Somerset Maugham was a revered figure in his time, considered both a literary AND a popular author. This version of one of his best books tries hard to match the book's powerful message but ultimately misses the mark.
This was intended as a return vehicle for Tyrone Power, an almost impossibly handsome actor, very popular before the war and after it. The buildup to his entrance (the kind usually reserved for the female lead in an old-time picture or play) is almost campy in its excess, but fits the way the gay Maugham would have seen the main character. Power tries hard to make a go of the character, but comes across as earnest but shallow, which the Larry in the book is not.
Tierney is good (and equally gorgeous of course) as the spoiled and selfish woman. Anne Baxter is wonderful as the alcoholic and doomed Sophie, bringing the right kind of callow innocence to the part at the beginning, and then worldly weariness at the end. Webb does his usual effete gay character, the kind he played before this, in "Laura", and then many times afterward.
The production is studio-bound. The sets look like sets, the exteriors are unconvincing. Real locations (Paris, the Himalayas) might have added much to this film, and made it seem less claustrophobic, as would color, though the black and white photography is exceptional. The music is overdone even for its time, as if the producer realized the picture just wasn't making it and urged Newman on, "Write MORE music!", which is loud a lot of the time and quotes Brahms and Wagner to excess, perhaps to add "profundity" to the static proceedings. The music is the only thing that adds any spirituality to the story, even with its "spiritual" message.
This was intended as a return vehicle for Tyrone Power, an almost impossibly handsome actor, very popular before the war and after it. The buildup to his entrance (the kind usually reserved for the female lead in an old-time picture or play) is almost campy in its excess, but fits the way the gay Maugham would have seen the main character. Power tries hard to make a go of the character, but comes across as earnest but shallow, which the Larry in the book is not.
Tierney is good (and equally gorgeous of course) as the spoiled and selfish woman. Anne Baxter is wonderful as the alcoholic and doomed Sophie, bringing the right kind of callow innocence to the part at the beginning, and then worldly weariness at the end. Webb does his usual effete gay character, the kind he played before this, in "Laura", and then many times afterward.
The production is studio-bound. The sets look like sets, the exteriors are unconvincing. Real locations (Paris, the Himalayas) might have added much to this film, and made it seem less claustrophobic, as would color, though the black and white photography is exceptional. The music is overdone even for its time, as if the producer realized the picture just wasn't making it and urged Newman on, "Write MORE music!", which is loud a lot of the time and quotes Brahms and Wagner to excess, perhaps to add "profundity" to the static proceedings. The music is the only thing that adds any spirituality to the story, even with its "spiritual" message.