I was very tempted to give this film an "8", something I rarely do, and would have except for what I consider to be a couple of casting errors. Most importantly, something about John Lund just never seemed quite right to me in terms of being a leading man on the big screen. Sorry, but I can't put my finger on it, but he just doesn't ring true. For about a decade he did fairly well, but his career slowly fizzled out. The other casting error, although a relatively minor part, was that played by James Lorimer. Considering that he only ever appeared in 2 films, need I say more? On the other hand, the rose in this film isn't the leading lady, but rather the wonderful character actress Thelma Ritter, who earned an Oscar nomination for her supporting role here. Ritter was something special, and never more so than here (although I loved her as well as in "With A Song In My Heart").
Gene Tierney, the actual leading lady, is quite appealing here. It's a nice, positive role. I usually find Miriam Hopkins shrill, but here, where she plays the other mother-in-law -- in this case the one from hell -- she's actually quite good and added a lot to the film. Jan Sterling has a small an unimpressive role. Larry Keating's role as Lund's boss was nice...could have been expanded a bit as he realized he was falling in love with Thelma Ritter.
The story's a good one, and in the larger sense, an old-reliable: class differences, this time in a young marriage when the cook turns out to the be husband's hamburger-slinging cook. Is the rich wife the snob, or is the comparatively poor husband the slob? That's the crux of the film.
It's a neat little package, and I'm glad to see it get such high marks.
Gene Tierney, the actual leading lady, is quite appealing here. It's a nice, positive role. I usually find Miriam Hopkins shrill, but here, where she plays the other mother-in-law -- in this case the one from hell -- she's actually quite good and added a lot to the film. Jan Sterling has a small an unimpressive role. Larry Keating's role as Lund's boss was nice...could have been expanded a bit as he realized he was falling in love with Thelma Ritter.
The story's a good one, and in the larger sense, an old-reliable: class differences, this time in a young marriage when the cook turns out to the be husband's hamburger-slinging cook. Is the rich wife the snob, or is the comparatively poor husband the slob? That's the crux of the film.
It's a neat little package, and I'm glad to see it get such high marks.