(There are Spoilers) Five handkerchief plus soap opera With the legendary queen of that movie genre Joan Crawford really outdoing herself as the forty some year-old spinster Millcent "Milly" Wetherby who just about gave up on romance until her knight in shinning armor young sensitive and taking no for an answer Burt Hanson, Cliff Robertson, walked into her life.
At first not at all impressed with Burt, who gentlemanly offered to share a chicken salad with her, Milly just couldn't keep him out of her hair, or booth at the restaurant, with Burt refusing to sit somewhere else! In no time at all the two lovebirds were passionately smooching in front of Milly's condo apartment not at all caring who saw them.
Milly's life changed for the worse some thirty years ago when she was saddled with caring for her ailing father, Selmer Jackson, who eventually died on her. This act of unselfish kindness caused Milly to lose the person whom she was planning to marry Paul, Robert Sherman. Paul just got sick and tired of waiting for Milly to accept his proposal of marriage and just walked out of her life. Now after all these long and lonely years Milly finally found the man that she was willing to spend the rest of her life with handsome young and extremely sensitive Burt Hanson. As things soon turned out Burt was a lot more sensitive then even Milly could have hoped for in a husband. He was far more sensitive in the head then in the heart! Where for Milly is where, in having a loving and successful marriage, it really counted!
As soon as the couple were married Milly started to find things out about Burt that greatly disturbed her. Burt in fact was not the manager of the department store that he work in but a tie salesman who was stealing merchandise from the store to impress Milly! Milly was also shocked to find out that Burt originally came from Chicago not Wisconsin like he always told her. And the biggest surprise of all that Milly got about her now deceitful husband is that he was already married to the young, some 20 years her Junior, and pretty Virginia Hudson, Vera Miles, making her marriage to Burt not only illegal but Burt a bigamist!
With his shady past exposed Burt suddenly became both violent and schizophrenic going off the handle and becoming not only a danger to Milly but himself as well. We, as well as Milly, soon find out the reason for Burt's mental instability. That's when Milly spots Burt's estrange wife Virginia and his swinger dad Mr. Hudson, Loren Green, acting like two star struck young lovers or newlyweds at the hotel pool that Mr. Hanson was staying at!
***SPOILER ALERT*** One of Joan Crawford's best later films, when she was too old to play romantic parts, "Authumn Leaves" leaves you almost in tears in how Joan, as Milly Wetherby, had to suffer and put up with her mentally unstable husband throughout the entire movie. Never giving up on Burt, even after he belted her a couple of times, Milly finally had to have her very sick in the head husband institutionalized for his own good as well as safety. Burt who in his confused and unbalanced mind thought that Milly was trying to get back on him, in the pain and suffering he caused her, in having him committed in a sanitarium for the rest of his life found out in the end that she did it to help not to punish him.
More then anything else it was Burt who was to cure himself of the mental aberrations that he was suffering from more then the psychiatrists and shock treatment that he was getting at the sanitarium. But by far most of all Burt had to finally realize that Milly was not only his wife but good and caring friend as well in her helping him to cure himself on his severe mental illness. And in that Burt passed with flying colors!
At first not at all impressed with Burt, who gentlemanly offered to share a chicken salad with her, Milly just couldn't keep him out of her hair, or booth at the restaurant, with Burt refusing to sit somewhere else! In no time at all the two lovebirds were passionately smooching in front of Milly's condo apartment not at all caring who saw them.
Milly's life changed for the worse some thirty years ago when she was saddled with caring for her ailing father, Selmer Jackson, who eventually died on her. This act of unselfish kindness caused Milly to lose the person whom she was planning to marry Paul, Robert Sherman. Paul just got sick and tired of waiting for Milly to accept his proposal of marriage and just walked out of her life. Now after all these long and lonely years Milly finally found the man that she was willing to spend the rest of her life with handsome young and extremely sensitive Burt Hanson. As things soon turned out Burt was a lot more sensitive then even Milly could have hoped for in a husband. He was far more sensitive in the head then in the heart! Where for Milly is where, in having a loving and successful marriage, it really counted!
As soon as the couple were married Milly started to find things out about Burt that greatly disturbed her. Burt in fact was not the manager of the department store that he work in but a tie salesman who was stealing merchandise from the store to impress Milly! Milly was also shocked to find out that Burt originally came from Chicago not Wisconsin like he always told her. And the biggest surprise of all that Milly got about her now deceitful husband is that he was already married to the young, some 20 years her Junior, and pretty Virginia Hudson, Vera Miles, making her marriage to Burt not only illegal but Burt a bigamist!
With his shady past exposed Burt suddenly became both violent and schizophrenic going off the handle and becoming not only a danger to Milly but himself as well. We, as well as Milly, soon find out the reason for Burt's mental instability. That's when Milly spots Burt's estrange wife Virginia and his swinger dad Mr. Hudson, Loren Green, acting like two star struck young lovers or newlyweds at the hotel pool that Mr. Hanson was staying at!
***SPOILER ALERT*** One of Joan Crawford's best later films, when she was too old to play romantic parts, "Authumn Leaves" leaves you almost in tears in how Joan, as Milly Wetherby, had to suffer and put up with her mentally unstable husband throughout the entire movie. Never giving up on Burt, even after he belted her a couple of times, Milly finally had to have her very sick in the head husband institutionalized for his own good as well as safety. Burt who in his confused and unbalanced mind thought that Milly was trying to get back on him, in the pain and suffering he caused her, in having him committed in a sanitarium for the rest of his life found out in the end that she did it to help not to punish him.
More then anything else it was Burt who was to cure himself of the mental aberrations that he was suffering from more then the psychiatrists and shock treatment that he was getting at the sanitarium. But by far most of all Burt had to finally realize that Milly was not only his wife but good and caring friend as well in her helping him to cure himself on his severe mental illness. And in that Burt passed with flying colors!