"I might hit you"!!! "So what - I'm insured"!!! - Love that line and of course just love Susan Hayward in this simply fantastic movie!! Such a typical Hayward line with the emphasis on the "I'm"!!! The movie didn't open to much enthusiasm, with Bosley Crowther complaining about too much "dewy rapture". He also felt Susan Hayward was wrong for the part - how wrong he was!!! Most of the critics hopped on the "bastardization of "Uncle Wiggley" bandwagon. J. D. Salinger vowed never to sell anymore of his writings to Hollywood - how could one mere movie bear up under all this criticism. Apparently he objected to the name change but who would go to a movie entitled "Uncle Wiggley in Connecticut" - unless they were avid Salinger fans!!!
Even though Susan had just turned 30 she was completely believable in the "college girl waiting for a first date" atmosphere and the biggest stretch was Dana Andrews as a dateless outsider but he pulled it off.
Eloise (Susan Hayward) drinks too much and she treats her nice husband (Kent Smith) like dirt, but he is planning his revenge - he wants to divorce her and take custody of their daughter, Ramona (Gigi Perreau). A glimpse of a brown and white dress in the closet brings back the memories of a school dance and her first meeting with Walt Dreiser (Dana Andrews). Her brown and white dress "the latest thing in Boise" is nowheresville in New York. Walt comes to her rescue and in a funny scene gives Miriam Ball (Karin Booth), the most popular girl in college, a complete dressing down. Walt invites Eloise to his flat and tries all the moves that usually work. When Walt proclaims he likes El a whole lot, she replies she wishes he "liked me just a little. Enough to take me home and call me for another date". Susan Hayward could bring both toughness and vulnerability to her roles - in almost the same scene. She made this more than just a mushy wartime romance. Special mention should also go to Robert Keith. His scenes with Hayward show understanding and rapport - he is not a one dimensional cut out father figure. There is great feeling in the scene where he describes his loveless marriage and how the children acted as a vice to keep him trapped. Keith excelled as sincere but ultimately weak men (the sheriff in "The Wild One").
Even a character like Mary Jane, the ever present "noble" girl who stands by and sees the man she loves (Smith) forced into a sham marriage, comes across as believable and true. At the film's end, Eloise, the old brown and white dress gripped in her hands, realises that she has ruined five lives and bravely decides to confess everything and face the future with her little girl. This was director, Mark Robson's third hit in a row - after "Champion" and "Home of the Brave".
Highly, Highly Recommended.
Even though Susan had just turned 30 she was completely believable in the "college girl waiting for a first date" atmosphere and the biggest stretch was Dana Andrews as a dateless outsider but he pulled it off.
Eloise (Susan Hayward) drinks too much and she treats her nice husband (Kent Smith) like dirt, but he is planning his revenge - he wants to divorce her and take custody of their daughter, Ramona (Gigi Perreau). A glimpse of a brown and white dress in the closet brings back the memories of a school dance and her first meeting with Walt Dreiser (Dana Andrews). Her brown and white dress "the latest thing in Boise" is nowheresville in New York. Walt comes to her rescue and in a funny scene gives Miriam Ball (Karin Booth), the most popular girl in college, a complete dressing down. Walt invites Eloise to his flat and tries all the moves that usually work. When Walt proclaims he likes El a whole lot, she replies she wishes he "liked me just a little. Enough to take me home and call me for another date". Susan Hayward could bring both toughness and vulnerability to her roles - in almost the same scene. She made this more than just a mushy wartime romance. Special mention should also go to Robert Keith. His scenes with Hayward show understanding and rapport - he is not a one dimensional cut out father figure. There is great feeling in the scene where he describes his loveless marriage and how the children acted as a vice to keep him trapped. Keith excelled as sincere but ultimately weak men (the sheriff in "The Wild One").
Even a character like Mary Jane, the ever present "noble" girl who stands by and sees the man she loves (Smith) forced into a sham marriage, comes across as believable and true. At the film's end, Eloise, the old brown and white dress gripped in her hands, realises that she has ruined five lives and bravely decides to confess everything and face the future with her little girl. This was director, Mark Robson's third hit in a row - after "Champion" and "Home of the Brave".
Highly, Highly Recommended.