I've always found this movie rather overrated.
First, Addie Ross herself sounds like a vain and tiresome woman, and it is impossible to imagine her, as presented, getting involved with either Jeffrey Lynn or Paul Douglas. Nor is it possible to imagine any of them leaving their law practice/tenured position/retail chain and houses and running away with Addie. Why? When she's already right there in town? (Now running away with Linda Darnell ... maybe.) The actual letter itself is merely bad manners on an epic scale, and not at all what one would expect this self-confessed paragon to be up to.
The first act, with Lynn and Jeanne Crain, is very over-written: again, it is impossible to believe in Jeanne Crain being so gauche after just finishing several years in the Navy, from whence one would expect her to come out pretty brisk, and certainly self-confident, and the silly business with the silly flower on the silly dress is high-school stuff.
The second act is merely preposterous, starting with the very idea of Kirk Douglas being married to Ann Sothern, continuing with Sothern doing what she does for a living while Kirk does what he does for a living, and terminating with the ludicrous concept of entertaining the sponsor, which would be smoothly handled by the network management, not left as a risk in a college town home with a mad professor running amok. Again, this act is badly over-written, and the sponsor and her bad behaviour are beyond parody. And Kirk should already know better than to play his precious Brahms 78 to the sponsor.
The movie only really gets going in Act 3 with Paul Douglas and Linda Darnell going at it hammer and tongs. Darnell is priceless ('it's not a drive in') as the small-town bombshell, and all the family stuff is very well done.
There are other good moments in the film, such as the terrible picnic, the terrible country club, and aspects of the small town setting, but overall it's a long wait for the fun to start. Until then, credulity is strained at every turn, and the talking never ceases.
First, Addie Ross herself sounds like a vain and tiresome woman, and it is impossible to imagine her, as presented, getting involved with either Jeffrey Lynn or Paul Douglas. Nor is it possible to imagine any of them leaving their law practice/tenured position/retail chain and houses and running away with Addie. Why? When she's already right there in town? (Now running away with Linda Darnell ... maybe.) The actual letter itself is merely bad manners on an epic scale, and not at all what one would expect this self-confessed paragon to be up to.
The first act, with Lynn and Jeanne Crain, is very over-written: again, it is impossible to believe in Jeanne Crain being so gauche after just finishing several years in the Navy, from whence one would expect her to come out pretty brisk, and certainly self-confident, and the silly business with the silly flower on the silly dress is high-school stuff.
The second act is merely preposterous, starting with the very idea of Kirk Douglas being married to Ann Sothern, continuing with Sothern doing what she does for a living while Kirk does what he does for a living, and terminating with the ludicrous concept of entertaining the sponsor, which would be smoothly handled by the network management, not left as a risk in a college town home with a mad professor running amok. Again, this act is badly over-written, and the sponsor and her bad behaviour are beyond parody. And Kirk should already know better than to play his precious Brahms 78 to the sponsor.
The movie only really gets going in Act 3 with Paul Douglas and Linda Darnell going at it hammer and tongs. Darnell is priceless ('it's not a drive in') as the small-town bombshell, and all the family stuff is very well done.
There are other good moments in the film, such as the terrible picnic, the terrible country club, and aspects of the small town setting, but overall it's a long wait for the fun to start. Until then, credulity is strained at every turn, and the talking never ceases.