Susan Slade is an engaging movie with a plot that differs, in a refreshingly creative way, from other films of this type.
The thing that drives me nuts is the amount of bone headed problem solving that is there for plot alone.
The first is when Susan gets pregnant and they call Conn's father. He's an old man, alone, and completely grief stricken at the death of his son. From what we can tell, they don't bring him into the loop at all! I'm sure he would have welcomed this grandchild - the last link to his son and could have helped Susan with her predicament, maybe without all the subterfuge and dislocation of her parents life.
The second is the cigarette lighter. The roughly 1 year old is completely obsessed with it, and won't leave it alone despite all the scoldings and completely unnecessary love taps from Dorothy McGuire. The answer is clear: KEEP THE LIGHTER OUT OF REACH! Put it on the very high fireplace mantel, not the coffee table and lamp stands that are tantalizing perfectly the same height as the baby! He is too young to understand, keep it way up, where he can't reach it - or better yet, put it away. It can't be the only lighter in the Bay Area that goes with their decor. I mean, how dumb can apparently smart people be?
The thing that drives me nuts is the amount of bone headed problem solving that is there for plot alone.
The first is when Susan gets pregnant and they call Conn's father. He's an old man, alone, and completely grief stricken at the death of his son. From what we can tell, they don't bring him into the loop at all! I'm sure he would have welcomed this grandchild - the last link to his son and could have helped Susan with her predicament, maybe without all the subterfuge and dislocation of her parents life.
The second is the cigarette lighter. The roughly 1 year old is completely obsessed with it, and won't leave it alone despite all the scoldings and completely unnecessary love taps from Dorothy McGuire. The answer is clear: KEEP THE LIGHTER OUT OF REACH! Put it on the very high fireplace mantel, not the coffee table and lamp stands that are tantalizing perfectly the same height as the baby! He is too young to understand, keep it way up, where he can't reach it - or better yet, put it away. It can't be the only lighter in the Bay Area that goes with their decor. I mean, how dumb can apparently smart people be?