In my opinion, the way to make this film credible would be to have had Walter Pidgeon as Paul. (Was he unavailable or just not asked?) He and Greer Garson (Marise) had a fantastic chemistry that would lead anyone to believe they were lovers offscreen as well as on. In more than one film they played happily married soulmates with a natural ease that shows they were true acting mates, perfectly in sync. Even with the movie's lack of romantic scenes between the couple, as well as few flashbacks of their happy marriage, just Greer and Walter together would be convincing enough to believe these two were one of those rare once-in-a-lifetime couples.
Trouble is, that's not the case between her and Robert Mitchum. While he's one of my fav actors, and has chemistry with a lot of leading ladies, I'm afraid Greer is not one of them. It just doesn't work. That being the case, you don't feel the emotional tug-of-war her character's supposed to be going through, wanting to move on with Jean (Richard Hart), while still wanting to believe er husband is still alive. Since she had more chemistry with Richard than with Robert, the whole story comes across wrong.
Also, the character of Jean should have been portrayed differently. The man's obviously mentally ill, obsessed with both Paul's life and his wife, and wanting to claim both, but he came on too strong. He should have played the part of a sympathetic friend, helping her through her grief after informing her of Paul's "death", then slowly let things take a romantic turn. Instead, he practically forces her to agree to marry him, a real emotional rapist.
Maybe Charles Boyer should have played Jean? Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon and Charles Boyer, what a triple combo that would have been!! Enough for me to add a few more stars to my rating!! Alas.....
Trouble is, that's not the case between her and Robert Mitchum. While he's one of my fav actors, and has chemistry with a lot of leading ladies, I'm afraid Greer is not one of them. It just doesn't work. That being the case, you don't feel the emotional tug-of-war her character's supposed to be going through, wanting to move on with Jean (Richard Hart), while still wanting to believe er husband is still alive. Since she had more chemistry with Richard than with Robert, the whole story comes across wrong.
Also, the character of Jean should have been portrayed differently. The man's obviously mentally ill, obsessed with both Paul's life and his wife, and wanting to claim both, but he came on too strong. He should have played the part of a sympathetic friend, helping her through her grief after informing her of Paul's "death", then slowly let things take a romantic turn. Instead, he practically forces her to agree to marry him, a real emotional rapist.
Maybe Charles Boyer should have played Jean? Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon and Charles Boyer, what a triple combo that would have been!! Enough for me to add a few more stars to my rating!! Alas.....