Over the years we have all seen this kind of story before--where a man goes astray from his long-suffering wife to embark on an affair with a younger woman--while the soundtrack washes all of the soap-opera elements with a full dose of symphonic music. Here, at least, the story is told in a simple and brief style, the production itself is a handsome one, and although the performances are competent enough only one performer really stands out as "the new star"--and that, of course, is INGRID BERGMAN making her film debut under David O. Selznick's careful grooming and tutoring.
LESLIE HOWARD makes no particular impression as the concert violinist who falls under her spell, except that he really does appear to be playing the instrument, helped no doubt by whatever technical tricks were necessary to give this illusion. Edna Best does nicely as his understanding wife and all of the supporting roles are played in a competent manner.
But except for this being a star vehicle to present Bergman to American audiences, there is nothing special about INTERMEZZO. It's worth watching only to see Bergman in her debut and at her most radiant. Mercifully, it has a short running time and might have become really tedious if the story were given more footage.
LESLIE HOWARD makes no particular impression as the concert violinist who falls under her spell, except that he really does appear to be playing the instrument, helped no doubt by whatever technical tricks were necessary to give this illusion. Edna Best does nicely as his understanding wife and all of the supporting roles are played in a competent manner.
But except for this being a star vehicle to present Bergman to American audiences, there is nothing special about INTERMEZZO. It's worth watching only to see Bergman in her debut and at her most radiant. Mercifully, it has a short running time and might have become really tedious if the story were given more footage.