The acting in this three hour family drama ranges from terrific to pretty bad. There are some very artistic shots and some genuine emotions on display, but the whole thing is too long!
Best scene-Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones meet Guy Madison at a bowling alley and they all converse briefly. It might have seemed like a throwaway scene but something about the chemistry the three of them shared really ignited my interest, which was waning at that point to say the least.
Another excellent scene was an immigrant friend of Colbert expressing her love for her new country; this was easily the most emotional scene in the whole movie for me.
You have to wade through a lot of schmaltz to get to the good stuff.
I recommend the movie mostly for the talent on display-personally, Jennifer Jones and Agnes Moorehead are among the best there ever was, even if this does not show either at her best. Its always great to see Hattie McDaniel even if her dialogue makes you cringe once or twice; I don't gain a lot of pleasure hearing a line like "When I'm alone I likes my solitude and my privation" spoken by anyone, much less a really good actress who had to say lines like that in order to stay working in movies. Claudette Colbert and Shirley Temple are Hollywood-bred actresses whose talents were not entirely utilized to their best here. Shirley pouting at age six was adorable; Shirley pouting at age sixteen is less so. Agnes Moorehead tries her best with a badly written part that even she cannot rescue.
As far as the men go, Joseph Cotten is interesting because his role is somewhat vague; you can't tell if he really wants to bed Colbert or just refers to it a lot. Robert Walker probably does the best acting in the movie, in a role that he was pretty familiar with - being in love with Jennifer Jones. I believe they were divorcing when this was being made, though.
A lot of scenes are filmed in shadows, as in 'the shadow of war' is upon them. The musical score is very effective and overblown at times but I'm sure it was supposed to be.
Moorehead and Cotten would meet up later on in 'Hush..Hush Sweet Charlotte', Jones and Cotten would do a couple of movies together too.
Best scene-Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones meet Guy Madison at a bowling alley and they all converse briefly. It might have seemed like a throwaway scene but something about the chemistry the three of them shared really ignited my interest, which was waning at that point to say the least.
Another excellent scene was an immigrant friend of Colbert expressing her love for her new country; this was easily the most emotional scene in the whole movie for me.
You have to wade through a lot of schmaltz to get to the good stuff.
I recommend the movie mostly for the talent on display-personally, Jennifer Jones and Agnes Moorehead are among the best there ever was, even if this does not show either at her best. Its always great to see Hattie McDaniel even if her dialogue makes you cringe once or twice; I don't gain a lot of pleasure hearing a line like "When I'm alone I likes my solitude and my privation" spoken by anyone, much less a really good actress who had to say lines like that in order to stay working in movies. Claudette Colbert and Shirley Temple are Hollywood-bred actresses whose talents were not entirely utilized to their best here. Shirley pouting at age six was adorable; Shirley pouting at age sixteen is less so. Agnes Moorehead tries her best with a badly written part that even she cannot rescue.
As far as the men go, Joseph Cotten is interesting because his role is somewhat vague; you can't tell if he really wants to bed Colbert or just refers to it a lot. Robert Walker probably does the best acting in the movie, in a role that he was pretty familiar with - being in love with Jennifer Jones. I believe they were divorcing when this was being made, though.
A lot of scenes are filmed in shadows, as in 'the shadow of war' is upon them. The musical score is very effective and overblown at times but I'm sure it was supposed to be.
Moorehead and Cotten would meet up later on in 'Hush..Hush Sweet Charlotte', Jones and Cotten would do a couple of movies together too.