As Joe begins to gain Susan's attention, the Brown family goes about trying to figure out a subtle way to break up the potential couple. First, what appears to be a random job opportunity pops up for Joe, which would provide him opportunity for a solid career in accounting. The job so happens to be back in his hometown of Dufton. He learns by accident that the Brown family set him up for the job and so he turns it down. As that move failed, the Brown family sends Susan off to France.
That happiness doesn't last long. The mine owner cuts the wages due to what sounds like a recession. The workers go on strike. The father, Gwilym Morgan (Donald Crisp), opposes the strike and is ostracized by the community. The mother, Beth (Sara Allgood), and Huw fall into a frozen stream and suffer significant health consequences due to the exposure to the freezing temperatures. Angharad is courted by the mine owner's son and they marry -- even though she is still in love with the preacher. Ivor dies in a coal mining accident. Two of the other sons eventually get laid off from the mine and move to America. And as the movie ends, the father also dies in the mines.
During the drive, they mention the names of two individuals. Initially, I thought it might be their children as they look like a couple who are in their late 30s to 40s, but I later learned that the two individuals mentioned are close friends. Also, they seem rather direct and formal with each other, but considering that they're British it just feels that this might be normal.
They randomly run into some friends at a stop and this is where relational troubles start to arise. While at dinner, the couple are separated at the table and Alex spends time flirting with a female friend. Katherine is very unhappy about this situation. In revenge, she later brings up the fact that while she was dating Alex, a poet friend had tried to pursue her. In fact, she tells Alex, the poet showed up outside her window just before she was to be married. This ploy of hers to make Alex jealous backfires and actually creates a rift between the two.
As stated in the movie, the two of them had seldom spent time alone as a married couple. Instead, spending time with the two individuals mentioned earlier in the movie. After only a few days alone, they just find they can't get along with each other. In some ways, it is a wonder that they got married in the first place as their personal interests have no real intersection. Katherine finds excitement in visiting museums and historical sites. Alex finds excitement at bars and interactions with people. The wedge between them sends him looking into the possibility of having an affair.
As the wedge between them seems more like two roads diverging, Alex proposes that they just get a divorce. And yet, as the movie comes to a conclusion, Katherine finds herself separated from Alex during a religious town ceremony. She doesn't appear to be in any real danger so it seems more like she finds herself just not wanting to be separated from Alex. She calls out to him and he goes towards her. It is there that they realize that they do truly love each other.
The movie takes a glimpse into the life of a couple over a short period of time. One can see how this movie may have influenced Audrey Hepburn's "Two for the Road." That movie also deals with a well to do couple who are having relationship troubles that arise while they are on a trip. Is there potentially a hint that vacations cause family problems to arise? Actually, that can probably be seen in plenty of movies and in personal lives in general. Perhaps it even had an influence on a 1990s art movie called "Enchanted April."
I did enjoy the low key style of the movie and how it explored how a moment in time caused a relationship to rapidly fall apart. Yet, I question the happy ending of the movie. Was this a couple who really were in love? They just seem to have such diverse interests. Of course, maybe those interests only came to the surface due to the fact that they had plenty of free time. Perhaps one of the subtle points of the movie is that relationships aren't just built based on the two couples, but by the community and general time consuming moments that surrounds them -- be it the two friends that were missing or the work that occupied Alex's time.
The movie was initially released as "Viaggio in Italia," which explains the movie poster.
There are some interesting dynamics here. Larry's life was saved by a friend. The friend sacrificed his life for Larry's during the war. This causes Larry to want to examine the meaning of one's life versus striving to make America a dominant country. He is willing to live a simplified life, perhaps eventually taking a low paid job to help better support his family. This clashes with Isabel and Elliot who are wealthy and can't imagine not living with such wealth. Another interesting point is that even though Isabel and Elliot are snobbish about money, it doesn't necessarily prevent them from associated with other classes of society. Somehow Larry and Isabel did meet and fall in love. Isabel also is friends with the Sophie and Bob MacDonald (Anne Baxter and Frank Latimore) who appear to have a middle class lifestyle.
After that scene, we're introduced to Rick Masters who is a counterfeiter. He is in a warehouse, printing up fake $20 bills. We're introduced to a rather complex process and see how the bills are created from start to finish: from the drawing up of the bills to tossing the bills into a dryer to create a look of used bills.
We learn that Jimmy is just three days away from retirement, but has one last job to do. Another role of the Secret Service is to track down counterfeiting operations. He heads to the desert to track down Rick Masters. Somehow the Secret Service has figured out where the warehouse is. When he gets to the warehouse, he is shot dead.
A few days later, Richard and team head to the warehouse and find Jimmy's body, dumped into a garbage container. All the equipment has already been moved out except for the dryer (which honestly seems odd). Richard than takes over as lead investigator to track down Rick Masters. He is given a new partner named John Vukovich.
