This movie is like that old breath mint commercial--you get two (clap) two (clap) TWO flicks in one! The first stars Ingrid Bergman in a tale of revenge in the Big Easy, the second Coop in a railroad adventure taking place 2000 miles away. "Trunk" in this case having nothing to do with luggage, but with a railroad's trunk line. So the title has nothing ay-tall to do with the first half of the movie. In fact except for Coop, Bergman and her bizarre servants neither half has anything to do with the other period. While the novel probably tied these two widely disparate stories together, the movie doesn't bother. You know they're going to end up together, the only question (seeing that they have as little in common as their stories) is how. They're Ingrid and Coop, that's how. NOT one of those romances that make you wonder how they'll get along after the marriage. That said, I enjoyed it. Coop plays Coop, 'nuff said. Ingrid's character is unapologetically out for blood and makes almost no attempt at being sympathetic. It's the perfect antidote for those tired of her hapless helpless milquetoasts in "Casablanca" and "Gaslight." She's gorgeous and in your face. Saved both flicks for me. Great train collision at the end, too--real ones, or so they tell me.
Review of Saratoga Trunk
Saratoga Trunk
(1945)
Two wildly different movies for the price of one
15 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers