MovieChat Forums > Home Before Dark (1959) Discussion > I guess I didn't get it

I guess I didn't get it

posted 13 years ago by mojo2004
14 replies | jump to latest

I've read the rave comments about this film but it bored me. It was obvious from the start that there was something between the husband & stepsister and she & her mother were so condescending to Jeam Simmoms's character that I couldn't stand it. I'll take her other film 'Angel Face' with co-star Robert Mitchum, over this one to keep me interested in what's going on in the mind of the character Jean Simmons is playing. Her husband should have been played by James Mason or Dirk Borgarde. The actor who did play the husband, Dan O'Herlihy, looks like Borgarde to me. I also can't get over the stepsister & Simmons both looking like the Statue of Liberty in that aluminum foil holiday dress and hair-do!

"Where were you born? At home. I wanted to be near my mother."

[–] bijou-2 13 years ago

The point was perhaps a bit to subtle for today's viewers. Was she really going out of her mind or were her suspicions accurate. You decide.

The movie changes your opinion of her several times in brilliant subtle ways. Simmons was wonderful, as always.

[–] onegreendress 13 years ago

I agree, bijou. I kept changing my mind on a lot of things in this movie--which added to its appeal for me. I also kept changing my mind about whether I liked Simmons' character or not. Actually, the only character in the movie I liked was Efrem's, even though he was headed for trouble trying to be her savior!

[–] Kuato_and_George 13 years ago

I get what the OP is saying. I watched the whole thing and was intrigued throughout, but the payoff isn't really big. I'm ok with simple, subtle, movies, but there was no resolution.

I enjoyed it, but on the other hand, I found myself saying "Come on!" I wanted a bit more.

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[–] Catfishbunter 13 years ago

This was probably over my head too, but could someone explain the scene where Jean Simmons comes to meet her husband's friends at a Holiday party wearing a dress that is falling off of her and acting drunk? Was she drunk? Drugged? (Another point, was her husband really drugging her)? Was she simply regressing in her mental state? Was she trying to embarrass him? It was very difficult to tell. Did the stress of knowing that her husband was after Joan just push her over the edge?

It was just a confusing scene and I would like some feedback.

Thanks!

[–] Kuato_and_George 13 years ago

This was probably over my head too, but could someone explain the scene where Jean Simmons comes to meet her husband's friends at a Holiday party wearing a dress that is falling off of her and acting drunk? Was she drunk? Drugged? (Another point, was her husband really drugging her)? Was she simply regressing in her mental state? Was she trying to embarrass him? It was very difficult to tell. Did the stress of knowing that her husband was after Joan just push her over the edge?

It was just a confusing scene and I would like some feedback.

Thanks!

I think this goes along with what the OP was saying. You really don't know WHAT she was doing at the dinner party. The movie was kind of weird. It kept me intrigued/interested, but then I found myself scratching my head a lot too.

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[–] IloveKoba 13 years ago

It's not really that hard to figure out. Hubby was in love with the stepsister,
but couldn't admit it even to himself, if you take notice of the flashback scene
when he and Simmons met, even back then she was acting like Joan,(calling everyone 'ducky'etc) so in effect he really fell in love with that personality.
Re: the dress scene, Simmons deep down knew that he loved Joan, all she was trying to do was get him to realise and admit it, and thus save her own sanity. When he finally told her he didn't love her, she at last could begin to be herself, instead of trying to be Joan. I thought this was one of Jean Simmon's
best performances. A really good movie, often overlooked and underrated.

[–] Kuato_and_George 13 years ago

It's obvious he loved Joan, that isn't the confusing part. How far they took it was where the confusion lies. The movie is SO vague, it's almost as if some scenes are left out.

The movie made too many turns. One minute she's paranoid, the next she's on to something, then she's nuts (dinner scene), then it's as if that incident never happened.

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[–] IloveKoba 13 years ago

Yes, you are right, but I think it's a movie you have to watch a few times, to actually be able to work it out. I don't believe there was anything physical between Joan and Arnold, but a great part of Charlotte's illness was that she believed there was. The character 'Arnold' apart from being a very cold person, was also (I thought) very cruel. He would have rather have seen 'Çharlotte'completely destroyed mentally than admit his own weaknesses.
The (dinner scene) always upsets me, she wanted so desperately for Arnold to love her, but knew deep down he didn't, and she needed to hear it. I honestly think it was that act of dressing up to look like Joan,(nutty as it was) that really saved her in the end, because as I stated, it forced him to admit the truth. Remember near the end, she tells Joan that Arnold has something to say to her. A complex, but fascinating film. It would probably send viewers 'round the bend' trying to figure it out.

[–] Kuato_and_George 13 years ago

I don't believe there was anything physical between Joan and Arnold, but a great part of Charlotte's illness was that she believed there was.

I got that vibe too and wasn't all that thrilled with it. I think I would have preferred a mentally ill OR they were actually cheating result.

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[–] IloveKoba 13 years ago

Maybe so, but then that would have made the movie a 'run of the mill' type, and not quite so enjoyable and 'head scratching' Have you seen MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR
with Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood, that was another one I had to watch a few times to actually work out what message the makers were trying to convey.

[–] Kuato_and_George 13 years ago

I don't mind it being ambigious. I don't mind an open ending. Total Recall is one of my favorite movies and that movie is open-ended. I just didn't love the blending of the two.

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[–] belalugosihouse 12 years ago

I agree, the "drunk" scene had me scratching my head, and at that point I actually thought there would be a big reveal at the end that her friend "Ham" was drugging her....she had lunch with him that day....LOL! I thought he was trying to break up her marriage so that he could finally have her for himself!

This was the first time I've seen this movie and I do want to see it again to pick up the subtleties. There's a lot going on under the surface. At one point I thought the husband and others WERE drugging her ("Drink your milk," etc.) and then for a minute I thought the husband may be having an affair with the Harvard professor's wife from Boston (he said something like "You always look lovely," yet never complimented his wife)...that guy drove ME crazy!

SPOILER:
So I guess the fact that there was no "big reveal" kind of disappointed, but the ending sure is upbeat....I would love to end up with Efram Zimbalist, all that money, with no condescending relatives, and finally sane and assertive.

[–] bon22 12 years ago

I think Simmon's husband & family were gaslighting her & she was in deep denial.

[–] lakealice 9 years ago

I agree that the point was obscure. A legitimate mental health institution would have been able to tell whether she was really ill--otherwise, they were quacks.
The husband was very hard to read--was he really trying to drive her crazy, or was he just a bland, stony-faced actor with no facial expressions. I suspect the latter.

They made a point of saying the character of Diamond was Jewish, but that point was never developed. In fact, they seemed to forget about it, because Charlotte kept wishing him "Merry Christmas" and gave him a gift, which seemed insensitive to me.

The main reason to see this movie, in my opinion, is for Jean Simmons' performance with her clipped, precise diction. The story, itself, is muddled and even boring at times.