I do not understand the low rating at all. CRAZY! I loved every minute of this. The casting, the acting, the writing, the story, the sets, the costumes...everything! Just awesome. Barbara Stanwyck is the queen! Loved Van Heflin, as well. The only criticism I had is that the ending was a bit abrupt, but it does not take away from the entertainment value of this film.
shareThe movie is listless both as a love story and as a politcally themed movie, not that Hollywood was big on those in the Golden Age. Its failure to convey the strong underlying political themes of Marquand's book, however, is hugely problematic bc those political differences inform the discord between Polly and Tom.
As the indulged only child of a robber-baron-type industrialist, she's self-sufficient to a point of not understanding partnership, and again and again she acts with her father's singlehandedness, controlling events (the lecture tour) and unilaterally making marital decisions (the house). She fails to make room for any viewpoint other than her own -- which is the result of being raised by the egocentric BF and being raised super-insulated from the real world, as the super-rich are.
So the political themes of the book are central to the problems in the marriage, yet they're downplayed. The movie is missing an essential ingredient. Like a cake without sugar -- looks like cake, but doesn't satisfy the sweet tooth, which is what you want from a cake.
Plus, both Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin were just too old to play characters who age from about 21 to 33 and about 28 to 40, respectively. She looked too old, and she didn't convey that blend of know-it-all-ness and innocence/vulnerability that's common to, and often endearing in, 21-y-olds. (I love Miss Stanwyck and I think she could do just about anything, but she fell flat in this role, partly bc she was working with a lackluster director. Watch her movies under Wm Wellman to see how far she could stretch; and in one of his -- So Big! -- she's much better with the challenge of a character who ages from about 16 to 45.)
And, a smaller point, but worth noting: The costumes and hair are 1948, yet this movie is supposed to take place between 1932 and 1943/1944. Very distracting.
Not a bad movie, but neither a really good one. Saved from awfulness by Barbara Stanwyck, who always did great work, and to a lesser degree by Van Heflin.
"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."