(Possible spoiler) A disappointing movie. The romantic relationship between Ward/ Gable and Brown/Baker is never really believable, due as much to the script as to the performances. Also, watching Gable closely in this flick it is hard for me to understand his near-legendary status as an actor ; although he projects a certain insouciant charm, his style is very mannered and artificial, the very antithesis of Method. Having someone like Claudette Colbert to play against, as in "It Happened One Night", helps him, but the presence of the truly awful Carrol Baker as his inamorata only brings out the worst in both of them. The best performances in the movie are unquestionably those of the second-billers - Lee J. Cobb as the has-been playwright and Lilli Palmer as Ward's ex. The running theme of Gable/Ward dealing with his advancing years - the alarm clock for his pills, the way his age keeps changing each time he announces it - is entertainingly done. And let's face it, you just knew from the start he was going to get back with Kathyryn/Lilli, didn't you??? (An interesting insight into the change in social mores in forty years is provided by Gable/Ward's observation that it was illegal for an unmarried couple to book a single cabin on a liner)
Review of But Not for Me
