This film is truly a gem that deserves to be made available to more viewers. It's a real period piece that gives an authentic, contemporary feeling of what life would have been like for married couples in a post-war housing development. A large number of what we now think of as Fifties clichés are shown in their simple, day to day reality, such as the cocktail parties and barbecues, the raising of children the new modern way, ( one mother is constantly quoting her pediatrician on everything from too much television to not enough orange juice in kids' lives), and the desire to get ahead warring with the need to conform. ( Barbara Rush is upset that husband Pat Hingle never attends church, and washes the car on Sundays, where all the neighbors can see him).
Excellent performances from all the cast, with especially strong turns by Joanne Woodward and Cameron Mitchell. The real surprise is Tony Randall. He plays a character who seems just a few degrees removed from his later neurotic comic persona, but a lot more down to earth and uncomfortably real. He seems both the classic alcoholic in denial, and also one of those dreamers, like Willy Loman, whose grandiose talk of success is clearly never going to be fulfilled. He's actually disturbing to watch, when he literally runs out the back, leaving his embarrassed wife to deal with his embarrassed employer, who has come to get back the money from a car sale that should never have been made in the first place. He never again played such a believable, flawed character, but settled for a niche as a nervous, fussy little man in largely forgettable comedies.
For anyone interested in Fifties lifestyle and popular culture, and a genuine historic snapshot of those times, this is a fascinating movie.On the level of fine performances alone, it deserves to be seen as an absorbing drama of love, ambition and disillusionment, that does not cop out into a happy ending.
Excellent performances from all the cast, with especially strong turns by Joanne Woodward and Cameron Mitchell. The real surprise is Tony Randall. He plays a character who seems just a few degrees removed from his later neurotic comic persona, but a lot more down to earth and uncomfortably real. He seems both the classic alcoholic in denial, and also one of those dreamers, like Willy Loman, whose grandiose talk of success is clearly never going to be fulfilled. He's actually disturbing to watch, when he literally runs out the back, leaving his embarrassed wife to deal with his embarrassed employer, who has come to get back the money from a car sale that should never have been made in the first place. He never again played such a believable, flawed character, but settled for a niche as a nervous, fussy little man in largely forgettable comedies.
For anyone interested in Fifties lifestyle and popular culture, and a genuine historic snapshot of those times, this is a fascinating movie.On the level of fine performances alone, it deserves to be seen as an absorbing drama of love, ambition and disillusionment, that does not cop out into a happy ending.