Solid

Saw this for the first time last night, and the OP addresses this film's positive elements. Having said that I would not have rated it too highly, as it imo inadequately "explains" the extent of Gable's attraction to Kelly's character, beyond the obvious fact of her beauty. But that dynamic does not take place in a vaccuum, and Ava Gardner's Eloise is not the kind of woman who is obviously outshone here. Since the whole tension of hte film's main story line concerns that effective comparison, I did find it a bit hard to accept.

Of course the film DOES end in a if you will logical result, but more it is suggested out of concern for Mr. Nordley than in choosing Eloise over Mrs. Nordley.

Having said that I gave it a 9, mostly for Gardner's extraordinary performance here. The film crackles every scene she is in, and the dialogue they gave her is also extraordinary. I don't know if this is Gardner's best work, but it is a tremendous performance.

Gable is his usual huge screen presence, a natural Hollywood star, here in the latter stages of his career, but still at 52 the convincing leading man, even when pursuing Gardner, 21 years his junior, but Kelly, 28 years and only 24.

Kelly herself plays a somewhat annoying character, to me, anyway, but as intended, and this is also a fine performance. Not her first major film role, that would imo be in High Noon, a year earlier, but still early in her career.

I also surprised myself by very much enjoying the footage of the locatoin shots of the wild animals. What a hoot.

Not sure where the 6.7 cumulative rating comes from, because this was a very good film heightened by the spectacular performance by Ava Gardner.

Actually, not much going on there. It does have some nice scenery, interesting shots of various furry (and not so furry) animals, three big stars with Gardner being indeed the standout... but that's about it. Meanwhile, the whole love triangle somewhat unconvincing, the pacing uneven, the dialogue merely passable and there really is no compelling adventure or action to speak of. A rather likeable picture, but certainly nothing special.

However, John Ford finally manages to go through the entire movie without a single instance of any idiotic vaudevillian "comic relief" that plagues all the other films I've seen from the guy. That's commendable. A rating of 6,5/10 seems fair overall.



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan