THE OTHER LOVE

Richard Conte and Barbara Stanwyck

THE OTHER LOVE (1947). Director: Andre De Toth.

"I'm not fooled, doctor. I know death is a guest here. Though he sent me his compliments."

Karen Duncan (Barbara Stanwyck) is a successful concert pianist who comes to a sanitarium for treatment of an unspecified illness. She and her doctor, Anthony Stanton (David Niven), find themselves falling for one another, and he suggests that Karen spend many months just resting. But Karen is restless for life, and goes off with race car driver Paul Clermont (Richard Conte) for a romantic and wearying time in Monte Carlo. Trying to evade her fate, Karen only gets sicker ... The Other Love is based on the story "Beyond" by Erich Maria Remarque. Fourteen years after The Other Love was released, Remarque wrote the novel "Heaven Plays No Favorites," which was filmed as the Al Pacino starrer Bobby Deerfield, which also deals with a dying woman and a race car driver. The Other Love proves no more convincing than Deerfield and Stanwyck's fine performance is wasted in a trite, superficial soap opera. Although Stanwyck is never that good at portraying vulnerability, she easily out-acts her two male co-stars. Gilbert Roland has a nice turn as a croupier who tries to take advantage of Karen, and Joan Lorring [The Corn is Green] is notable as another doomed patient in the sanitarium. Natalie Schafer briefly appears to sparkle in that certain sleazy way of hers as a guest at Monte Carlo. Miklos Rozsa' score doesn't help at all. Roland had a much more memorable appearance with Stanwyck in The Furies. NOTE: For more on Bobby Deerfield see Al Pacino In Films and On Stage.

Verdict: Dark Victory this isn't. **.

THE LOST MOMENT

Robert Cummings and Susan Hayward

THE LOST MOMENT (1947). Director: Martin Gabel.

"It's only being with people that makes one lonely."

Publisher Lewis Venable (Robert Cummings) comes to Venice hoping to obtain letters written by the late poet Jeffrey Ashton to the now-aged Julianna Borderau (Agnes Moorehead). Lewis pretends to be an author seeking an atmospheric place to write his novel, and pays an exorbitant fee for rooms in the manor owned by Julianna, who lives with her niece, Tina (Susan Hayward). Both women seem to be keeping secrets regarding Ashton, who simply disappeared many years ago. The Lost Moment sort of uses the basic framework for Henry James' novella "The Ashton Papers," but is turned into an unconvincing psychological mystery with an expected resolution. Cummings [Saboteur] is okay, but not well-cast, and Hayward [I'll Cry Tomorrow] is better as a woman undergoing an identity crisis, while an unrecognizable Moorehead [Dark Passage] certainly scores as the crone-like Julianna. Joan Lorring, Minerva Urecal and Eduardo Ciannelli offer flavorful supporting performances.

Verdict: This dies a slow death long before the conclusion. **.

THE VERDICT (1946)

THE VERDICT (1946). Director: Don Siegel. 

Scotland Yard superintendent George Grodman (Sydney Greenstreet) loses his job to a rival, Buckley (George Coulouris), when it is discovered that a man he sent to the gallows for a murder was actually innocent. Then another murder occurs in the same family as before, and Buckley sets out to find the killer as Grodman does what he can to help him. Peter Lorre is cast as Victor Emmric, an artist friend of Grodman's, and Paul Cavanagh is Russell, who becomes a major suspect in the second murder. Rosalind Ivan is the hysterical landlady, and Joan Lorring is Lottie, a nightclub singer who was involved with the dead man. The picture at first seems to go in many different directions, but it eventually builds up quite a bit of suspense as to the identity of the murderer. The acting all around is excellent, although at times it may seem as if that wonderful team of Greenstreet and Lorre are just going through the motions (although it may just be some consummate underplaying). Terrific ending, and the film is fascinating on many different levels. Very well-directed for maximum tension by Donald Siegel, who also directed the science fiction classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This was his third directorial assignment. Lorring also appeared with Lorre and Greenstreet in Three Strangers. 

Verdict: Greenstreet and Lorre are always fun! ***1/2.

THE CORN IS GREEN

THE CORN IS GREEN (1945). Director: Irving Rapper.

Lilly Moffat (Bette Davis) comes to a small Welsh village and decides to help the miners -- many of whom are children -- by opening a small school and teaching them how to read and write. She especially focuses on a young man, Morgan Evans (John Dall), whom she thinks has real potential and can get a scholarship to a major university. But Bessie, (Joan Lorring) the impish, rather nasty daughter of Moffat's housekeeper Watty (Rosalind Ivan) has other plans for the young man. Mildred Dunnock and Rhys Williams are two villagers that Moffat enlists as teachers, and Nigel Bruce is the Squire with whom Miss Moffat must cross swords but whom she easily outwits. Bette Davis gives it a good try, and to be fair, her performance is lively and interesting, but she's much too young for the part and she plays Miss Moffat with an affectedness that goes completely against the down-to-Earth quality of the character. The rest of the cast is much better, however, especially Bruce and Dunnock. John Dall gives a superb performance, and young Joan Lorring, who was "introduced" in the film along with Dall, almost walks off with the movie. There are a lot of things one could quibble about in the film -- the miners always sound like a professional chorus as they march by singing, and the ending is a bit pat and has questionable aspects -- but The Corn of Green -- with its emphasis on knowledge and learning and bettering oneself and the plight of one's fellow man -- is still a solid, absorbing, well-crafted film that is undeniably stirring and poignant. Nice Max Steiner score as well.

Verdict: Good show! ***1/2.