This has a reputation of being a flop, but it actually turned a tidy profit - due, one supposes, to the drawing power of its three stars and the fact its play source was so successful.
It's heavy going, though - 1957 was too early to properly adapt the story, and so the censor's influence is all too felt. David Niven and Ava Gardner haven't been having an affair - Niven's just wanted to, but hasn't acted on it, despite the fact best mate Stewart Granger doesn't seem that interested in Gardner. Gardner enjoys having men chase after her but things with Niven don't progress beyond kissing.
Niven and Gardner were famous for their sexual exploits in real life, which adds a bit of tang to the story. Gardner's hard living was beginning to catch up with her (her figure was starting to fill out), but she's very sexy with that husky voice, and she takes to island life with disarming ease - putting a flower in the hair, wearing a swimsuit most of the time, enjoying the men chasing after her. Her eyes light up at male attention, helping give this some badly needed sexual undertones.
Granger and Niven are professional but the material defeats them. It's so light and weak - there's this extended sequence where they do a mock divorce being particularly painful.
No one acts like a recognisable human being: not Niven with his love from afar, Granger with his reactions to Gardner's flirting, the fact the whole affair is "pretend", the trio on the island. The studio setting gets annoying after a while (surely they could have at least stumped up for some second unit)
Walter Chiari pops up as the fourth member of the cast - she and Gardner had an affair in real life.
This shouldn't have been made until a few years later when the censors would have allowed a bit more freedom. Or until they could have gotten a better adaptation.
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