A very flawed work – miscasting, dodgy sexual politics, overlong running time, and more method acting than you can poke a stick at. But it compels, this viewer at least – partly because Hollywood just doesn’t make serious, angsty dramas anymore. And there’s some beautiful Paddy Chayefsky writing – arias and angst, the fear of again, pain of love, etc. Also it’s fascinating to see something so old school New York - black and white, location shooting, method acting, acting and acting.
Whenever I watch Frederic March I always wish someone else played the role but he’s not too bad and is better looking that Edward G Robinson. He acts all over the place, but not as much as Kim Novak, who varies from effective to dreadful, often in the same sentence.
The plot concerns their romance – she’s a divorcee, whose marriage to a musician basically constituted sex (the film’s acknowledgement and discussion of sex is striking for the time), a bit of an idiot and a child in many ways. She falls for her widowed boss who is paranoid about losing her. You kind of buy it because Novak comes across as dumb and needy.
I remember Paddy Chayefsky’s original play being more solid, building to a climax with a simple structure – this tends to repeat itself (doubt, doubt and more doubt). There’s a fine cast of New York actors in support, most of whom get the chance to ACT! themselves including Lee Grant, Lee Phillip and Martin Balsam.
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