The Guilt of Janet Ames

The other IMDb reviews, positive and negative, make valid points about the virtues and flaws of this obscure 1947 film. It grabbed my interest immediately in the title sequence. Russell and Douglas, almost always cast up to then in comedies(romantic or otherwise),in a dramatic film. (Easy to know it was a drama from the title and from the title music.)

And the music, all through the film--gorgeous, moving, and like no 1940's score I've ever heard. By George Dunning, it was straight out of the mid to late 1950's. A minor revelation to me, a film soundtrack buff.

Back to the fascinating cast: Betsy Blair (Gene Kelly's surprisingly wafe-like wife, who I'd only seen in "Marty"), Nina Foch (a talented, skilled "serious" actress, who made too few films), Sid Caesar (before his genius TV comic career).

Once into the film,I was grabbed by Melvyn Douglas's masterfully realistic and believable performance, not a hint of acting with a big A.

Can't say the same for Russell--she hit the right emotional notes, but always seemed to be ACTING.

One more grabber was the extended, purposely and artfully artificial trance sequences, playing out the heroine's mind. Very effective though obviously done on a low budget.

As of this writing, in Nov. 2017, the film is uploaded on YouTube in murky but watchable 15 minute segments. Definitely worth a watch.

This movie started with such promise...then....yuck! It begins with a wonderful premise. Rosalind Russell plays a woman who is seeking out five men that lived due to her husband's sacrifice during WWII. He died so these five men might live. However, what exactly she plans on doing when she sees all of them is unknown, as she is hit by a vehicle while crossing the street to see the first man! An alcoholic news reporter (Melvyn Douglas) learns about this accident. However, his decision to see the injured lady is because he was one of the five names on her list--as he'd been saved by her husband. So far...a wonderful premise.

When Douglas enters the hospital, the film starts to go downhill. First, the doctor firmly declares that Russell is able to walk--even though she insists she can't. This is odd, as she seems to have just been brought in to the hospital after the accident--and yet the nasty doctor yells at her and tells her she is okay! This might have made sense if she'd been in the hospital a few days--plus despite being hit by a car, she seems to have no injuries!! But, it gets worse, as with Douglas' help and a few pills, Russell starts to have out of the body experiences where she magically meets the families of the five men who were saved--and sees how their lives impacted the lives about them. Seeing the extended impact of the man's sacrifice is a nice idea--but doing an out of the body traveling gimmick really was dumb. It came off as preachy...very, very preachy.

Now I am NOT insensitive to the sacrifices made by people in war. And, I do appreciate the other reviewer, as the film was very personally touching to them. But it just came off as too weird, too contrived and silly--when, using the same basic story idea, it could have been wonderful. Too bad...I think the film makers' intentions were good--but the script was just strange and, at times, a bit ridiculous.

A surprising little gem of a movie. Articulate dialog, a realistic view of the impact of war, the best performance I have seen from Melvyn Douglas, good (and awfully tough) role filled by Roz Russell. Some of the fantasy went a bit too far and I'd love to know why one of the five surviving soldiers was not shown (his wife was). I always wondered about the buddies I lost and whether I've been a good representative for their sacrifice. This show was creative and touching, some hints of film noir and an occasional light moment. I've seen over 4,000 films, probably two-thirds of which I cannot remember even with prompting. This one stands out for being different and effective. Too few like this.

I'm afraid that for one to appreciate The Guilt Of Janet Ames one would have to have seen the Gary Cooper film Peter Ibbetson which came out from Paramount a dozen years earlier. I think that in 1947 there were probably new adult moviegoers who did not get the reference.

Based on a Daphne DuMaurier novel Peter Ibbetson is the story of a paralyzed and imprisoned man who meets and has a whole life with his true love through dreams.

In this film Rosalind Russell plays an embittered war widow. Her husband was killed by jumping on a live grenade and saving five others around him. Russell feels that none of these people could have been worthy of the sacrifice he made that got him the Congressional Medal Of Honor. She resolves to meet them all to confirm her suspicion.

One of them is Melvyn Douglas who has become quite an alcoholic since his war service. He was the editor of a newspaper and a crusading journalist before the war.

Russell gets hit by a car and his name is found in her pocket along with the other four. Nothing too serious in physical injuries, but she has a hysterical paralysis now. Douglas is sent for when they find the scrap of paper and he's known to the hospital staff.

Knowing who she is, but her not knowing him, Douglas stimulates her imagination and she discovers what the others could be like with some small bits of information. The fantasy scenes are really quite good, the best being a young Sid Caesar in a standup routine about psychological films of which this is surely one. Thinking of the recently released Spellbound, I wonder what Alfred Hitchcock must have thought when he saw Caesar's routine. It's worth seeing the film for that alone.

In the end Russell and Douglas learn a good deal about each other and themselves. The Guilt Of Janet Ames is not on par with a film like Spellbound, but it does have its moments and the stars acquit themselves well.

This is an exquisitely beautiful film reminding of the best moments of William Dieterle (like in 'Portrait of Jennie') with many innovative surprises, as the film moves on into the guilt complex of Rosalind Russell as she can't get over the death of her husband in the war, who sacrificed himself to save five of his comrades. An unemployed journalist on the booze comes across the case, when she is confined to a hospital for nervous problems when she can't move her legs, he gets over the list of the five saved comrades and develops an interest in her, a he knew all those soldiers. He develops a dialog with her in which he tries to open up her secret inhibitions to get her on her feet again, and thus all the five saved characters and their stories turn up as flashbacks. The problem is that she can't accept that they were worth saving by her husband's death, while Melvyn Douglas as the journalist on the booze, his first part after the war, gradually makes her realize the worth of the five chums. It's a wonderful film gradually revealing a deep mystery, and Melvyn Douglas is impressive as never before, and so is Rosalind Russell. This is a film to return to for its beauty, its charm, its wonderful story of many aspects and depths and one of the most extraordinary redemptions of a war film.