The story is not so in depth to allow it to come to life as a novel or a feature length movie.
It is interesting to read the reviews after seeing the movie. No 2 reviews are alike. This speaks volumes as to how the film actually affects those who see it. The viewers take away vastly different aspects of the film to discuss.
The opinion this reviewer has is that the film is not as drudgingly long as some reviewers have noted. Also, while Van Johnson is always a bit wooden in his roles, he is not as awful as he is made out to be in some other reviews. The film boasts a fine cast and had some money behind it and there are some nice aspects to the story. This reviewer did not particularly mind watching the film.
The problem is that the story is not fully fleshed to be a full length movie. There is no central point to the story to carry it to the length of a feature film. There is little purpose or philosophy that comes through as an overriding thematic. Van and Elizabeth play self destructive characters who suffer tragedy via doing some dumb things but...so what? Who really cares about dumb people doing dumb things? The emotional draw of the story never comes out. The emotion is stifled by the story; not by Van Johnson's acting. But...that is why this remained a short story that delved into the mind of the character pining for his lost daughter. There's just no emotional payoff with the characters that warrants nearly 2 hours of screen time.
Still, compared to most of what passes for drama these days the film is far superior to what is released today. That's a sad commentary on film making and story writing today.
One other note: For a story that is set in Paris there is little sense that any of the action occurs in Paris. This ties into the script. Rather than using known aspects of Paris to enhance the flavor of the story there is little to utilize the location. The title of the film could be The Last Time I Saw New York City and nothing would materially change in the film.
If you are interested in film and story telling and the history of cinema I recommend giving the movie a viewing to familiarize yourself with it. Some parts work well (Elizabeth Taylor as the woman in the fountain immortalized in a full wall mural in a bar) but some parts...notably the father\daughter\aunt relationship at the end...just comes off flat. The film is a mix of good and not so good and the mix of good and not so good reviews is a good reflection of the movie.
It is interesting to read the reviews after seeing the movie. No 2 reviews are alike. This speaks volumes as to how the film actually affects those who see it. The viewers take away vastly different aspects of the film to discuss.
The opinion this reviewer has is that the film is not as drudgingly long as some reviewers have noted. Also, while Van Johnson is always a bit wooden in his roles, he is not as awful as he is made out to be in some other reviews. The film boasts a fine cast and had some money behind it and there are some nice aspects to the story. This reviewer did not particularly mind watching the film.
The problem is that the story is not fully fleshed to be a full length movie. There is no central point to the story to carry it to the length of a feature film. There is little purpose or philosophy that comes through as an overriding thematic. Van and Elizabeth play self destructive characters who suffer tragedy via doing some dumb things but...so what? Who really cares about dumb people doing dumb things? The emotional draw of the story never comes out. The emotion is stifled by the story; not by Van Johnson's acting. But...that is why this remained a short story that delved into the mind of the character pining for his lost daughter. There's just no emotional payoff with the characters that warrants nearly 2 hours of screen time.
Still, compared to most of what passes for drama these days the film is far superior to what is released today. That's a sad commentary on film making and story writing today.
One other note: For a story that is set in Paris there is little sense that any of the action occurs in Paris. This ties into the script. Rather than using known aspects of Paris to enhance the flavor of the story there is little to utilize the location. The title of the film could be The Last Time I Saw New York City and nothing would materially change in the film.
If you are interested in film and story telling and the history of cinema I recommend giving the movie a viewing to familiarize yourself with it. Some parts work well (Elizabeth Taylor as the woman in the fountain immortalized in a full wall mural in a bar) but some parts...notably the father\daughter\aunt relationship at the end...just comes off flat. The film is a mix of good and not so good and the mix of good and not so good reviews is a good reflection of the movie.