A unique movie dismissed when made still may be unique

A conundrum of a movie in that as a whole it doesn't add up, but any given scene / set piece works very well. So while the scenes together make for disjointed viewing, the overall Stewart & Widmark rapport is one of the best ever filmed. Two consummate actors never giving up on what seems like a dog of a movie... Quite easy to watch them chat about anything all day long...

The love interests, once you get past the egregious age differences, have both a driving heart and soul. The reason why men and women love each other is on full-blown display. Logic doesn't really matter in on-screen love...

It's amazing that the recognized talents largely dismissed what they did, not knowing they were really doing something different. They didn't meet theirs or their audience expectations at the time and it will be interesting how future audiences can see that in missing the mark in 1961 may actually depict for a way to show true emotion in future cinema.