Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on May 30, 2009 at 13:59:40

mental illness I've ever seen. She was nominated for the role but, somehow, didn't win. She should have! This is one of the screen's great performances and not to be missed by any true film lover.
Raymond Massey, as the loyal husband in a role very different from his usual, mostly villainous portrayals, superlatively portrays a man so deeply in love that he is blind to her serious emotional illness. Van Heflin plays a philandering cad with enough suaveness, wit, and heat that we almost forgive him.
Yes, the film shows it's day by its outdated clinical dialogue between psychiatrists but the power of the narrative, the force of the characters overwhelm any weakness.
Bette Davis, Crawford's rival, originally was to star in this vehicle created for her but maternity interceded. It is difficult to imagine any improvement over Crawford's nuanced, haunting, and terrifying character.