User reviews

"From The Terrace" is a nice, though long and cliched drama. Like many dramatic films of the late 50s and early 60s, it thrived on issues related to class, family duty, sexual frustration, honesty (most importantly, towards oneself), and wealth and ambition as the literal poison/obstacle to attain true love.

In many ways, while watching this, I found myself comparing it in my mind to other more successful, and perhaps better achieved films of its time like Robson's own "Peyton Place" (1957), Douglas Sirk's "Imitation of Life" (1959) and "All That Heaven Allows" (1955), and one of my personal favourites, the British masterpiece, "Room at the Top" (1959). Firstly, it seemed to me that the film was trying to replicate the aesthetics (in looks, scenery, colour, glamour, and even, music) of other melodramas, particularly Sirk's. Not to diminish Robson as a director at all, but there was something rather uninventive and shallow in his stylistic choices. Even Joanne Woodward (who I hugely admire), as Mary St. John, seemed a bit off in her looks to me - sort of like a bad imitation of Lana Turner. Ultimately, the film failed in its ability to fully grasp me, emotionally speaking.

Secondly, the film felt a bit too long; I even wondered at some point if it had needed some extra editing before its release. However, perhaps the screenplay in itself wasn't too exciting and rich to begin with. This realisation is what led me to compare it to "Room at the Top", as both films dealt with similar themes around young men trying to make something of themselves, and wealth and ambition getting in their way of love and happiness. "Terrace" however, falls quite short of depth and viability that "Top" had, particularly for a 144-min long film.

Don't get me wrong, though. There are very rewarding things in this film. I particularly enjoyed the work of Paul Newman, Ina Balin, and (oh what a joy!) Myrna Loy (even if her appearances in the film are rather brief). There are also a lot of "soapy"/over the top scenes as well, which are not only amusing, but also display the great skill of the cast at immersing themselves in their characters and completely pulling it off. Notably, I highlight Woodward's aptitude for portraying the sexually repressed and slutty nature of Ms. St. John, and I found myself oddly fascinated and attracted to Paul Newman's convincing role as an angry/fearless/hard-working young man (of course, very well-known territory for him).

Do give "From the Terrace" a chance if you like dramatic films from this era, but as I have made it clear above, I don't think it will seduce/move you as much as other similar films of the time. It has an amazing cast, it is well performed, decently executed, but the emotional power that it aims to convey, simply isn't there. Blame it on the lengthy novel that this is based on, the director's stylistic choices, or the film's overall banality, but never on the amazing talented cast.

In this story from 20th Century Fox about a young man returning from his tour of duty after WWII and then working to climb to the top of the ladder with a top New York business firm, Paul Newman, his wife Joanne Woodward, and Ina Balin seem to perform great acting feats. In a sentence, the story is about, again, an ex-soldier, David Alfred Eaton, trying to make it to the top in the business world, but is mistreated by his boisterous, arrogant father Samuel Eaton (and Leon Ames does a good acting job here in that role) and has a rocky marriage with his sometimes hostile wife, (played by his real-life wife Joanne Woodward,)and then finds warm love in the young lady Natalie Benzinger, played by Balin. The time setting is from 1946 to the early '50's, and NYC has that look in the movie. Myrna Loy does a good acting job as Martha Eaton, David's drunk mother. In the story, while David Eaton is, again, at odds with his wife, and simultaneously does find warmth and love in another woman, you're lead to believe that while infidelity is not to be defended, neither is hostility in marriage. It does end on a warm note, and the cast lends much to it being a great dramatic feat.

Beautiful photography. Filthy Rich characters. Lovely settings. But, it moves at a snail's pace. There is some hope for the movie at the beginning when Myrna Loy brings pathos to her character. But, she simply disappears from the movie after only a couple of scenes. After that, it's just a cold, glossy celluloid nightmare of a movie. Paul Newman's performance is so emotionless that criticizing it is a waste of words. It speaks for itself. Joanne Woodward tries to breathe life into her character, but the movie just won't let her. At least her glamorous clothing is something to look at while you're trying to stay awake during this long, dull, pointless movie.

This is another film which, though a staple on Italian TV over the years, I somehow never bothered with until now (obviously included in my Paul Newman tribute) – mainly because it’s a glorified soap opera of a kind (accentuated by garish color and the Widescreen format) that was prevalent in Hollywood for about a decade, beginning from the mid-1950s.

It’s based on a John O’Hara best-seller which, if the trailer is to be believed, was a “sensation” when it emerged; its impact, however, has been heavily diluted in the screen adaptation – not to mention by the passage of time since the film’s release! Still, the result is reasonably entertaining (often unintentionally so in view of the ongoing histrionics) and, thankfully, its hefty 144-minute duration isn’t an excessive burden. Besides, no expense has been spared with respect to production values (director Robson, screenwriter Ernest Lehman – both of whom would memorably reteam with Newman on the delightful Hitchcock pastiche THE PRIZE [1963; still bafflingly M.I.A. on DVD], cinematographer Leo Tover and composer Elmer Bernstein).

On the other hand, casting is variable yet surprisingly adequate – this was Newman’s third teaming with wife Joanne Woodward: interestingly, she plays an unsympathetic role (whereas he’s typically brooding), so that the couple’s initially blissful relationship (compromised by his ambitious drive and her own faithlessness with ex-beau Patrick O’Neal) deteriorates and sends Newman into the arms of decent girl Ina Balin…all of which leads to an idealistic ending in which the disillusioned hero gives up his career in favor of true love. Myrna Loy, then, appears briefly at the start in the role of Newman’s perennially soused and whorish(!) mother; ditto Leon Ames as his steel-mill owner father (which Newman abandons after the old man’s death) – fixated on his other, dead son!; Felix Aylmer is an elderly tycoon whose grandson the hero saved from drowning – which wins Newman a position in his firm and later, satisfied by the former’s over-achieving performance, he even goads with a partnership…but the hero turns him down flat!; and Ted de Corsia is atypically featured as Balin’s modest businessman father, whom Newman had been sent by Aylmer to check on.