Tierna es la noche

When this was released I managed to see most films first-run, except the ones clearly aimed at my age group. (Such a snob, n'est-ce pas?!?) So, being a fan of both Jennifer and Joan, I went to a Los Angeles-area theater with top-notch projection and sound. Back then Twentieth-Century Fox rarely stinted on sending companies to the actual locales of the stories being filmed, so this one has plenty of its share of gorgeous shots set in Switzerland and elsewhere on the Continent, as I recall.

But, as other comments herein attest, the rest is somewhat of a disappointment. Henry King, the director, seemed to encourage Jennifer Jones in some of her less-attractive mannerisms which somehow were not so apt as a rendition of her character's mental distress. Jason Robards, Jr. was never much of a success as a romantic lead, in my opinion. And Joan Fontaine was assigned the rather thankless role of a rich "bitch." All in all it's a prime example of how the studio "system" was growing out of touch with an ever-younger movie audience. Nevertheless for those of us who have always appreciated luxurious eye candy, it was a fairly tasty treat.

The great 20th century American novelists all created books that were difficult to transfer to the big screen successfully. Hollywood had better luck adapting the short stories of Faulkner and Hemingway to the motion picture medium than with their master works. Fitzgerald was no exception. None of his masterpieces was a total success when rewritten as screenplays, even when directed by such skilled artisans as Henry King. Only John Steinbeck's works were ready-made for media exchanges. But who would place him on the same creative sphere as Faulkner, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald? "Tender is the Night" has its moments of greatness, in particular toward the end and who can fault the acting of such a stellar cast.

One distraction for this viewer was the failure of the director and cinematographer to capture on film the essence of The Jazz Age the way Fitzgerald did in his novel. This version of "Tender is the Night" has the 1960's written all over it from the clothes worn to a jet-set aura rather than the Lost Generation expatriate ambiance of the Fitzgerald masterpiece. Even the music is more 1930's swing than 1920's jazz. The only saving grace in the music department is the original score provided by virtuoso composer Bernard Herrmann.

All that remains of Fitzgerald is the bare bones story of the cosmopolitan Divers, focusing on Dr. Dick Diver, played with élan by Jason Robards Jr, a psychiatrist, married to Nicole (Jennifer Jones), who has suffered a mental breakdown. The good doctor becomes both a husband and an analyst to his mentally unbalanced spouse. On the French Riviera just before the stock market crash of 1929, Dr. Diver, near middle age, meets and falls for a rising starlet, Rosemary Hoyt (Jill St. John). As the plot thickens, Dr. Diver slides into a maelstrom of drunken escapades until he hits rock bottom. The story somewhat parallels Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda's own experiences, though Fitzgerald claimed it was based on friends Gerald and Sara Murphy's struggles.

By all means read the novel before watching this screen adaptation. I recommend the film only as a supplement to the book, perhaps Fitzgerald's best work.

Well, c'est la vie.

A wonderful cast and beautiful scenery are the highlights of "Tender is the Night," a 1962 film starring Jason Robards, Jennifer Jones, Tom Ewell, Joan Fonaine, Jill St. John, and Paul Lukas. The film is based on a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald wrote beautiful prose, but much of his work has been difficult to adapt to the screen. He himself worked as a writer in Hollywood but wound up uncredited on most of the scripts and told someone that he did recognize one of his lines in a film that evidently had not been cut from a script.

In this film, Robards plays Dick Driver, a psychiatrist who falls for one of his patients, Nicole (Jones). Nicole is being treated for mental instability, the result of incest (though this is only hinted at). When Dick realizes his feelings, and hers, he quickly distances himself, but she runs into him after she leaves the sanitarium and the two wind up getting married.

Nicole is filthy rich, and the money is controlled by her sister (Joan Fontaine). Dick gets lulled into the good life, the parties, the travel, the luxury, and while he intends to return to his work at the sanitarium and finish a book, he doesn't go. This is mainly because the insecure and sometimes paranoid Nicole is resistant. When he finally returns to the sanitarium, his mentor (Lukas) is dying and the sanitarium has been taken over by a colleague, who only wants Driver's investment. Driver refuses, since he would have to get the money from Nicole, but she insists. But for Driver, it feels like it's all too late.

The acting is superb and Jones, one of my favorites, looks gorgeous throughout. She is somewhat nervous and mannered as Nicole, but that's the character, and she captures her. Robards is strong, emotional, and excellent as the deeply convicted Driver. And how wonderful to see Paul Lukas. I actually recognized his voice and then looked at his face -- I'm so used to seeing him in movies made 20 years earlier that I didn't recognize him at first.

The problem with the film for me is that so much that goes on is beneath the surface -- this can be a fascinating feature, but it is directed at too leisurely a pace by Henry King. The St. John character is never really fleshed out, she darts in and out of the picture; ditto the drunken composer played by Tom Ewell. We just don't know enough about him to care. Joan Fontaine wears some great clothes and acts well, and we do get to know her somewhat.

The other problem is the time in which it is set, which seems a bit generic. It's supposed to be the '20s - I can tell by the music - but not by anything else. The ambiance is '60s.

Nevertheless, Tender is the Night was an ambitious project that probably could have used some judicious editing, but if you're a Jones fan you won't want to miss it.

and stilted about this film, and its casting.

Jason Robards who always delivers, just seems wooden and ineffectual as Dick Diver. Jennifer Jones as the ever desirable, but tragic Nicole Diver, just seems unsympathetic, even strident and cruel.

The alcohol flows freely and the jet-set lifestyle is invoked by a humorous Tom Ewell, who sings the movies theme song at the beginning of this disjointed movie. (Tom Ewell is forever planted in my memory as Marilyn Monroes bumbling neighbor in "The Seven Year Itch", or as the silly, clichéd father in "State Fair") That being said, it almost seems as if the writers did not know how to treat the subject of psychoanalysis and mental illness. F Scott Fitgerald and his wife endured tragedy, his wife Zelda Sayre Fitgerald was diagnosed with schizophrenia while still in her 20's. She was delusional at times, and probably never walked around at all times looking like a John Robert Powers model,(as Jones does in this movie).

It was 1962 after all, psychoanalysis was chic and stylish, so this film presents the illness as stylish and merely the effect of being rich and bored on the French Riviera. I wanted to like this film, but it is sorely dated and due for a remake. If nothing else it aptly demonstrates society stigma and misconceptions when portraying mental illness. No wonder there is still so much denial, if this film was considered an acceptable story of a physician and his wife in 1962. Worth seeing as a curiosity. 5/10.

'Tender is the Night' remains one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's most important works, but, sadly, he, today, is not recognized as one of America's truly formidable writers. Film representations have not always worked, but his characterizations are etched superbly when given to the right performer e.g. Alan Ladd's extraordinary depiction in 'The Great Gatsby'. The film of 'Tender is the Night' had been criticized for all the wrong reasons, one of them, perhaps, relating to the fact that some critics continued to misinterpret the work of Jennifer Jones, surely as fine an actress of the era as is Meryl Streep today. Perhaps Selznick did limit her access to some of the best scripts offered, but, here, in 'Tender', she is still so absolutely right in every movement and shading of Nicole's character. Jason Robards, a brilliant actor, may not have been perfectly cast, but Joan Fontaine, in the latter part of her career, expertly captures the selfish, ego-involved woman of the era. Jill St. John and Tom Ewell are only adequate, but, in total, the film works because of the expert script, the cinematography, the music, King's direction, and the ever-important work of Fontaine and Jones. Both of these women essayed numerous kinds of roles in their careers. Here, Jennifer Jones is still in top form, and the film deserves to be reevaluated.