Patricia Neal makes this film the whole way, although Samantha Eggar as her baby sister also dominates the scenes. Curd Jürgens is the husband of Patricia Neal (Alison) while previous to his marrying her, he had a relationship with the sister, which has left some irreversible marks. Samantha Eggar (Robin) is courted by Ian Bannen (Paul) who wants to marry her, but there is some psychological barrier between them, as he can't really reach her. The problem is that Alison is blind after some trauma, she knows it is psycho-somatic as she went blind when there was something she refused to see, which shocked her out of her wits. Gradually this problem is sorted out. The most interesting part is perhaps the grandmother (Beatrix Lehmann) who probably has seen everything quite clearly from the beginning but consistently keeps a perfect poker face - we never learn what she really knows. The film is made with considerable artifice, it's quite a small drama dragged out to preposterous dimensions by transport stretches, making the film appear much longer than it is. There is a fine moment in the end when Patricia Neal finally opens her eyes and lets in the light, while she virtually leaves everyone else in the darkness of their mess.
