40 Carats

Beautiful 36, no… 38, no… 39, no… 40-year-old Liv Ullmann (as Ann Stanley) from Norway originally is driving through gorgeous Greece when her car overheats. Along comes handsome 22-year-old Edward Albert (as Peter Latham) from Pittsburgh, USA on a motorcycle. Believing herself too old to ride a motor bike, Ms. Ullmann instead strips down to her underwear for a swim with Mr. Albert. One thing leads to another and they have sex on the beach. Perhaps feeling a little old and out of sorts after the act, Ullmann leaves Albert while he sleeps...

Back home in New York, guess who arrives to pick up Ullmann's daughter for a date?

At first this seemed like it was going to be a drama, but it's obviously a comedy by the time Ullmann and Albert meet in New York. It probably would have been funnier if a woman more experienced in situation comedy played Ullmann's part, but the film does garner some chuckles. Although Albert does look like the younger of the two, the age difference seems more like ten than twenty years. Ullmann appears closer to Albert's age than she does to ex-husband Gene Kelly (as Billy Boylan). Respected elder Binnie Barnes (as Maud Ericson) does well in her last feature.

****** 40 Carats (6/28/73) Milton Katselas ~ Liv Ullmann, Edward Albert, Gene Kelly, Binnie Barnes

I managed to watch this one on Amazon streaming movies. It came out in 1973, the same year I moved to the New Orleans area to start a new job and the year my first son was born. The 1970s was a distinct time.

The way this movie starts seems like it will be a romantic comedy, and there is lots of comedy, but it really turns out to more be a statement on how we choose partners in life, with some serious young/old couple insight.

It starts in Greece, Liv Ullmann (about 34 or so) plays 40-yr-old Ann Stanley who is vacationing and her car breaks down. A motorcyclist shows up, Edward Albert (about 22 or so) as 22-yr-old Peter Latham. He offers her a ride into town but they end up sleeping on a small alcove at water's edge. She sees their almost 20-yr age difference as too great, she disappears as dawn breaks and goes back to her real estate job in Manhattan.

Imagine Ann's surprise when Peter shows up at her home to escort her teen daughter Trina to a party. Several comedic situations occur, everyone assumes Peter is after Trina, but instead he really is after Ann. Then a wealthy 43-yr-old client of Ann's from Tulsa takes an interest in 17-yr-old Trina. The points being made, an 18-yr difference or a 25-yr difference should not be the deciding matter. It also is a commentary on how society more easily accepts a younger girl pairing up with an older man than the opposite.

It was also great seeing Gene Kelly as Billy Boylan, Ann's ex-husband and Trina's dad. He was in his early 60s and still in fine form, and he didn't make many movies after this one.

Overall a very enjoyable movie with good actors, adapted from a stage play.

40-ish divorcée and mother from New York City meets a 22-year-old American man while vacationing with her mother in Greece; they spar a bit at first, but he manages to charm her. Back at home, their paths cross again, where he asks her to marry him. Hit Broadway plays are almost always good material for sparkling screen comedies. It often doesn't matter how familiar the plots may seem at the time--if the story is funny or charming and the characters are appealing, audiences will usually be very forgiving (a good love song helps as well). "40 Carats" doesn't really work, for a variety of reasons. The play--originally written by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Grédy, which was adapted for the American stage by Jay Presson Allen, whose work was then given an overhaul for the screen by Leonard Gershe--has no substance, and yet it's overwritten. Everyone works hard to keep the soufflé from falling, what with 'witty' asides and one-liners, but the casting isn't right. Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann, in only her second American film, looks unsure of herself, like a deer in the headlights. She's much too insecure for a puff-piece like "40 Carats", and she gets no help from director Milton Katselas. Ullmann's scenes with Edward Albert have no lift, and he comes on like an overripe gigolo. After an arduous introduction, the scenes back in New York City have some bounce, mostly due to the other players. Second-billed Gene Kelly is hammy, as usual, but he's comfortable in front of the camera and puts us at ease (the man knows what he's doing). Binnie Barnes and Nancy Walker are also good (Walker singlehandedly saves her scenes with Ullmann), while the more serious third act performances by potential in-laws Don Porter and Rosemary Murphy are solid. Deborah Raffin makes her film debut as Ullmann's daughter--and has a killer scene at the pool table--but her match-up with older Billy Green Bush doesn't work (he's either miscast or misdirected in his approach to this role). Gershe gives the May-September material some of the snap of his "Butterflies Are Free", and there are a few laughs in the picture, but it trudges along with an unhappy spirit. There's also a ballad--a lousy one--written by Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman to clinch the deal. ** from ****

"40 Carats" is a surprisingly good movie. While Ullmann and Albert have little chemistry together, they nevertheless make a sweet pair, because they are both enormously appealing individually. Gene Kelly adds a few nice moments and leads a likable supporting cast. The film is slightly overlong but more mature than you might think.

"40 Carats" - a light and cheerful comedy is the only comedy I've seen Liv Ullmann in. She plays Ann Stanley, forty years old Manhattan Real Estate agent divorcée who lives with her mother and 16 years old daughter. On her vacation in Greece, she meets 22 years old Peter Latham (Edward Albert), and they spend the night together. Ann quietly disappears into the early morning hours, leaving him with the memories of the night and nothing else - no address or telephone number. Peter later returns to New York, where one evening he arrives to pick up a date for the evening. Guess, who his date's mother is?

What follows is, IMO, funny and charming romantic comedy with wonderful supporting performances from Gene Kelly (as Ann's first annoying husband), Binnie Barnes and Deborah Raffin. I've read some comments that Liv was miscast and was not comfortable playing such a light comedy after all the profound and tragic characters she had played for Bergman. I don't think so. For me, one of the most memorable scenes of the film is the one after Liv (Ann) returns home from her vacation and is asked what Greece was like? Ann turns to face a camera, smiles, and says, "Greece glows under the sun" - but it is her face, her smile, her eyes that glow. If ever the saying, the eyes are the soul's mirror, is true, it is about Liv's eyes. There are kindness, tenderness, strength, and something even more attractive than beauty itself in them - the goodness of her soul.

"40 Carats" was a very pleasant surprise for me. I hope that it will be released on DVD soon and become available for all admirers of Liv Ullmann and of funny and clever romantic comedies.