Movies

Susan Slade (1961) Judging by the trailer I saw a while back, I expected this three-hankie technicolor weeper to be laughably atrocious - instead it pounded me into a teary-eyed jelly with its sweeping violins, grand crane shots and soft-focus close-ups. Connie Stevens' shipboard romance ends in a fate worse than death - for 1961 - and her family must conspire to pretend her child is only her brother to avoid total disaster. It's hard to believe I lived in a time when this was normal, and an unwed pregnancy meant such fear and tragedy. Rather a daring handling of the subject for that time. This is a spectacular big-budget production, with foreign and domestic locations, and the vast indoor/outdoor soundstage setting of the family home is a beautiful piece of design. Even the mailbox is great. The cinematography is breathtaking, the acting is earnest and touching, as expected from Lloyd Nolan as the most wonderful father ever, and surprisingly from Connie Stevens whom I had never seen in anything so demanding. No heartstring is left unplucked. Written and directed by Delmer Daves, who is on my radar now. An outstanding melodrama for the discriminating viewer. 8/10