I just watched this and noticed the lead characters lacked chemistry.
The best things are last
I thought Hudson and Wyman had good chemistry in Magnificent Obsession. For me that chemistry carried over, somewhat, into All That Heaven Allows. It seems believable enough that two attractive people who appreciate life would want to be together.
I just saw this movie for the first time and thought the same thing. I'm not familiar with Rock Hudson's work but he just seemed so wooden and monotone. Jane Wyman showed a little more emotion but only because her character dealt with such awful people. Together they had no spark.
I enjoyed the story but thought it might have been a better movie with different leads.
With all that aside, my goodness Rock Hudson was handsome. Almost impossibly handsome.
I just attributed it to the awful, wooden acting style. Whether it was the director's fault or the house acting style of the 1950s, it was unnatural. All the characters were like moving mannequins, and nearly every interaction between them was obviously an actor reciting lines. There's no real life in this film, though I credit Agnes Moorehead and Jane Wyman with the best acting skills. Oh, and the deer -- s/he was pretty natural.
The film was written for Jane Wyman; in her 1996 interview on YouTube she saw clips of Hudson when doing Mag Obb and something moved her to say that's her new leading man and hired Hudson without a screen test. She liked something about him and remember Wyman had power at this time in her career and during the middle of MO Jane said to Hudson tongue in cheek, "I don't like you, you're beginning to know too much" to which Hudson retorted "Aren't I doing all right!?" to which Miss Wyman said "Don't change a thing!" MO made Rock a star and Jane Wyman reminded him that it was time for him to "give back" as she had been doing with young actors, actresses on their way up.
shareIt's just fine. I know plenty of real-life couples who don't have any "chemistry" to speak of.
shareIn many ways the movie is artificial. Why would the young arborist take an interest in this not-young woman ?
It's an experiment in testing our expectations.
But I thought it very gently and thoughtfully explored the idea that people of different cultures could find common ground.
Why the interest? Good Question. Same with men and much younger women but, both ways happen.
shareBut I thought Jane Wyman did her best for a more masculine hairdo. Go figure.
shareNot true. Lots of chemistry between the leads.
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