Spoilers: General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) meets with his subordinate General Mireau (George Macready) inside a palatial home turned into headquarters. Broulard tells Mireau that the French want to capture a German position called the "Anthill." Mireau protests, saying that it isn't possible and that his men have already suffered significant casualties. Broulard states that if Mireau takes on this task and succeeds, he will be promoted to a two star general. This perks Mireau's interest and he changes his tune, saying that he believes it is possible to take the position.
Mireau goes to the trenches where we get to see the contrast of the living conditions between the generals and the other officers / enlisted troops. The generals get to spend their time in the palatial homes while everyone else is stuck in the mire. He heads over to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) to tell him of the plan. Dax protests and Mireau threatens to put him on leave. Dax backs down and states that he will lead his men to battle.
That night, a scout team is sent out led by Lt. Roget (Wayne Morris). It includes two other individuals, one of them a Corporal Paris (Ralph Meeker). They make their way through the barbwire fencing. When they get closer to the German position the third individual is sent off to scout ahead. Roget panics when the individual doesn't return on a timely basis. He randomly throws a grenade and then takes off back to the French line. Paris doesn't want to leave the other man behind so goes off looking for him. He finds him dead, killed by the grenade. He then makes his way back to the French line where he finds Roget writing up a false report about how the situation played out.
The movie starts with Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) drinking the last drops of water from a gallon jug. He tosses the jug to the side. All you see is Texas desert. One might assume that he's going to die from dehydration out in this desert as there isn't any buildings or roads that one can see. He comes across a bar, grabs some ice cubes from a freezer, and then faints. He wakes up in a hospital, unable to speak. Via his belongings, the doctor is able to find a phone number and gives the phone number a call. The phone number is to Walt (Dean Stockton), Travis' brother, who lives in Los Angeles. Walt quickly flies out to Texas after telling his wife Anne (Aurore Clement). Anne asks what they should say to Hunter (Hunter Carson) -- someone we don't know anything about at this time. Walt tells Anne to let Hunter know that his father has come back onto the scene.
When Walt flies to Texas and locates Travis (who had decided to ramble off from the hospital), Travis is still unable to speak. But we slowly gain details about his life. He's been gone for about 4 years. Both he and his wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski) had just disappeared. Their son Hunter was just dropped off at the doorstep of Walt and Anne by, most likely, a third party when he was just 3. In fact, Walt and Anne had just assumed that Travis was dead and probably had told Hunter this fact. As time passed, the two of them treated Hunter as their own son and he started to call them mom and dad. At this point in time, Hunter is 7.
Instead of calling this a movie review, I'm going to call this an analysis. The movie starts with Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster) in a speakeasy. It is Prohibition and alcohol can't legally be served. He's inside with his fellow salesmen. Though he talks a good game, we rather quickly learn that he isn't a very good one, barely making it through life financially. He spends his time making sales pitches and sleeping with women in various cities that he's met during his travels.
In his travels, we quickly are met with two versions of Elmer Gantry and his relationship with Jesus and Christianity. At the speakeasy, what looks like Salvation Army volunteers enter and ask for donations. No one wishes to donate. Elmer gets up and asks the customers that they reconsider and make donations. He does so with a perfect sales pitch, but you have to wonder if he is simply mocking the Salvation Army volunteers. Off he goes to another city and drops by an African American church. He is the only white person in the church and he joins the singing with great gusto. By the faces of those in the church, you can tell that they think that he might be there as a joke. Yet, his enthusiasm wins them over. As he is a bit down on his luck, the pastor of the church actually gives him a job to earn a little money to help him on his way as well as providing him with lunch.
The movie opens with Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) sitting in his car. It is being towed through the city of Albuquerque. Seeing a newspaper office, he tells the tow driver to stop and he walks into the office to see if there is a job opening. We learn that Tatum has been fired as a journalist from various big city newspapers from New York to Detroit for various infractions even though he often wrote front page articles. Even with that hiring/firing background, the newspaper decides to hire him on the spot.
Her family as well as Preston are shocked that she wants to wear a red dress to the Olympus Ball, but she insists that she wishes to go in red. When they arrive at the ballroom, the crowd immediately rejects the couple. When on the dance floor, they are soon left alone as the rest of the couples move to the side. Julie sees that she's made a serious blunder and begs Preston to take her home, but he refuses, figuring -- I suppose -- that this is a way to teach Julie to be less spoiled. The Olympus Ball is more than just a social blunder, it also ends the engagement.
Preston moves to the North (business related to the bank) and Julie remains secluded in her home, avoiding all contact. The movie shifts to 1853 and there is the start of a Yellow Fever outbreak. Julie and her aunt move to Halcyon Plantation, which seems to be her property via her deceased parents. Preston also returns to the city and a homecoming party is set at Halcyon Planation. A group of friends show up, including Buck Cantrell (George Brent) who is a rejected suiter of Julie's. The reason for the party goes beyond a homecoming. It is meant as a way for Julie to win back Preston's heart. Unknown to her, Preston got married and he brings his wife, Amy (Margaret Lindsay) to the party.
