Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

marcslope I'd seen this years ago on AMC and remembered little about it, but a revisiting on TCM reveals it to be a surprisingly solid, moving, adult romance. Sure, it's soap opera, and disconcertingly close to "Back Street" (or Capra's "Back Street" ripoff, "Forbidden"), and it's not helped by unexciting cinematography or a soupy, repetitive Victor Young score, like he's trying to be Max Steiner. What lifts it well out of the ordinary are the screenplay and the leads. Ketti Frings was a frequent adapter of literary works (she did the stage drama of "Look Homeward, Angel") who could plumb expertly beneath the surface; her co-screenwriter, Hal Kanter, was more of a sitcom specialist. Together, they probe with remarkable depth this illicit affair between a married industrialist and an unmarried chanteuse. These two behave like grownups, have real conversations on a variety of topics, with a surprising amount of Civil War history, of all things, mixed in, and say unexpected, witty things to each other. Shirley, who's superb, may not be a glamour gal, but it's entirely credible that the handsome Ryan, who underplays effectively, would fall for this intelligent, generous, questioning woman. There's a second couple, Marjie Millar and a not-very-good Alex Nicol, and you may wonder why so much time is being spent on them, but their narrative does complement the first couple nicely, and the other residents of Mrs. Leslie's boarding house provide color and contrast. Soap opera, yes, but I was moved, and ready for a second viewing not long after the first. Too bad Hollywood couldn't find more for the prodigiously gifted Ms. Booth to do, but this is one of her best roles, and you'll long remember her reactions, her delivery, and the way Daniel Mann lovingly lingers on her face.

MartinHafer Shirley Booth proved what a good actress she was in this film. While she was memorable and received an Oscar for her performance in "Come Back, Little Sheba", here in "About Mrs. Leslie" she gives a more well-rounded and less pathetic performance. Here, her acting was tops, though the casting was a bit unusual--I might have expected someone like Lana Turner for such a role. That's because the rather ordinary looking Booth plays 'the other woman'--an odd role for a slightly overweight middle-aged woman. Now I am NOT against Booth getting this role and actresses like her getting more roles. Hollywood is too often filled with beautiful women--beautiful and unrealistic women. So, seeing a good actress who is more plain was nice--but in this particular case, the casting was even more unusual.This brings me to my major problem with the film. Although I marveled at the acting (as Booth managed to be even better than the wonderful Robert Ryan--and that's no small feat), I had a hard time loving this film because the film is essentially about a rather pathetic affair. You see, the single lady Booth had an odd affair that lasts six weeks every year, as she vacations with a man (Ryan) and they pretend to be husband and wife (the whole question of sex is omitted in the film). They know little about each other and she knows NOTHING about him--a sure recipe for contentment and lifelong security, huh? But, it did end well and I appreciated how her character seemed to understand this at the end.A magnificently acted film--too bad they didn't put a little more effort into the ordinary script.

bjon First, it must be mentioned that Shirley Booth was a fantastic actress in both film and stage, the latter being her forte. Here was an actress who, despite the fact that she was not Hollywood model material by any means, could run rings around scores of her drop-dead gorgeous contemporaries in the acting department! It's really a pity that she became typecast as "Hazel" in her popular television series, because she could, and did, offer so much more.That said, now comes the plot of this particular film. A fairly good looking, well to do up and comer in politics, albeit married to someone else, falls in love with Ms. Booth's somewhat frumpy character. Highly unlikely, some people would say, but it happens in this film, and it happens in real life, no matter what the media would have you believe. Robert Ryan rendered a fine performance, and both of them generated the right chemistry. This is where it gets really good. The love that's shared between these two comes across as quite genuine. In fact, it blossoms throughout the film by way of a good plot! No spoiler here! You must see the film in its entirety to understand this.Yes, the film plays out like a soap opera for the most part, but the idea behind it, the love between these two people, no matter the odds, is very real. There are lots of sub-plots going on throughout, but they all seem to come together perfectly and sensibly in the end. Many facets and foibles of human nature are addressed quite well in the process.This is a must see, as are all of Shirley Booth's movies, at least in my opinion. It's too bad she didn't make more of them.

onesguy How can one not help but sympathize with Shirley Booth in this story of love that cannot be fulfilled. In these days it seems silly that a divorce would be such a large problem, but I cried over Shirley's position, perhaps since most of us have been in the situation of being in love without the possibility of it being returned in kind. Shirley plays a wonderful woman that puts herself in an emotionally impossible situation. At first glance, the childish antics of Shirley Booth's renter seem to serve no purpose, but her interaction with the rude younger generation reminds us that everyone has a story, a fact that younger people usually fail to see. The idea that everyone needs to love someone to get through this sometimes unfair and angry world, is a huge theme in this tearjerker. I would highly recommend it to couples that sometimes face adversity.