I started watching this movie for only two reasons: Tyrone Power and Kim Novak. I wasn't expecting much, the Hollywood bios in the 50s were never all that great, but I was shocked when I realized I'd been watching the film for an hour and was totally hooked!
Although it seems like it couldn't help being slow, (the film covers Duchin's life from the mid 30s to the early 50s), the movie is actually very well paced. The script itself is a challenge. It is either good and not original in some places, or original and not good in others. But somehow it balances out in the end.
Kim Novak looks ravishing, but the part she took is cut thin, and I think she could have found a better part in 1956.
However, Tyrone hands in one of his best performances. The beginning of the film is not the best part, he is obviously far from a college student age, and he looks it. But later on, when he's struggling to make friends with his son, he's wonderful! As the film progresses, he just looks better and better, perhaps it's because Power never was the jumpy college type, he was always suave. The second part of this movie gives him a chance to be that. It is, rather surprisingly, a worthwhile film - totally satisfying at the end.
Although it seems like it couldn't help being slow, (the film covers Duchin's life from the mid 30s to the early 50s), the movie is actually very well paced. The script itself is a challenge. It is either good and not original in some places, or original and not good in others. But somehow it balances out in the end.
Kim Novak looks ravishing, but the part she took is cut thin, and I think she could have found a better part in 1956.
However, Tyrone hands in one of his best performances. The beginning of the film is not the best part, he is obviously far from a college student age, and he looks it. But later on, when he's struggling to make friends with his son, he's wonderful! As the film progresses, he just looks better and better, perhaps it's because Power never was the jumpy college type, he was always suave. The second part of this movie gives him a chance to be that. It is, rather surprisingly, a worthwhile film - totally satisfying at the end.