It is obvious to me from the start that New Orleans belle Piper Laurie is not deserving of the undying love that gambler Tyrone Power holds on for her during the course of this colorful period drama. The love that he has for her is more worthy for the beautiful Julia Adams who is as kind as Laurie is troubled and selfish. Certainly on the surface, Lori's character seems decent and loving, but underneath all that, is she really worth all the trouble that Power goes through? With father Paul Cavanaugh and brother Ron Randell, she's been far too spoiled and thus has a distorted loyalty to them that will stand in the way of the "true love" that the writers want us to believe she has for Power. When Adams' brother commit suicide due to deep gambling debts, Power helps her through the tragedy and Laurie is instantly jealous when she sees them together in public. It also makes Randall furiously jealous as well, demanding a day to which there really can be no winner.
it took me a good half hour to become interested in what was going on here, and that happened with the sudden appearance of Julia Adams, pre-"Creature From the Black Lagoon" who could be described as the Melanie to Laurie's phony Scarlett O'Hara. Up till that time, the only thing remotely curious about the film is a Creole dance number which features Broadway legend Gwen Verdon in extreme black face in a dance number she choreographed (billed as Gwyneth).
The period detail is certainly outstanding and many of the supporting performances (particularly Cavanaugh and John McIntyre) are very good as well. However I found no chemistry between Power and Laurie, and whatever hold that Randall had over her to be unrealistic and found Randall's character to be insufferable. Therefore, I had no emotional reaction to the conclusion and thus have to mark this as a disappointment.
it took me a good half hour to become interested in what was going on here, and that happened with the sudden appearance of Julia Adams, pre-"Creature From the Black Lagoon" who could be described as the Melanie to Laurie's phony Scarlett O'Hara. Up till that time, the only thing remotely curious about the film is a Creole dance number which features Broadway legend Gwen Verdon in extreme black face in a dance number she choreographed (billed as Gwyneth).
The period detail is certainly outstanding and many of the supporting performances (particularly Cavanaugh and John McIntyre) are very good as well. However I found no chemistry between Power and Laurie, and whatever hold that Randall had over her to be unrealistic and found Randall's character to be insufferable. Therefore, I had no emotional reaction to the conclusion and thus have to mark this as a disappointment.