MovieChat Forums > Autumn Leaves (1956) Discussion > Odd film..

Odd film..

posted 16 years ago by imdb050106
6 replies | jump to latest

My VCR broke some time ago, and I've only been watching DVD's for a number of years...This was sitting in a pile of unwatched videos - I didn't do any research on it, and had no idea of what to expect.

It was weird seeing the 50's types, dealing with some pretty racy material! There was even a scene through an open door of an unmade bed.

The previous scene showed Lorne Greene and Vera Miles coming from the pool, and acting "playful" with eachother...So the implication is that they got back to their room they "went at it", so to speak, and Chris Robertson walked in on them and saw them - history repeating itself which sent him over the edge.

The scene where Joan is calling Vera Miles a SLUT and a TRAMP is fantastic! Once again - I didn't know you were allowed to use the word SLUT on film in 1956.

Can't you just see the ladies having lunch at the department store restaurant downtown Pasadena, then going off to see this film at the Rialto in 1956??

Fabulous!!!

[–] zuzupetal_99 15 years ago

I too was surprised about the unmade bed after the pool scene as well as using "slut" in the movie!

I was interested in the movie, until around where we discover what has caused Burt to lie & hide his past. I can understand being distraut about finding your wife having an affair w/ your own father, but I can't believe you'd completely go crazy! The most disturbing scene was when he hurls a typewriter at Joan Crawford's head and it ends up smashing her hand - that was so violent, and I ended up hating Burt for that. It also seemed sick that he'd be committed to a sanitarium for 6 mos & recieve shock therapy! Maybe that was typical for the times?

The acting was very good though, but I didn't end up liking it all that much by the time it was over.

"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl

[–] daynlarz 14 years ago

Where Mili confronts Burt's father and ex was a great seen. Best line was:

"You, his loving, doting fraud of a father! And you, you SLUT! You're both so consumed with evil, so ROTTEN! Your filthy souls are too evil for Hell itself!"

Wow!

DaynLarz

[–] jamesabutler44 14 years ago

It was a great "scene"

[–] Ripshin 12 years ago

Try watching "Peyton Place" (1957).

[–] jrhpax 9 years ago

If I had to use a single word to describe the script and Joan's acting, it would be "ludicrous."

The best thing about the movie was Cliff Robertson's acting. But the rest of the movie was atrocious, jaw-dropping, ridiculous ...

My favorite laugh-out-loud moment was when Joan called Vera Miles a "slut." This comment came from an actress who Bette Davis said had slept with every male in Hollywood except Lassie and whom Bette Davis called "Hollywood's original case of syphilis."

I also laughed at the ridiculous final scene in which Joan rambles on and on, making all sorts of false assumptions. I can't imagine anyone making such a speech, or Cliff Robertson not interrupting this speech.

I'll admit that the movie is so ludicrous that it's entertaining.

[–] liscarkat (18429) 4 years ago

Good movie, and Crawford was excellent, as always. As for personal comments from Davis, they were frequently rash and hyperbolic. In her old age she retracted quite a few of them.