Silver Screen in a Red Envelope: A Diary of Time Wasted

 Maggie McNamara plays a very amusing character here, who surprisingly holds her own against the dynamic duo of David Niven and William Holden. It's not much of a love triangle, as Holden clearly has all the advantages (Niven is cast as a father, which mitigates his oodles of sex appeal), but that kind of tension doesn't really have the pull it must in current rom coms. The draw, the suspense, in this film isn't really about who loves whom, but rather, what they'll do to make it work. The film is more about conflicting personal philosophies than romantic tension. When the film first came out, it was quite shocking, but not for any real content. The reason this film so much appalled was the frank and casual way the characters (well, Ms. McNamara's character)  talked  about sex. Spoiler: as far as I can tell, they get married first. It's all quite innocent, ultimately.

 This lovely remake caught many of the best aspects of the original (1936 Oscar nominee), and is difficult to judge purely on its own merits, especially as the original was such a favorite. David Niven truly does capture a very proper sophistication that strikes a true chord. He proves himself a man of unusually sound moral character, and it doesn't hurt his image that the character has a probably aristocratic family history. June Allyson plays the slightly mad younger daughter almost believably. She's possibly a little old for the role, but her body type and acting ability compensate. The actress who plays Cordelia, her sister (Martha Hyer), is very beautiful, and puts Ms. Allyson into something of an unpleasant relief. This film is older, and the colors have faded a little, making the whole thing seem a little drab. The contrasting scenes could have been used much better in a kind of visual symbolism, but they weren't. Sad. The set builders could really have done a ...

This movie had few truly comic moments, but the mood remained light throughout. Jane Wyman plays a casual pin-up girl with some emotional intelligence (especially her theory on propinquity, which I have personally adopted as a literary theory), and David Niven plays a smothered concert pianist. The two hatch a plan to drive off a surly neighbor who tries to sleep during the day, and use the pianist's truly professional volume as a rather effective weapon. Unfortunately, though the neighbor is undoubtedly over-the-top surly, he still has a legitimate complaint. Boiled down, they drive him away simply because he has a night job. I pity him, through his comically belligerent scenes, and am a little disappointed that the pianist and his crush don't do more by way of diplomacy to help him sleep. They could offer to sound-proof his rooms, or buy him ear-plugs, or shift the more noisy families to a different floor. They do nothing of the kind. All-in-all, I enjoyed the film, but didn...