Ten North Frederick (1958) User Reviews (29)

A gentleman in a world that no longer needs gentlemen.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 17 June 2000]

Gary Cooper plays Joe Chapin, a very successful man turning fifty years old, prodded into state politics by his nagging wife, played by Geraldine Fitzgerald. Chapin shuns the political scene when he finds it going against the standards and principles he lives by. His wife soon makes him feel a loser and he finds solace in the arms of his daughter's roommate, half his age.

Romantic and consuming; from the pen of Philip Dunne. This is an over looked drama shot in black and white. Daughter Ann is played by Diane Varsi and her roommate Kate is played by the lovely Suzy Parker. Also in the cast are Stuart Whitman and Ray Sticklyn.

Glossy Political Soap Opera

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 11 August 2006]

John O'Hara whose Pal Joey was brought to the screen the year before wrote the book Ten North Frederick on which this film is based. For some reason this is a film of Gary Cooper's that is rarely shown any more.

Cooper is the WASP type upper crust patrician who has some political ambition. He's a well respected man in his area, except apparently in his own home.

He's married to a woman who makes Lady MacBeth look like Mary Poppins. Geraldine Fitzgerald steals the acting honors in this film with her portrayal as the exponential shrew of a wife. Though I haven't seen Ten North Frederick in years, it's Fitzgerald's performance that has stayed with me and I suspect will stay with you if the film is ever going to see the light of day.

Diane Varsi and Ray Stricklyn are the rebellious kids in the household who can't quite figure out all the hostility there, but they not something is radically wrong. Suzy Parker plays Varsi's friend with whom Cooper has a midlife crisis affair with. Believe me when you see Fitzgerald in this film, you won't blame Cooper in the slightest.

Ten North Frederick set the standard for John O'Hara type soap operas and I'm surprised no one picked up on this one. With some updating this could easily be a plot for a prime time soap opera pilot.

Gary Cooper toward the end of his career

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 21 August 2013]

Gary Cooper made six films after "Ten North Frederick" -- and by the last one, "The Naked Edge," he was near death and filming had to be stopped frequently to give him oxygen.

Here, in a film based on a novel by John O'Hara, he plays Joseph Chapin, a lawyer with a son, Joby (Ray Stricklyn), a daughter,Ann (Diane Varsi) and an absolute shrew as a wife, Edith (Geraldine Fitzgerald). He's a gentle man, who has probably kept peace in his life by giving in to his wife.

The film begins with Joe's funeral, with his daughter Ann looking back on the last five years. Her own life has been affected by falling in love with a talented trumpet player (Stuart Whitman) and her ensuing unhappiness, and her brother wanted to study music at Juilliard but is pressured to attend law school. The war intervenes, and at the beginning of the film, he has returned for the funeral.

Edith has political ambitions and pushes Joe into throwing his hat in the ring; he soon finds it's too dirty a game for him and withdraws.

Joe, disillusioned, his beloved daughter having left home, he goes to New York to visit her and meets her gorgeous roommate (Suzy Parker). The two fall in love, despite their age difference.

I have to say, I felt the film was a little on the dull side - the pace was slow, and the acting, despite some of the comments here, I found rather dull. The thing about Gary Cooper is that he underplays and is very subtle - now, there's underplaying and there's just not acting. I have to say I didn't feel Diane Varsi did much acting here. Geraldine Fitzgerald was terrific, as was Ray Stricklyn, who went on to Broadway success and a huge career in publicity with the John Springer organization, handling people like Elizabeth Taylor and Bette Davis. Suzy Parker was always a total vision, but never much of an actress.

The most effective scenes were at the end of the movie, very beautiful and well worth waiting for. Cooper really shone throughout, but especially in the last section. A wonderful presence, and, like many stars of that era, we lost him too soon. It's sad to realize that they're all gone, including Varsi, who died at age 54.

Worth seeing for some of the performances. A little sharper direction would have brought it up a level.

