Likable people get into a predicament that only mature adults can understand. Hollywood good guy Fred MacMurray takes on the two greatest film noir femme fatale of the 1940's, one of them his old scheming partner, Barbara Stanwyck. Wife Joan Bennett is more the woman in the nursery than the woman in the window, too busy with raising three children than acknowledging her husband MacMurray's desire to share her birthday with her. With the kids and even the housekeeper too busy to go to the theater with him, he is more than willing for companionship when old flame Stanwyck shows up. The evening out moves to a weekend away with her, and even though it seems even to the audience to be totally innocent, oldest child William Reynolds suspects more. An evening with Stanwyck with the family makes him certain that what he suspects is true, while Bennett's innocent emotional neglect of MacMurray makes him consider his options.
A remake of a 1934 romantic melodrama, this is just one 30's classic that Ross Hunter dusted off, scrapping off the moth balls to bring it up to date. It's nice to see two of my favorite Brooklyn gals, Stanwyck and Bennett, together, and it is ironic that as similar as they were in the 1940's, I couldn't imagine them switching roles.
Jane Darwell is the earthy housekeeper, while Pat Crowley is Reynolds's wise girlfriend who tries to get him to see reality. Ironically, Stanwyck's ex-husband, Robert Taylor, played the son in the original. The scene with Reynolds and Gigi Perreau confronting Stanwyck about the alleged affair is exactly the same as the original, but in retrospect, it is as dated as "Back Street" which had a similar scene. That alone gives credence to the line in a Mel Brooks song that asks, "Could it be real or Fanny Hurst?" This is not anything remarkable, but the three stars try to bring something smart to something so formula. These are the types of parts that the stars could play in their sleep. It lacks the color of Ross Hunter's other soap opera remakes, but somehow, that doesn't seem to be missing here.
A remake of a 1934 romantic melodrama, this is just one 30's classic that Ross Hunter dusted off, scrapping off the moth balls to bring it up to date. It's nice to see two of my favorite Brooklyn gals, Stanwyck and Bennett, together, and it is ironic that as similar as they were in the 1940's, I couldn't imagine them switching roles.
Jane Darwell is the earthy housekeeper, while Pat Crowley is Reynolds's wise girlfriend who tries to get him to see reality. Ironically, Stanwyck's ex-husband, Robert Taylor, played the son in the original. The scene with Reynolds and Gigi Perreau confronting Stanwyck about the alleged affair is exactly the same as the original, but in retrospect, it is as dated as "Back Street" which had a similar scene. That alone gives credence to the line in a Mel Brooks song that asks, "Could it be real or Fanny Hurst?" This is not anything remarkable, but the three stars try to bring something smart to something so formula. These are the types of parts that the stars could play in their sleep. It lacks the color of Ross Hunter's other soap opera remakes, but somehow, that doesn't seem to be missing here.