"Tender is the Night" seemed to be the sort of film Jennifer Jones should not have been making at that time in her career. She was a woman who had emotional problems that seemed uncomfortably close to the problems her character in the film experienced.
The film is based on what is considered F. Scott Fitzgerald's most autobiographical novel. According to some sources, Jennifer Jones' character, Nicole Diver, was based on Fitzgerald's marriage to a highly-strung woman who suffered from severe psychological disorders.
Like Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises", the film is set among expatriate Americans in Europe in the 1920's. Nicole (Jennifer Jones) is married to psychiatrist Dick Diver (Jason Robards). They are financially well off and their life revolves around serious partying. They even have a resident, alcoholic, piano playing composer, Abe North, played by Tom Ewell, who is frustrated at having a great melody stuck in his system.
We learn through flashback that Nicole had been Dick's patient and there is concern that she may not really be cured and that Dick himself may have issues. Infidelity lurks in every corner, especially when a young starlet takes a fancy to Dick. Eventually Nicole and Dick drift apart as Dick heads deeper into alcoholism (as did Fitzgerald).
Jennifer Jones still exuded that amazing aura and fits the part well; too well if one is aware of her story.
Cary Grant was considered for the part of Dick Diver, but it finally went to Jason Robards. Although he was a brilliant stage and character actor, Robards didn't project the charisma of a Cary Grant, and maybe that's what was needed.
Although the final scenes do pack a punch, for the most part the film seems dry and talky.
There is location work in Switzerland and France with brilliant scenes at the end shot on the French Riviera, but much of the interior studio work is flat and uninspired. Also, Bernard Herrmann's score doesn't marry with the fabric of the film the way his scores did for "Vertigo", "North By Northwest" and many others.
The actors are photographed mainly at the middle distance with few close-ups. Possibly Selznick forbade closing in on Jennifer Jones who was about 43 at the time. She looked fabulous though with a tightly bobbed hairstyle.
Big and glossy, the film is interesting more for the behind-the-scenes story, but for Jennifer Jones fans, she is still a good reason to seek it out.
The film is based on what is considered F. Scott Fitzgerald's most autobiographical novel. According to some sources, Jennifer Jones' character, Nicole Diver, was based on Fitzgerald's marriage to a highly-strung woman who suffered from severe psychological disorders.
Like Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises", the film is set among expatriate Americans in Europe in the 1920's. Nicole (Jennifer Jones) is married to psychiatrist Dick Diver (Jason Robards). They are financially well off and their life revolves around serious partying. They even have a resident, alcoholic, piano playing composer, Abe North, played by Tom Ewell, who is frustrated at having a great melody stuck in his system.
We learn through flashback that Nicole had been Dick's patient and there is concern that she may not really be cured and that Dick himself may have issues. Infidelity lurks in every corner, especially when a young starlet takes a fancy to Dick. Eventually Nicole and Dick drift apart as Dick heads deeper into alcoholism (as did Fitzgerald).
Jennifer Jones still exuded that amazing aura and fits the part well; too well if one is aware of her story.
Cary Grant was considered for the part of Dick Diver, but it finally went to Jason Robards. Although he was a brilliant stage and character actor, Robards didn't project the charisma of a Cary Grant, and maybe that's what was needed.
Although the final scenes do pack a punch, for the most part the film seems dry and talky.
There is location work in Switzerland and France with brilliant scenes at the end shot on the French Riviera, but much of the interior studio work is flat and uninspired. Also, Bernard Herrmann's score doesn't marry with the fabric of the film the way his scores did for "Vertigo", "North By Northwest" and many others.
The actors are photographed mainly at the middle distance with few close-ups. Possibly Selznick forbade closing in on Jennifer Jones who was about 43 at the time. She looked fabulous though with a tightly bobbed hairstyle.
Big and glossy, the film is interesting more for the behind-the-scenes story, but for Jennifer Jones fans, she is still a good reason to seek it out.