I found Dorothy McGuire to be a very appealing actress, and this to be one of her better films. Ironically, although she was merely "very attractive", rather than "beautiful", in at least two of her films she played characters there were very plain to nearly ugly. The better of the two films was "The Enchanted Cottage" with Robert Young. But this film is also very good, and one I have enjoyed more than once.
In it, she is a fairly wealthy woman happily married to an up and coming architect, well played by Van Johnson (I think these days we've forgotten what a pleasing actor he was, as well). But, she has a heart condition which limits her. In fact, father (Louis Calhern, a favored character actor) and her doctor (the wonderful character actor Ray Collins) are keeping from her that she may not have long to live. When she visits an old (but no longer) friend (Ruth Roman), she learns that Roman has not gotten over Van Johnson, whom she loved first. Roman mentions that Van Johnson was only on "loan" to her for about a year. Then she receives an invitation to a medical conference about heart disease. With a few other clues, she begins to suspect that she will not live long, and then discovers that her father paid Van Johnson to marry her. He assures her that he now truly loves her (and he does), but she is wary and afraid. In the end, a new medical procedure could cure the illness -- but will it work, and will it be worth it if she no longer has her husband? Perhaps one of the reasons I find this film interesting, is that I have a heart condition that back in 1952 couldn't have been controlled by medication, and I know how scary it all can be. The story here is quite compelling, the actors do their jobs very well, and in fact, there's not a lot to criticize here! The most interesting theme here is that same theme that we found in "The Enchanted Cottage" -- how a non-beautiful person sees himself or herself.
Recommended.
In it, she is a fairly wealthy woman happily married to an up and coming architect, well played by Van Johnson (I think these days we've forgotten what a pleasing actor he was, as well). But, she has a heart condition which limits her. In fact, father (Louis Calhern, a favored character actor) and her doctor (the wonderful character actor Ray Collins) are keeping from her that she may not have long to live. When she visits an old (but no longer) friend (Ruth Roman), she learns that Roman has not gotten over Van Johnson, whom she loved first. Roman mentions that Van Johnson was only on "loan" to her for about a year. Then she receives an invitation to a medical conference about heart disease. With a few other clues, she begins to suspect that she will not live long, and then discovers that her father paid Van Johnson to marry her. He assures her that he now truly loves her (and he does), but she is wary and afraid. In the end, a new medical procedure could cure the illness -- but will it work, and will it be worth it if she no longer has her husband? Perhaps one of the reasons I find this film interesting, is that I have a heart condition that back in 1952 couldn't have been controlled by medication, and I know how scary it all can be. The story here is quite compelling, the actors do their jobs very well, and in fact, there's not a lot to criticize here! The most interesting theme here is that same theme that we found in "The Enchanted Cottage" -- how a non-beautiful person sees himself or herself.
Recommended.
