Not as a Stranger

[mrsl]

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I don't think we've ever discussed this fine melodrama here on SSO. We did some cursory posts a couple of years ago on the old TCM, but I never got much of a reaction, so I'll try again.

So far, it's been a great morning. I woke up as the opening credits were rolling on Not as a Stranger (which I've seen umpteen times), on FOX BTW, then I got my bread pudding into the oven, and I'm getting ready to sit down with Heaven Knows Mr. Allison also for the umpteenth time on TCM.

To begin with, directed by Stanley Kramer, the cast alone makes this a movie worth seeing - Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, Olivia deHavilland, Gloria Graham, Lee Marvin (in a small roll), Broderick Crawford, Charles Bickford, Lon Chaney as a boozy Dad to Mitchum, Harry Morgan (as a Swede, and what an accent!!), and finally Mae Clarke as a nurse. Mitchum as Lucas Marsh, a self-serving, egotistical, loner but an excellent medical student and eventually surgeon, marries Olivia for her money after his father drinks up Lukes' inheritance from his mother. All through med school Frank Sinatra is Lukes' best buddy who understands his boorish ways and always finds a way to forgive. Charles Bickford is the old small town doctor who brings the young couple to take his place when he dies from a bad heart, but nobody knows that part of it. Gloria Graham is the femme fatale here who agrees to play with Luke, but lets him know from the beginning that she realizes he's not the kind who can play around, and eventually his conscience will overcome his lusty ways. The movie is just over 2 hours long, but the time is needed because Kramer back stories everyone, so you really know your players, and it keeps moving all the time. You're not twirling your thumbs waiting for something to happen. There's a wonderful play on sex between Luke and Gloria using horses and opening gates, but someone once told me it was an awful scene, but se le vie. Also a funny one with Frank in the back of an ambulance with a patient.

As I said, this is definitely a melodrama, but it's different from a lot of others because it's not full of phony declarations and promises. Luke make them, but we know he doesn't mean them at all because his actions are always prefaced by a scene that describes what he plans to do, or like when he hugs his wife who says she loves him, the camera is on his face showing his discomfort in responding in kind. Also, as 'best buddies' one guy is not always cleaning up after the other one, I mean taking care of him when he get drunk, or in a fight, etc. That sort of stuff doesn't happen because these are adult people coping with adult situations with their brains, not their fists. As I said, even the sexy love scenes are done by representation. I've had the book for years but it's so thick, I've never taken the time to sit and read it.

Robert Mitchum, of course was my first draw to the film, but even if he was not the star, I still believe I would be hooked on it as a favored item to revisit often. I would love some comments from others who have seen it.

I hope some of you who have never seen Heaven Know Mr. Allison, thought to tape it. Again Mitchum, but well worth watching, especially with Deborah Kerr as the Nun. They compliment each other greatly.
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[ken123]

Not being a Sinatra fan or Olivia fan, I dont dislike them either, I a have not seen theis movie. next time its airs on TCH I'll give it a look see.