Miss Jones was great in this film...highly intelligent, edgy, etc. She was
a dazzling co star to Greg Peck in the wild Duel In The Sun...and in this film a bit matronly. Amazingly nearly 10 years later she looked lovelier and younger and edgier in Tender Is The Night..an undeservedly maligned film.
I'm glad you liked her performance, I did too. I would like to see "Tender is the Night" sometime to just to know what it was like. It was a bomb at the box office, and director Henry King's last film.
Regards,
Steve
Steve,
Jennifer looked wonderful in Tender Is The Night, a great hairstyle by George Masters and some great Clothes which JJ wore with great panache...as always.
Tender was nailed because the critics felt Jennifer was too old to play Nicole, but she was an Actress. This hangup on age is troubling. As Goldie Hawn once said they write Goldie Hawn, age, as if the age is a determinative factor in what one does in life. The critics were unfair to Jennifer.
Seen today, Tender Is The Night...what a title...is a beautiful love story re a Therapist who helps his patient Jennifer restore Her Life and in the process
he goes downard as she recovers...David Selznick was obsessed with this film and made it for Jennifer and wanted it to regain for her a top postion in Hollywood..He wanted to produce it but could not because he sold his library
to TV and the British were going to stall any Selznick International Film in the UK..so he bailed but managed this film from behind the scenes fighting to keep the budget the way it was, and while he wanted the film to be shot entirely in Europe Fox declined, and DOS had to insist on an European locale jaunt while Fox wanted to film the picture entirely on the backlot of Fox...
thankfully DOS won out.
Also DOS wanted Henry King to direct because he had Directed Jennifer in her two greatest hits, Song of Bernadette and Love Is A Many Splendored Thing,
but he should have asked Fred Zinneman or even Danny Mann to helm.
Adam
While David and Jennifer wanted Greg Peck and then Bill Holden ( both former co stars of Jennifer's), they both turned it down. Joan Fontaine is fine as the bitchy older Sister and Jill St. John fine as the younger co star ( Jane Fonda and Ann Margret both wanted that role)..
While the major flaws were the wrong studio(Fox) and the wrong Director (King), Tender Is The Night is a fine film, much maligned, basically due to the fine and intelligent and edgy performance of Miss Jones. It isnt out on DVD and guess there are legal issues on whom owns the rights, etc..I saw it at a retrospective of Henry King films here in NY and it was well received.
Thanks for your comments. It would be interesting to see it someday. The CD notes that come with the "Bernard Herrmann at Fox Vol.1" (contains extensive soundtrack portions of the film), are less than complimentary; as were comments by Steven Smith in his biography of Bernard Herrmann. But...maybe time has been kind to this film, and it looks better today. I'll let you know if I ever see it.
Regards,
Steve
Jones had the most difficult role in The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, and she pulled it off in spades, making the character of Betsy both off-putting and sympathetic. Not to mention Betsy was a supporting character, and Jones was typically the nominal star of her films.
I'll have to agree with the majority of criticism against Tender is the Night, though. I have no criticism of Jones being too old for the part, as she always looked lovelier and younger than her years. She tries hard as Nicole, but the script is a mess, and I don't think necessarily Henry King was the best choice of director for this film. I do agree that Joan Fontaine is excellent.
"Jones had the most difficult role in The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, and she pulled it off in spades, making the character of Betsy both off-putting and sympathetic. Not to mention Betsy was a supporting character, and Jones was typically the nominal star of her films."
Not sure I'd agree that Jennifer Jones' role is a supporting role. She is the driving force and main motivator behind Gregory Peck's character every action after his return from the war. No, the role of Betsy is definitely a co-starring role. And the story is every much hers as it is Peck's. Betsy must come to realize what her husband already learned -- that they are truly meant for one another, and need each other.
"Tender is the Night" is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who also wrote "The Great Gatsby." If you are a Jennifer Jones fan, then you will enjoy looking at her and her wardrobe in this film. But if you want to see the definitive version of "Tender is the Night," you will have to see the 330 minute mini-series shown on Showtime in 1985, starring Peter Strauss and Mary Steenburgen. See the User Reviews for this film on this site.
shareI'm a huge fan of Miss Jones and she was the only reason for me to want to watch this movie, and I finally got it yesterday afternoon. I was planning on buying the DVD, so it was great to find out that the film would be shown on cable. Anyway, now I'm glad I didn't buy it as there's not much in the movie that makes me like it... except for her wonderful performance, which was honest, intense and highly moving as usual. Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention that she looks absolutely gorgeous as well! If I ever buy the DVD, it would be only because of her.
Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop
I am not normally a fan of Miss Jones but I do think "The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit" contains one of her best performances. She plays a double-edged character with great sensitivity and ambiguity - you never quite know whether she is grasping or has integrity until the final scene where she shows great sympathy towards her husband's wartime aberration. Though it was glossy and rather overlong I am fond of this movie. Gregory Peck is his usual understated self but the standout for me is the wonderful Fredric March.
shareAgree- Jones adds layers of complexity that are not typically found in portrayals of housewives during this era- she is fascinatingly restless and riveting throughout the film.
share