Jackson Booth-Millard
I found this film listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, the main cast was a good reason for me to watch, and I was interested to see if it was a deserved entry into the book, directed by Vincente Minnelli (Meet Me in St. Louis, An American in Paris, The Band Wagon). Basically Dave Hirsh (Frank Sinatra) is an alcoholic and bitter military veteran and former writer who winds up returning from Chicago to his hometown Parkman, Indiana after catching a bus while intoxicated. In his drunken state Dave also invited flamboyant, vulgar and easy woman Ginnie Moorehead (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Shirley MacLaine), she has tagged along convinced he loves her, now sober Dave realises his mistake and gives her cash to return to Chicago. It is has been 16 years since Dave left Parkman and had a career in writing, publishing two books, he has also been out of touch with his older brother Frank (Oscar nominated Arthur Kennedy), he is still bitter about how Frank and their friend Agnes (Leora Dana) treated him when he was a child. Frank is now married to Agnes and has inherited a jewellery business from Agnes' father, their social status and reputation in town was already a concern, now Dave returning threatens this more. Frank tries to make amends with his brother, Agnes wants nothing to do with Dave, but Agnes's wealthy acquaintances Professor Robert Haven French (Larry Gates) and his daughter Gwen (Oscar nominated Martha Hyer), a schoolteacher, who admire his books want a meeting with Dave, she is forced to welcome him. Dave and Gwen spend some time together, he instantly falls in love with her, she is also attracted to him, but is afraid to express her passion, each time she rejects him, Dave ends up back with Ginny, who decided to stick around town, but her lack of intelligence frustrates him. When he arrived Dave met and befriended Bama Dillert (Dean Martin), a hard-partying but good-hearted gambler who never takes his hat off, they spend many occasions playing card games with other guys in town. Dave and Bama get into trouble when gangster and Ginny's ex- boyfriend Raymond Lanchak (Steve Peck) shows up, he starts stalking Ginny, and they are not prepared to stand back and let him get away with it. Frank is upset that Dave's lifestyle is causing him a bad reflection, but Dave is a good man despite his notorious reputation, he treats Ginny with kindness and is a father figure to his niece, Frank's daughter Dawn (Betty Lou Keim). Dave writes a new story that is published by The Atlantic magazine, and Gwen confesses his love to him on the telephone, while he is away on a gambling trip with Bama and Ginny. This phone causes the gamblers to think Dave is cheating, they stab Bama, worse comes when Ginny talks to Gwen, who is upset to find out Dave has been seeing her, Gwen cuts Dave off, and at the end of his rope Dave makes the drastic decision to marry Ginny, despite Bama's objections. While Ginny is not a social or intellectual match for Dave, she does show great passion for him that he has not had from anyone else, but soon after their wedding, Ray shows up again with a gun, Davbe is injured, and Ginny is shot dead protecting Dave, it ends with Dave, Bama and Gwen attending the funeral for Ginny. Also starring Nancy Gates as Edith Barclay and Connie Gilchrist as Jane Barclay. Sinatra is good as being world-weary, Martin is great as the gambler and drinker buddy, MacLaine is lovably ditsy, and Hyer is good at being an icy schoolmarm, the film is highly stylised, the melodramatic material comes thick and fast, some good, some okay, it has great music by Elmer Bernstein, but it is a little too long, overall I think it is a reasonable classic drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Costume Design, Best Original Song for "To Love and Be Loved". Worth watching!
grantss
So-so. Is fairly interesting at the start, as the scene-setting is intriguing. However, it doesn't ever seem to get beyond scene-setting, and after a while just drags and doesn't seem to go anywhere.Frank Sinatra is disappointing in the lead role. He overdoes the alpha male stuff, and just doesn't seem convincing. Pick of the performances has to go to Shirley MacLaine, who is sweet and delightful as Ginny Moorhead. MacLaine well deserved her Best Leading Actress Oscar nomination. Good support from from Arthur Kennedy, Martha Hyer and Dean Martin.
nimbus13
This movie was made in Madison, Indiana when I was a teenager.I lived about 20 miles north of Madison.The production company was looking for a crowd for the street carnival scene in the movie. Some of my family thought it might be interesting to go down and mingle in the crowd and we might end up in the movie. However, something came up and we couldn't go.I saw the movie shortly after it was released and have seen it a couple of times since and was not overly impressed with the storyline or the dialog(very derivative). I was not impressed with Frank Sinatra, at all. However, Shirley Maclaine and Dean Martin were very good in the supporting roles.The cinematography, however, is excellent.Madison is located in a very green, rolling, area of Indiana on the Ohio River and is very lush, and the background of the Ohio River shot over the characters shoulders in the cemetery, in Kentucky, captures the beauty of the area. The photography at the Lanier Mansion (1844) definitely captured the affluence of the character that lives there in the movie.
Michael Neumann
The screen adaptation of James Jones' novel is little more than a transparent, third-person daydream, presenting every writer's inflated image of himself as the tough, honest, alienated, misunderstood, sensitive, handsome stranger who changes the lives of a stereotypical small town community, from the attractive (but sexually repressed) schoolmarm to the dimwitted (but kindhearted) floozy. Most of the actors are likewise typecast: rat-packers Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra (who owed Jones a debt of gratitude for his comeback role in 'From Here to Eternity') do a lot of drinking and card playing; Shirley MacLaine is her usual nutty self; and poor Arthur Kennedy sleepwalks resignedly through his thankless role as the rebel writer's conservative older brother. The film can still be entertaining if seen as a dated post-war soap opera, and here I freely admit my opinions might have been compromised by seeing the film on VHS: the colorful wide-screen production is totally lost in the pan-and-scan video format, leaving the impression that some vital action always occurring just out of frame.
