This is a rather annoying film. After all, the first 80% of it is very good--with nice acting and a very compelling story. Then, oddly, the last portion of the movie seems to fall apart and is a bit of a confusing and saccharine-like mess.
The film begins with Van Johnson meeting and falling in love with Elizabeth Taylor. Considering how incredibly beautiful and sweet she was, it was easy to see why he dumped Donna Reed to pursue Taylor. Johnson's ambition it to publish a novel, but in the meantime he has married Taylor, has a lovely little girl and a well-paying job in Paris. What more could he want? Sure, his book has been rejected by some publishers, but considering everything he is still clearly a lucky man. But Johnson is NOT happy and is a self=indulgent idiot (to put it mildly). All he can do is feel sorry for himself for not being published. To bruise his shallow ego, he begins taking Taylor for granted and spends way too much time with his new friend--sultry Eva Gabor. Gabor is NOT the 'just friends' type, as she's been married multiple times. How any sane man could chose her over the sweet wife is beyond me and you really, really hate Johnson's character--a big switch for the guy who usually played such likable guys.
All of this drama was compelling and I really got into the film--and wondered why the film had a mediocre score on IMDb. But then, late in the film, I saw exactly what the problem was. The film began to make no sense at all and decided to use clichés instead of decent writing. Out of the blue, Johnson locks Taylor out of the house and it's raining. In the real world, she'd get mad but that's all. Here in this Bizarro World, instead she gets sick and dies!!!! Folks, in real life standing in the rain does NOT cause death! And how she died with him rushing to her and having her die in his arms was dreadfully schmaltzy and stupid. And, what happened next was worse. Not one minute of the last portion of the film rang true or made sense. Considering that Johnson was cheating on his wife and locked the wife out in the rain, you'd THINK Taylor's father (Walter Pidgeon) would be at least a tiny bit angry--but he wasn't!! And, when Johnson CONTINUES to feel sorry for himself and neglects his daughter (necessitating her being cared for by others), you think this guy is a total bum--and yet they have them reunite at the end of the film and there's a 100% phony Hollywood ending!!! The first portion of the film I give a 9--it's that good. The last, I'd give a 2 or a 3--at best. An overall score of 5 seems reasonable as the actors do a nice job with a bubble-headed script--but frankly, the end just ruins the film for me.
The film begins with Van Johnson meeting and falling in love with Elizabeth Taylor. Considering how incredibly beautiful and sweet she was, it was easy to see why he dumped Donna Reed to pursue Taylor. Johnson's ambition it to publish a novel, but in the meantime he has married Taylor, has a lovely little girl and a well-paying job in Paris. What more could he want? Sure, his book has been rejected by some publishers, but considering everything he is still clearly a lucky man. But Johnson is NOT happy and is a self=indulgent idiot (to put it mildly). All he can do is feel sorry for himself for not being published. To bruise his shallow ego, he begins taking Taylor for granted and spends way too much time with his new friend--sultry Eva Gabor. Gabor is NOT the 'just friends' type, as she's been married multiple times. How any sane man could chose her over the sweet wife is beyond me and you really, really hate Johnson's character--a big switch for the guy who usually played such likable guys.
All of this drama was compelling and I really got into the film--and wondered why the film had a mediocre score on IMDb. But then, late in the film, I saw exactly what the problem was. The film began to make no sense at all and decided to use clichés instead of decent writing. Out of the blue, Johnson locks Taylor out of the house and it's raining. In the real world, she'd get mad but that's all. Here in this Bizarro World, instead she gets sick and dies!!!! Folks, in real life standing in the rain does NOT cause death! And how she died with him rushing to her and having her die in his arms was dreadfully schmaltzy and stupid. And, what happened next was worse. Not one minute of the last portion of the film rang true or made sense. Considering that Johnson was cheating on his wife and locked the wife out in the rain, you'd THINK Taylor's father (Walter Pidgeon) would be at least a tiny bit angry--but he wasn't!! And, when Johnson CONTINUES to feel sorry for himself and neglects his daughter (necessitating her being cared for by others), you think this guy is a total bum--and yet they have them reunite at the end of the film and there's a 100% phony Hollywood ending!!! The first portion of the film I give a 9--it's that good. The last, I'd give a 2 or a 3--at best. An overall score of 5 seems reasonable as the actors do a nice job with a bubble-headed script--but frankly, the end just ruins the film for me.