What's not to like in this film that covers so many categories and comes on top of all of them? The story, of course, is hyper-romantic but it's held in order by an under-stated treatment it so much needs. The music by Bernard Hermann is absolutely perfect in every way, unapologetically romantic and dreamy at the same time and never, never over-stated or saccharine. The leads are perfectly cast and feed off each other beautifully as if they were inventing the script as the events happened, which leads me to the point in particular that surprised me the most: so many writer-directors make films that are labored with verbose scripts which lack anything else but words on paper. Mankiewicz is guilty of this on a number of occasions in other films he's directed but here he is ideal and even memorable in his role as virtuoso director. This is a film to treasure.
Curtis Stotlar
Curtis Stotlar