Delmer Daves made some fine Westerns, but the flurry of romantic fluff that he made later usually starring Troy Donahue was a waste of his talent. But not only his talent, but that of Troy Donahue whose depths as an actor were rarely explored and sadly he lost out on the Warren Beatty role in ' Splendour in the Grass '. He had also ( far too briefly ) shown what a force in acting he could have been in Douglas Sirk's ' Imitation of Life '. In ' Susan Slade ' he barely has a decent scene and his boredom to a certain extent showed. The same goes for the other young male actor Grant Williams who equally showed his acting skills ( briefly again ) in Douglas Sirk's ' Written on the Wind '. I am not sure why but Hollywood in its fading Conservative prime did not give many biting roles for them to get their teeth into. Having seen a few of these bitter sweet romances made by Delmer Daves I conclude that ' Susan Slade ' was one of the weakest. It reeks of that hypocritical Puritanism that this kind of film did so well, bordering on the sensational so as to try to satisfy the audiences of the time about the ' Sins ' of life. Here it is Illegitimacy that takes centre stage and Connie Francis is the fallen victim of male desire. If you are in the right mood of complacency watch it and forget it, despite the fact that there is a certain amount of painting by numbers artistry in its making. For those who are alert take note of both Donahue and Williams trapped in the cobweb of Hollywood producers. Wasted talent, but even so there are glimpses of what they could have given to the screen.
Review of Susan Slade
