! Suzanne Pleshette playing a nymphomaniac sounds like fun, but to judge from the end result John O'Hara's 1949 novel has been so bowdlerised its hard to understand why they bothered to film it in the first place, other than the fact that 'Butterfield 8' had just been such a hit; but it's even less explicit than that. The word "slut" is liberally sprinkled throughout the film, but although we're told that there are plenty of others we actually see very little sign that there have really been that many lovers - and even less love; and it seems to be the men who always hit on her first. She actually seems to be suffering from the much more common female problem of not being able to say 'No' to jerks rather than clinical nymphomania. If only nasty Ben Gazzara had left her alone, and if Peter Graves' wife hadn't been such a belligerent lush, life would have continued to be peachy for the lovely Ms Pleshette and she would have lived happily ever after with hubby Bradford Dillman, her lovely child and her Oscar nominated wardrobe.
As is often the case with material like this the most interesting characters are the women, and there are entertaining cameos by Brett Somers and Bethel Leslie as two vengeful harpies; the former as the disapproving mother of Pleshette's first real squeeze, Mark Goddard (best remembered as Don West in 'Lost in Space'), and the latter as Graves' jealous wife whose drama queen antics end up bringing the whole edifice crashing down.
As is often the case with material like this the most interesting characters are the women, and there are entertaining cameos by Brett Somers and Bethel Leslie as two vengeful harpies; the former as the disapproving mother of Pleshette's first real squeeze, Mark Goddard (best remembered as Don West in 'Lost in Space'), and the latter as Graves' jealous wife whose drama queen antics end up bringing the whole edifice crashing down.
Gorgeous, intense, well acted, nicely set in the early 60s...
secondtake14 May 2011
A Rage to Live (1965)
A fabulous movie, well written, beautifully filmed and acted, intense and fast and beautiful, a real dramatic drama. And Suzanne Pleshette as the star is an astonishment, subtle and sharp and exactly what her part demands as the rich and sexually charged girl in a sleepy Pennsylvania town. Her two main men, played by Ben Gazzara and Bradford Dillman, are right on as well, and throw in Peter Graves as a third man in her life, and you get the range of characters and a sense of the plot. Yes, she's pulled by a handsome guy whether it's her husband or not.
And yet she never comes off to me as the "tramp" that some call her. She's warm and generous and seems to just be living her life as a nice person, even regretting her slipping off the straight and narrow now and then. The town's reaction is startling and believable. A really fabulous situation, a soap opera of sorts, but given a wonderful sense of form and pace and eventually high drama.
Director Walter Grauman is not a household name of course, and he directed mainly television, but he makes this a very slick and powerful production. The second half, especially, where Gazzara and Pleshette have a lot of screen time together, develops emotionally. Yes, the turns and conflicts are not total surprises, but they're well placed. Gazzara might be familiar to some for his role in "Anatomy of a Murder" across from Jimmy Stewart. Pleshette had a career with few great movies, but she did appear (second to Tippy Hedron) in "The Birds."
A vastly underrated movie, coming just a year or so before the big shift in styles and "New Hollywood." It's widescreen black and white, quite a treat to watch on every level. I guarantee it'll rise in value over the next decade.
A fabulous movie, well written, beautifully filmed and acted, intense and fast and beautiful, a real dramatic drama. And Suzanne Pleshette as the star is an astonishment, subtle and sharp and exactly what her part demands as the rich and sexually charged girl in a sleepy Pennsylvania town. Her two main men, played by Ben Gazzara and Bradford Dillman, are right on as well, and throw in Peter Graves as a third man in her life, and you get the range of characters and a sense of the plot. Yes, she's pulled by a handsome guy whether it's her husband or not.
And yet she never comes off to me as the "tramp" that some call her. She's warm and generous and seems to just be living her life as a nice person, even regretting her slipping off the straight and narrow now and then. The town's reaction is startling and believable. A really fabulous situation, a soap opera of sorts, but given a wonderful sense of form and pace and eventually high drama.
Director Walter Grauman is not a household name of course, and he directed mainly television, but he makes this a very slick and powerful production. The second half, especially, where Gazzara and Pleshette have a lot of screen time together, develops emotionally. Yes, the turns and conflicts are not total surprises, but they're well placed. Gazzara might be familiar to some for his role in "Anatomy of a Murder" across from Jimmy Stewart. Pleshette had a career with few great movies, but she did appear (second to Tippy Hedron) in "The Birds."
A vastly underrated movie, coming just a year or so before the big shift in styles and "New Hollywood." It's widescreen black and white, quite a treat to watch on every level. I guarantee it'll rise in value over the next decade.
Amazing Grace ?
ulicknormanowen15 December 2020
For Suzanne Pleshette ,this film was certainly an act of self-renewal : she was generally cast as the good girl on the screen ("a Rome adventure , "distant trumpet" and her unforgettable part of the teacher in "the birds" ) or on stage (she replaced Bancroft in "the miracle worker" ).
