W. Somerset Maugham wrote this story for people in search of themselves. It is a journey for those who don't really know who or what or where they belong. For some it's not really hard to know who they are. For others, even when they find themselves, they realize it was not quite the big discovery they hoped it would be. In this 1946 film audiences get to see Maughams' hero, Larry Darrell, (Tyrone Power), realize that a simple act of heroism on the part of a fellow soldier, who saves his life, causes him to ask the unfathomable question, of 'Why'. It troubles him so much, he feels he must turn his back on a mundane existence and go in search for the Meaning of Life. Characters in his life which supply all the question include Gene Tierney who plays Isabel Bradley, John Payne as Gray Maturin and the talented Anne Baxter who plays Sophie Macdonald. As an added feature we have Clifton Webb who plays the know-it-all, Elliott Templeton and Herbert Marshall as the author W. Somerset Maugham. The quest our hero seeks is to discover the value of love, conviction and if there is such a thing as common good. The film, which stays close to the book, is itself a bit long. Still it sets the stage for the dozens of similar films which, all ask the same question. ***
Review of The Razor's Edge
