The best thing about my recently-purchased Mill Creek 'Classic Romances' 8-pack (though I previously had two of them from a Mill Creek Rita Hayworth 5-pack--they were cheap so I didn't squawk too much, mind you) is that it offered me three more of Judy Holliday's nine films before her untimely demise at 43 from breast cancer. I previously loved her in 'Adam's Rib', 'Phffft', 'The Solid Gold Cadillac' and of course her Oscar-winning role, amidst very stiff competition, in 'Born Yesterday'), but this was a surprisingly dramatic turn for one of my favourite American actresses ever, particularly noted for her comedic touch. I won't give any spoilers, but when she breaks down after suffering a particular catastrophe, it really got me, and this is a horribly underseen and undervalued work. I realize director Cukor gets a lot of flak because he was basically considered a 'women's director', and even got released from 'Gone with the Wind' because of arguments with his producer, but he really knew how to get a great scene, particularly when given a fine script--I love films I have seen from Garson Kanin, both with and without his wife Ruth Gordon (best known as the title female in the cult classic 'Harold and Maude')--and this was definitely a fine one. The film definitely deserves a contemporary reappraisal. It's that good.
Judy Hollday is on good form here as the petitioning wife "Florrie" who is seeking a divorce from husband "Chet" (Aldo Ray). They are amidst the legal wrangling before a judge when the day ends, and she (Madge Kennedy) gets shot of the lawyers and sits the couple down. Is it really all irredeemable? That question starts them reminiscing about how they met, fell in love and of what drove them to their current situation. It's that journey down their memory lane that works well here. No, I don't suppose there's very much jeopardy but there is a distinct chemistry between the two as we watch their lives unfold in an engaging and often quite amusing fashion. George Cukor captures the trials and tribulations of their domesticity well. The innocuous nature of simple family life, the arrival (and domination) of their kids - all things most will recognise as a family unit lives day by day. It's a tragedy that sets the couple on different tram-lines and again that's delivered quite plausibly. We are spared the detail and neither character descends into the sort of set-piece, alcohol driven, temper tantrum behaviour that is so often the refuge for writers and directors when trauma raises it's head. There's quite a touching little scene with Holliday singing a song on a ukulele that rather sums up the sentiment of this film and I quite enjoyed it.
In 1931, a young soldier deserts from the army and falls into a country farm, where he is welcomed by the owner due to his political ideas. Manolo has four daughters, Fernando likes all of them and they like him, so he has to decide which one to love.
God contacts Junior Congressman Evan Baxter and tells him to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.
This deceptively simple tale of a bored English couple travelling to Italy to find a buyer for a house inherited from an uncle is transformed by Roberto Rossellini into a passionate story of cruelty and cynicism as their marriage disintegrates around them.
To make their divorce final, a Quaker couple must follow tradition by seeking out everyone who came to their wedding...and asking them to cross their names off the marriage certificate.
John, an ambitious but undisciplined New York City office worker, meets and marries Mary. They start a family, struggle to cope with marital stress, financial setbacks, and tragedy, all while lost amid the anonymous, pitiless throngs of the big city.
After years of helping their hubbies climb the ladder of success, three mid-life Manhattanites have been dumped for a newer, curvier model. But the trio is determined to turn their pain into gain. They come up with a cleverly devious plan to hit their exes where it really hurts - in the wallet!
Newly engaged, Ben and Sadie can't wait to start their life together and live happily ever after. However Sadie's family church's Reverend Frank won't bless their union until they pass his patented, "foolproof" marriage prep course consisting of outrageous classes, outlandish homework assignments and some outright invasion of privacy.
A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
An uptight documentary filmmaker and his wife find their lives loosened up a bit after befriending a free-spirited younger couple.
The film on the Khojaly tragedy, tells the story of a young officer, unfolding against the backdrop of the terrible events of February 1992.