Here she 's not really a bad gal though :"I can't help it" she ceaseless says ; she 's what you've got to call a nymphomaniac ; the main originality is that she plays a part which is generally reserved for male actors . But it's not really woman's lib,it's rather compulsion .
The film is in need of a great director (remember what Elia Kazan did in the first part of "splendor in the grass" or even Delmer Daves in " a summer place" ); the events are too hurried for comfort and it sometimes look like a pilot for a TV series ;besides who could believe Bradford Dillman is a farmer? Always dressed up to the nines ,at least we saw Warren Beatty work in dungarees in "splendor in the grass".Both Ben Gazzara and Peter Graves are given undeveloped parts.
Here she 's not really a bad gal though :"I can't help it" she ceaseless says ; she 's what you've got to call a nymphomaniac ; the main originality is that she plays a part which is generally reserved for male actors . But it's not really woman's lib,it's rather compulsion .
The film is in need of a great director (remember what Elia Kazan did in the first part of "splendor in the grass" or even Delmer Daves in " a summer place" ); the events are too hurried for comfort and it sometimes look like a pilot for a TV series ;besides who could believe Bradford Dillman is a farmer? Always dressed up to the nines ,at least we saw Warren Beatty work in dungarees in "splendor in the grass".Both Ben Gazzara and Peter Graves are given undeveloped parts.
Suzie's in a Rage!
jjnxn-111 May 2013
This is soap opera pure and simple about a woman who in more enlightened times would have been viewed as a person with a crippling disorder that would require treatment but for our purposes here is a wanton slut. Suzanne Pleshette was a superior actress so she is able within the confines of the script to present her character as someone who is ruled by urges she can not control. There are minor attempts at some insight into her problem but they are quickly tossed away in favor of sensationalism. Good supporting cast including in a small role a rare on screen role for Brett Somers Klugman from Match Game. For those who enjoy trashy cinema with quality actors enacting silly situations with earnest professionalism.
The Girl Just Couldn't Say No
bnwfilmbuff20 April 2017
Well acted soap opera about how a wealthy young woman's nymphomania negatively impacts her life and the lives of people around her. Not that it doesn't take two to tango. However, she has a way of attracting men with no self control or moral fiber. Lovely Suzanne Pleshette is excellent in the role of the promiscuous woman. Ben Gazzara is also notable for his disturbingly slimy role. There's not much of a storyline; she has no control of her sexual compulsions throughout her life and does nothing about it despite the counsel of her family and friends. There aren't many likable characters in this movie making the movie itself hard to like. Not really my kind of movie but it's okay for this genre.
A truly realistic story
ash_splash_1528 September 2011
I would definitely recommend this film to others. I especially enjoyed this film because it had a great cast and the story plays out quite realistically. A lot of modern movies have very unrealistic endings or story lines and in contrast this movie contains a solid story line and a realistic ending. It shows how an individual's actions has consequences. So from this perspective, it also has a lesson woven into it. I really like the dramatic role each character has. Characters like Mrs. Hollister and Mr. Bannon really make the story entertaining. Aside from the richness of the story line, I absolutely loved the costumes! Suzanne Plechette wears a number of gorgeous dresses throughout the film that would still be fashionable today.
So what exactly was John O'Hara known for?
lee_eisenberg1 September 2020
I should note that I haven't read any of John O'Hara's works. O'Hara came to my attention when I saw "From the Terrace", starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, based on one of O'Hara's novels.
So now I've seen "A Rage to Live", based on another one of O'Hara's novels. Suzanne Pleshette plays a promiscuous woman whose affairs upset the lives of everyone in her town. It's bound to draw controversy nowadays, since she accepts the advances of every man (she could MeToo all of them!).
Without a doubt I'd have a better sense of the movie had I read the book (which I probably never will, since it takes me a long time to get through books). I suspect that the movie was more shocking in 1965 than nowadays. As it stands, the movie is interesting - fine acting and the Academy Award-nominated costumes - but kind of flat.
Whenever Peter Graves's character appeared, I blurted out one of the lines from "Airplane!".
So now I've seen "A Rage to Live", based on another one of O'Hara's novels. Suzanne Pleshette plays a promiscuous woman whose affairs upset the lives of everyone in her town. It's bound to draw controversy nowadays, since she accepts the advances of every man (she could MeToo all of them!).
Without a doubt I'd have a better sense of the movie had I read the book (which I probably never will, since it takes me a long time to get through books). I suspect that the movie was more shocking in 1965 than nowadays. As it stands, the movie is interesting - fine acting and the Academy Award-nominated costumes - but kind of flat.
Whenever Peter Graves's character appeared, I blurted out one of the lines from "Airplane!".
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
