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FOOLISH HEART (director: Mark
Robson; screenwriter: Julius and Philip Epstein/adapted
from the New Yorker short story “Uncle Wiggily in
Connecticut”
by J. D. Salinger; cinematographer: Lee
Garmes; editor: Daniel Mandell; music: Victor Young;
cast: Dana Andrews
(Walt
Dreiser), Susan Hayward (Eloise Winters), Kent Smith (Lew Wengler), Lois Wheeler (Mary Jane), Jessie Royce Landis (Martha Winters), Robert Keith (Henry Winters),
Gigi Perreau (Ramona), Karin Booth (Miriam Ball),
Martha Mears (Night Club Singer),
Philip Pine (Sgt. Lucey), Edna
Holland (Dean Whiting); Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating:
NR; producer: Samuel Goldwyn; RKO; 1949) "Salinger was so dismayed at what Hollywood did to his story, that it was the first and last time that they got their hands on one of his stories." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz Director
Mark Robson ("The Ghost Ship"/"The Seventh
Victim"/"Bedlam") directs in a workmanlike
way this sentimental, talky, soap opera woman's pic
that's written by the Epstein brothers, Julius
and Philip, who wrote Casablanca. It's based
on a short story called “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” by J. D. Salinger, which
appeared in the New Yorker. The reclusive Salinger was
so dismayed at what Hollywood did to his story, that
it was the first and last time that they got their
hands on one of his stories. The movie took its title
from the hit song, whose music was by Victor Young and
lyrics by Ned Washington. Susan Hayward is in the lead
role, playing a superficial vulnerable coed who
blossoms into a sour-puss cynical suburbanite. It's a
broad role that's well-within Ms. Hayworth's limited
range of acting, and it's no surprise that she hits
all the slow pitches. The surprise is that it's not
enough to save the film from being so foolish. The pic opens in 1949 when
Mary Jane (Lois
Wheeler) visits the self-absorbed Eloise Winters Wengler (Susan Hayward), her former
college roommate she lost contact with, in her
Connecticut suburban estate. The ladies have not
spoken for seven years, when Eloise stole Mary Jane's
boyfriend Lew Wengler (Kent Smith) and married him
during wartime. The couple are not happy even though
Lew is a successful businessman and they live in
material comfort. They have a seven year old daughter
named Ramona (Gigi
Perreau), who
we learn is not the biological daughter of Lew but the
child from Eloise's former lover, NYC playboy Walt
Dreiser (Dana Andrews). Now that Lew has asked for a
divorce, the nasty Eloise threatens to tell him that
the child is not his. In flashback, we return to
Woodley College, in New York, in 1941, where the nice
girl from Boise, Eloise, fell madly in love with Walt
after meeting him at a party and while dating Lew.
When caught by the dean (Edna Holland) after hours kissing Walt
goodnight in the dorm elevator, Eloise is expelled.
Dad and mom (Robert Keith & Jessie Royce Landis) come to take her back to
Boise by train, but Eloise talks dad into letting her
live in the city and work in a department store to see
if she can marry the elusive Walt. But he gets drafted
and while on leave knocks her up. Before Eloise can
tell Walt the good news, he is killed in a plane crash
overseas. On the rebound, Eloise decides she no longer
wants to be a nice girl and even though she
doesn't love Lew, she traps him in a loveless
marriage. Lew is a soon to be army officer after Pearl
Harbor, and when he returns from the war they live
unhappily ever after until their upcoming divorce. I found it hard to get into
this sappy Hollywood melodrama and even harder to find
it believable (never believing Susan was ever a nice
girl). REVIEWED ON 9/17/2011 GRADE: C+ Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |