Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
Moustroll
Good movie but grossly overrated
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
bkoganbing
Adam And Evelyn is a strange, but charming film about a man who put his daughter in an orphanage and went off to war. Never having seen his daughter for reasons the script does not make clear, he impersonates a good friend from the army, a gambler with a way with the ladies.The gambler is Stewart Granger and the girl is Jean Simmons and this strange love story was concocted for the two of them who were in a hot and heavy affair at the time. What didn't work for Ronald Reagan and Shirley Temple in That Hagen Girl or for Herbert Marshall and Simone Simon in Girl's Dormitory does work here. I'm guessing the skill of the players or a better script or both. You decide if you watch the movie.Simmons leaves the orphanage and comes to live with Granger and the two become attracted. Of course at some point Granger has to disabuse of the notion he's really her father. And then when that happens people start talking. He's also been seeing on and off Helen Cherry who was Mrs. Trevor Howard in real life and she's not liking seeing Jean poaching on territory she staked out.Granger and Simmons went on to get married and make to more films for MGM in America. One of them, Young Bess casts her as young Queen Elizabeth I and Granger as Thomas Seymour the much older admiral who tried to take advantage of then Princess Elizabeth to further his ambitions. He and the whole family came to a sorry end. In a way Young Bess is a dark version of Adam And Evelyn.Not the best film for either of the stars, but their fans should like it.
howardmorley
Stewart Granger was 16 years older than Jean Simmons when they married in 1950, so they had real life chemistry together in this 1949 film as mature man (Adam) having a relationship with a beautiful girl (Evelyne).The plot has already been outlined by other user comments so I will merely comment on the time and direction.As someone who was born in 1946, 1949 was, for most of us, a year in Britain of food rationing, burdensome post war taxes and austerity.Shots of people drinking champagne, drinking and eating in nightclubs, buying expensive clothes and driving expensive cars were a million miles away from most Britons life experiences then.It is only in recent history that gambling has been legalised and it is worth reminding viewers that in 1949 this practise could be prosecuted hence the film's depiction of illicit gambling in private homes.The relationships of ex-service personnel in the post war period could be strong if they had previously shared privation together during the war in a life inter depending culture.This fact is clearly shown by Adam's steadfast friendship with his Irish jockey comrade who has secretly sired a beautiful daughter (Evelyne) who now resides in an orphanage.Adam and his Irish war friend share a mutual love of horse racing (and gambling) which keeps their friendship current with a strong bond of loyalty between them.The morality of the 1940s meant people could not be seen to be escaping the consequences of the law and a racing scam cooked up between them goes tragically wrong and the Irish jockey loses his life while racing.With his last breath he asks Adam to look after his daughter.A previous reviewer predicted the film's outcome but it is still enjoyable seeing how the characters finish.The mature divorcée who wants to marry Adam (while using her flat for gambling) is in for a bitter disappointment but so is Adam when she tips off Adam's ne'er-do-well younger brother, out of female spite, when she realises she cannot compete in the emotional stakes with the beautiful 20 year old Jean Simmons, when they give the police a tip off about illegal gambling.There is a nice cameo performance about morality from Wilfrid Hyde White who explains to Evelyne that heroes often come with clay feet.Enjoyable with competent direction in B&W. I rated it 6/10/
whpratt1
Enjoyed this film which I had my doubts about until I viewed the great acting of Jean Simmons, (Evelyn Wallace) and Stewart Granger, (Adam Black). This story is about a young girl Evelyn who lives in an orphanage and receives letters from her father telling her he is going to visit her someday and take her home where he raises horses. However, this is really not her father but a good friend of her father's Adam Black. Evelyn's father passes away and he asks Adam to take care of his daughter and he promises to look after her. There are very funny scenes and some very dramatic moments along with many lies which have been told and have to be explained to poor Evelyn Wallace. In real life, Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger were married and had a child. Great Classic film from 1949, enjoy.
david-254
OK so this film does not break any new ground but its worth watching to see the effortless way the two principal actors (Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger) give an impressive performance overcoming the somewhat well worn themes dealt with in the script. Jean Simmons turns from a backward English schoolgirl of the 50's into a stunning deliciously irresistible asexual goddess which will leave all men with a revived faith in the female of the species, at least for a few minutes after watching the film.
