HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON is essentially a two-actor film and must have looked awfully good on paper whenever ROBERT MITCHUM and DEBORAH KERR read the script. They knew they had the right attributes to play the leads--a tough U.S. Marine and a ladylike nun stranded on a Pacific isle during World War II, threatened by nearby Japanese invaders--and must have instinctively known that under John Huston's direction they would get good guidance.
Well, they did. Both are at the height of their appeal as film actors, knowing their craft thoroughly enough to make both of them able to carry the story through to a satisfying conclusion. Huston had already done the same sort of thing with Hepburn and Bogart in the African jungle, although HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON has an even tighter reign on the two actors as the main focus.
Kerr may have deserved her Best Actress Oscar nomination, but why did Hollywood always fail to recognize Robert Mitchum's contribution to a good film? Did they resent the way he talked about Hollywood phoniness and fakery in such blunt ways to the press that they were unable to view his performance with an uncritical eye? Mitchum gives every bit as good a performance as Kerr does--and that's a fact. In Marlon Brando's immortal words: "Mitch shoulda been a contender!"
Well worth seeing, especially if you're an admirer of the two stars.
Well, they did. Both are at the height of their appeal as film actors, knowing their craft thoroughly enough to make both of them able to carry the story through to a satisfying conclusion. Huston had already done the same sort of thing with Hepburn and Bogart in the African jungle, although HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON has an even tighter reign on the two actors as the main focus.
Kerr may have deserved her Best Actress Oscar nomination, but why did Hollywood always fail to recognize Robert Mitchum's contribution to a good film? Did they resent the way he talked about Hollywood phoniness and fakery in such blunt ways to the press that they were unable to view his performance with an uncritical eye? Mitchum gives every bit as good a performance as Kerr does--and that's a fact. In Marlon Brando's immortal words: "Mitch shoulda been a contender!"
Well worth seeing, especially if you're an admirer of the two stars.