The Country Girl

More backstage melodrama than morality tale on the perils of drink, "The Country Girl" is watchable but only occasionally gripping entertainment, perhaps because it lacks the perfect casting that made the James Mason / Judy Garland "A Star Is Born" such a superior film. For me casting one of the leads against type can be considered daring but two seems reckless and for all that it was Crosby and Kelly who got the main acting plaudits, it's William Holden's ever reliable character-work which for me centres and grounds the film, if not quite catapulting it into the "classic" firmament for which it so earnestly strives.

For one thing I couldn't believe Kelly as the downtrodden frump she appears to be here and for another Crosby, while you can see him really trying (part of the problem) never convinced me at any time that he was a drunk in the way that Ray Milland did so well in "The Lost Weekend".

I found the plot unconvincing too, with the melodramatic motive for Crosby's actions overplayed, the triangular affair when Holden falls for Kelly seemingly coming out of nowhere, while the musical interludes by the celebrated Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin sound some way off their best work, unlike some of the great songs in the aforementioned Garland movie.

All the same, as you'd expect from award-winning playwright Clifford Odets, there are some telling lines amongst all the exchanges (this is a very talky film), I liked the way Crosby's significant flashback was delayed until over 30 minutes into the film and the long cutaway shot at the conclusion makes for an effective finish. In the end though, this country girl needed a bit more air to really come alive, although some tribute is due to the producers for tackling a largely taboo subject in Hollywood.

Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and William Holden star in "The Country Girl," a 1954 film written and directed by George Seaton, based on the play by Clifford Odets. Crosby plays Frank Elgin, a former Broadway star who hit the skids after the death of his son ten years earlier. Kelly is his wife, Georgie, and Holden is Bernie Dodd, the director of a musical that he has determined will be Frank's comeback. I think it was asking a lot of any performer, no matter how great, to make this Oklahoma rip-off a hit, but Dodd thinks Frank is his man. Dodd takes an immediate dislike to Georgie, who reminds him of his ex-wife. He believes that Frank's dependence on her and helplessness was encouraged by her. Little does he know, Frank puts on a happy face, but in reality, he's lying to Dodd about his true relationship with Georgie and the reason for his fall from grace.

The very strong script is brilliantly acted by its three stars, and for each actor, it was probably their best role. Crosby is not only terrific, but he's a revelation as the alcoholic, weak Frank; Holden pulls out all the stops as the uptight Bernie Dodd; and Kelly is excellent as Georgie. There is still much controversy about whether or not she should have won the Oscar over Judy Garland in "A Star is Born," but anyone who has studied the Oscars knows one thing - whether Kelly deserved the award or not, every time a beautiful woman dresses down and makes herself look plain, she wins an Oscar - Elizabeth Taylor, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron - the list is endless. It's sure fire. Personally, I think Kelly is great in this, and they should have done without the glasses - the fact that she and Frank were too poor for her to afford nice clothes or hair dye would have been enough. Beauty is beauty, and you can't hide it behind a pair of glasses. And what was wrong with Frank being married to a beautiful woman? In one flashback, we're allowed to see her as she was. I'll go out on a limb and say that as much as I loved Judy in "A Star is Born," Georgie Elgin was a real stretch for Kelly.

Beautifully directed by Seaton, "The Country Girl" has a real feel of the theater, of internal fights between producer and director, of dressing rooms and hotels on the road.

An excellent movie all around.

I accidentally came across this movie on a classic movie channel and decided to watch. I have never considered Bing Crosby or Grace Kelly to be academy award winning actors, and I knew little of William Holden's acting abilities. I was both surprised and moved to tears in watching the compelling performances of these actors. I forgot that they were the "stars" and only saw them as the desperate individuals that they portrayed. I also realized that scripts like those no longer appear in contemporary films. Each word chosen for it's precision, poignancy and heart. Also surprising is how well the disease of alcoholism was understood even at that time, although there are sadly still many in society today who lack that level of sophistication to fully comprehend the agonizing aspects of alcoholism both to the individual addict and his family. Brilliantly performed by all! Thank you.

BING CROSBY gives his all to the role of a washed up actor fixated on guilt (and the bottle) while GRACE KELLY and WILLIAM HOLDEN give even finer performances as the two people who quarrel over how to reform his guzzling ways.

The weakness here is not the script. It's the dull musical numbers assigned to Crosby, who carries them off in the usual amiable Crosby manner, before he reverts to character as Frank Elgin. Nevertheless, when he's down and out, he gives a very painfully convincing portrait of a weak alcoholic man who shifts all of the blame to his wife. I suspect Clifford Odets may have based his portrait of this weak man on actor Frank Fay (once married to Barbara Stanwyck), whose career was destroyed by alcoholism and who depended on breezy charm for his appeal.

There are some really searing scenes between Kelly and Holden, fireworks that never seem less than realistic as a result of two completely realized characters that come to life in a well-written script. Holden is particularly fine in a difficult, demanding role that forces him to gradually shift his sympathy as he realizes who the real culprit is. His performance is the strongest of the three stars.

Grace Kelly subdues her aristocratic ways (and her prissy affected manners and voice) to play a woman who knows what the truth is behind her husband's weakness. She looks as forlorn and beaten as the script requires, always completely in touch with her character's moods and feelings. There are little nuances all along that show what a fine actress she could be under superb direction and given some brilliant dialog.

Fascinating as a portrait of theater people, but a letdown whenever it strays into the producing of a show that looks to be as feeble as any amateur production could be with hopes of becoming Broadway bound.

Neverthelss, a gritty, searing, truthful drama that is well worth watching for the performances alone.

All the other comments here-on the quality of the three leads' acting, the somberness of the film, the plot, etc--I agree w/ pretty much. For me the standout was not Grace but Bing. He was cast vs type the most and if anyone deserved an oscar here, it was him. Grace was fine, but still-it's like seeing Michelle Pfieffer or Theresa Russell playing frumpy-it don't really work.

Typical solid 50's dramatics, Holden in his element as always, very believable.

***1/2 outta ****