SLEEPING BEAUTY

SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959). Director: Clyde Geronimi. Walt Disney Studios.

In the 14th century the evil witch Maleficent (expertly voiced by Eleanor Audley) puts a spell on the baby princess Aurora that will have her prick her finger and die before her 16th birthday. Luckily some good fairies are able to alter the spell so that she will only go into a deep sleep, to be awakened by the kiss of a prince. Sleeping Beauty is not without its pleasures, but it isn't in the league of such Disney masterpieces as One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Princess and the Frog. While the film's animation is fluid, the drawings are disappointing, although the movie comes alive in an exciting, well-directed climax where Prince Phillip hacks his way through a forest of thorns created by Maleficent, and then battles the woman herself after she transforms herself into a fire-breathing dragon. The lilting theme song is taken from the "Sleeping Beauty" ballet by Tchaikovsky. This movie may be made for children, but the all-important kissing scene seems to be over in two seconds flat!

Verdict: The definitive version of this fairy tale is yet to be made. **1/2.

HOME BEFORE DARK

Jean Simmons

HOME BEFORE DARK (1958). Director: Mervyn LeRoy.

Charlotte Bronn (Jean Simmons of Dominique) returns home after a year in a mental institution due to a nervous breakdown. Married to the cold fish Professor Arnold Bronn (Dan O'Herlihy), Charlotte had imagined that her husband was really in love with her stepsister, Joan (Rhonda Fleming of The Nude Bomb), and allowed her alleged delusions to get the better of her. When the Bronns got married Arnold moved into Charlotte's house, and the couple lived with Joan and Charlotte's stepmother, Inez (Mabel Albertson). Bad idea!

Simmons with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. 

Trying to adjust to her new state of freedom, Charlotte finds her husband as cold as ever, and she is somewhat drawn to their boarder, Jacob Diamond (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), a Jew who was championed  by Arnold against anti-Semitic colleagues until it no longer suited his purposes. Jacob has feelings for Charlotte, as does her old boyfriend, Hamilton  (Stephen Dunne). Their attentions, however, do not prevent additional feelings of paranoia for Charlotte over a possible relationship between Arnold and Joan. Although Home Before Dark is not a thriller, it does work up some suspense over whether or not there is anything between husband and stepsister-in-law before the final revelations.

Rhonda Fleming, Dan O'Herlihy, Mabel Albertson

Home Before Dark is decidedly overlong at nearly two and a half hours. One could argue that there's really not enough plot for such a lengthy motion picture, but despite some tedious moments the picture manages to be absorbing, in no small part to a superb performance by Jean Simmons. There is a particularly good scene worth waiting for in which Charlotte shows up in a Boston restaurant trying to look like a grotesque imitation of her stepsister. Dan O'Herlihy is fine in the thankless role of a seemingly passionless husband; Dunne scores as the cast-off boyfriend from years ago; Fleming and Albertson are memorable as Charlotte's other family members; and even Zimbalist is okay as Jacob, although it's a wonder why this rather sexless and bland actor was constantly cast as a romantic figure in movie after movie. In smaller roles one can find Joan Weldon [Them], Eleanor Audley, and Lucy's mother Kathryn Card in the peppery role of the housekeeper Mattie. Oddly, the score for the film consists of snippets from various previous films by a variety of composers. Photographed by Joseph F. Biroc.

Verdict: Love-starved wives are always entertaining in these kind of movies, but this is on a somewhat higher level than a soap opera. ***.

THE UNGUARDED MOMENT

George Nader, Esther Williams, John Saxon 

THE UNGUARDED MOMENT (1956). Director: Harry Keller.

High school music teacher Lois Conway (Esther Williams) receives insolent mash notes from an unknown young admirer who later nearly assaults her and breaks into her house. When she learns his identity, the young man, Leonard (John Saxon of The Unforgiven), accuses Lois of coming on to him and the school board seems to agree. Lt. Harry Graham (George Nader of Carnival Story) thinks Leonard is a creep who needs to be arrested -- and may even be responsible for a series of rape-murders in town -- but the naive Lois still thinks of this 18-year-old man as an innocent "boy." It's a question if Lois will lose her job or maybe her life before everything is resolved.

John Saxon

In these "me too" days, The Unguarded Moment is still a relevant and timely picture, especially in the way it turns the perpetrator into a victim. (It's interesting that even today some people call this early study of sexual harassment "trashy." Why?) This was Williams' first dramatic role after appearing in many musical comedies with diminishing returns, and she's fine, and plays well with George Nader, whose character starts falling in love with her and vice versa. This was not John Saxon's first movie but he received a play-up in this, with him being singled out at the end as a "new personality." His performance is good, although he isn't quite up to the more emotional moments. Edward Andrews, an actor who somehow always exudes a negative aura no matter what part he's playing, is excellent as Saxon's woman-hating father, whose wife ran off years before. Les Tremayne, Eleanor Audley, Jack Albertson and Ed Platt are all credible in supporting roles. Not a great suspense film, but this holds the attention and isn't entirely predictable. It does sort of gloss over Leonard's inappropriate behavior a bit too much. Esther Williams followed this up with the lamentable Raw Wind in Eden. Although she did not do the finished screenplay, the story for this film was co-written by no less than Rosalind Russell.  

Verdict: Interesting cast and a still timely theme. ***. 

VOICE IN THE MIRROR

Bar mates: Richard Egan and Arthur O'Connell

VOICE IN THE MIRROR (1958). Director: Harry Keller.

"We're all in the same boat, none of us more than one drink away from the gutter for the rest of our lives."

"I spilled more whiskey than you ever drank."

Commercial artist Jim Burton (Richard Egan) claims to have started drinking since the death of his little girl, but his doctor, Leon (Walter Matthau), reminds him that he was drinking before that and would probably have used any excuse. Jim's patient wife, Ellen (Julie London of The Helicopter Spies), is forced to put up with broken promises and wondering if and when he'll come home and what condition he'll be in. Now Leon tells him that his alcoholism may have created serious nerve damage. A fellow drunk named Harry (Harry Bartell) tells him that he thinks the solution to their problem may be through spiritualism, but Jim discovers that the secret may be to help other drunks --  alcoholics can help other alcoholics stay sober. Although set twenty years later, Voice in the Mirror basically appears to be the story of the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous (although the term is never used and there's not as much emphasis on religiosity; AA's famous slogan is used at the end, however.) In any case, the picture is absorbing and generally well-acted, with a moving conclusion. Egan and London are not exactly perfect casting for this film (stolid Egan never quite seems desperate enough for one thing), but both of them have their moments; oddly, London is better in her more emotional and difficult scenes than in her quieter ones. Harry Bartell and Doris Singleton, who plays Jim's sympathetic co-worker, have nice bits; both of them appeared several times on I Love Lucy. Arthur O'Connell nearly steals the picture as one of Jim's sad friends, and Matthau, in an unexpected role as the no-nonsense doctor, is also excellent. Ann Doran and Peggy Converse make their marks, respectively, as a landlady and the mother of a suicidal young drunk played by Troy Donahue. Eleanor Audley [Sleeping Beauty] is fine as a woman at a soup kitchen, and I believe that's Mae Clarke [Frankenstein] playing the first woman member of Jim's group. One of the best scenes depicts Jim's frightening nightmare in which he is caught in a train tunnel as a rushing train threatens to run him down.

Verdict: Imperfect but interesting and affecting drama. ***.