Hilda Crane

Women dominate the movie : Jean Simmons, excellent as ever, as a woman who wants to live like a man at a time woman's lib had not yet happened ; her character is very modern : a racy past ,two failed marriages and yet,she comes back to her native town to latch onto one of the best matches :Russell ,a well-to-do guy ,still waiting for her . But this boy has an overpossessive mom, masterfully played by Evelyn Varden as the worst mother-in-law you can think of :doesn't she get as far as to compile a complete file about Hilda ,actions , doings ?

By comparison ,male acting is lackluster:Guy Madison was not suited for melodramas -action movies is his field- and French romantic male lead of the thirties in his native land Jean -Pierre Aumont is already too old for the part of a professor/novelist:maybe his slight accent could seduce a woman who's seen it all before ?or is -it some nostalgia for her student years?

The colors are sparkling in the restored version , recalling Douglas Sirk's melodramas ,but the master is not here .