When I watch films like this, I always think of the real people who lived through these moments - the real women whose husbands were buried at Guadalcanal, the real Red Cross workers who held the hands of our servicemen as they died. It inevitably makes me rate films like this higher than they probably deserve, but that’s alright.
The “romance” in this is not good - William Holden’s character is awful for a long stretch of the film -…
About half my life ago, I fell in love with Judy Garland, so this particular film has always been a bit of a sore spot for me. I never planned on watching it, because I knew I could never be unbiased about it. But curiosity finally got the better of me.
Grace Kelly put in a good performance, and I didn’t have any problems with anything that she did. From the few films of hers that I’ve seen so far,…
Anytime I see a kaleidoscopic shot in a movie, I inwardly groan. They are never, ever interesting to me, always feeling too cute or lazy. But this was fucking fun.
Now, I ain't sayin' nuthin... but the noise Stanwyck makes when one of her fellow inmates says that another girl likes to "wrestle..." well, that noise sure didn't sound like disapproval to me... but I ain't sayin' nuthin...
Highlights: the banter between Stanwyck and the detective that puts her away, at the beginning and end of the film; the tracking shot of the ladies in their cells; the song that Lillian Roth sings; a character named Mustard.
I could've loved this film... if I could understand why any of the characters were doing the things that they were doing.
The first half goes swell. Stanwyck's charming, Menjou's charming, Bellamy's charming... The film itself is charming. I quickly fall in love with the film.
And then the midpoint...
Only a man could write that midpoint.
Tip for male writers (spoilers, ahoy!): if you're going to have a woman give up her own child, a child that she's been…