More effective now...and stellar acting

[churei · 22 November 2002]

John O'Hara's book TEN NORTH FREDERICK was hardly the masterpiece of political life, but it had strong characterizations, and the film, also not a masterwork, has a lot more going for it than we initially thought. Still of major consequence are the performances of the supporting players. In this tale of a failed political hopeful, his vengeful wife, his youngish girlfriend, and assorted other characters, the viewer is caught by the superb work of the cast. All seems possible with the effective work. Geraldine Fitzgerald, as always, is a total marvel -- one of the finest of three decades. She should be almost deified. In this, she eschews her sensitive side to superbly capture the nastiness of a woman who want more and more... with less change to get it. But she is matched by young Ray Stricklyn as the confused young son... with at least one scene that should have done for him what the telephone scene in The Great Ziefgeld did for Luise Rainer. His work indicates the hope we all had for him.... but he correctly went to the L.A. stage where he scored enormous successes. Diane Varsi and Stuart Whitman both underscore the acting skills we first saw in them. The love story between the older Gary Cooper and the younger Suzy Parker works better than I had recalled. He tries with his expected skill to show the desperation of the man, but Suzy Parker DOES offer a multi-layered performance -- far superior to the work she had done in other films. This film remains an interesting Hollywood look at the world of politics, and it should not be buried unmarked in the annals of solid craftmanship.

Not brilliant but hardly awful

[jgcorrea · 6/10 · 27 November 2019]

A successful small-town lawyer (Gary Cooper) with a beautiful wife (Geraldine Fitzgerald), two over-achieving children, and aspirations to be president, seems to have it all. But as his daughter looks back on his life, a different man emerges: one in conflict with his ambitious and shrewish wife, terrified that the misdeeds of his children will dash his political dreams, and in love with a model half his age (Suzy Parker). With black wit and penetrating insight, as a portrait of the personal and political hypocrisy of mid-20th-century America Ten North Frederick stands much above Butterfield 8, Revolutionary Road, Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge, though much beneath The Swimmer and Mad Men. Pretty competent drama extracted from John O'Hara. Certainly half-flawed. There is, for example, a flashback in which the character who remembers could not have previous knowledge of the remembered facts, which only the viewer knows.

"The days grow short when you reach September". Maxwell Anderson.

[brogmiller · 7/10 · 3 April 2023]

John O'Hara's best selling novel, described by one critic as 'a brilliant portrait of the personal and political hypocrisy of mid-century America', has been adapted by one of cinema's finest screenplay writers Philip Dunne who also capably directs although he himself admitted that he had 'started directing too late'. Albeit truncated, this version apparently met with the approval of the author.

The political ambitions of leading character Joseph Chapin in the novel have been reduced here and Dunne has opted to develop a brief fling between middle-aged Chapin and Kate Drummond, a woman half his age, into a full blown romance. It must be said that the beautifully understated and sensitive playing of Gary Gooper and lovely Suzy Parker has resulted in one of the most moving and heartbreaking Spring/Autumn affairs ever committed to celluloid.

By all accounts Mr. Cooper jumped at the chance to play the part originally turned down by Spencer Tracy and would no doubt have identified with his character as he had earlier called off his relationship with Patricia Neal and returned to his wife who was hopefully more forgiving that his spouse in this, played by the superlative Geraldine Fitzgerald. There were also distinct echoes of Diane Varsi's own life in her role of Chapin's daughter, having come from a broken home and been twice divorced by the age of twenty one. This talented but fragile artiste suffered a breakdown during filming and was later to quit Fox studios as she felt she was 'heading for destruction'.

Great support from John Emery, Philip Ober, the ill-fated Tom Tully and the inimitable Barbara Nicholls as a party girl. There is a splendid score by Leigh Harline but the confounded Cinemascope format alas proves itself once again totally unsuited to intimacy. The phrase 'they don't make them like that anymore' is used to describe the character of Joe Chapin. It might just as easily refer to Gary Cooper.

The disillusionment, regret and sense of failure depicted here cannot fail to strike a chord with most of us and call to mind Whittier's 'Of all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.'

Imitation of life.

[ulicknormanowen · 7/10 · 7 October 2021]

John O'Hara's novel transferred to the screen,half valid drama,half soap opera ; it was the fifties ,and with directors such as Sirk and Minnelli,the apex of melodrama. Philip Dunne is not in their league but his cast carries the movie on their shoulders and makes it a winner .

An aging Gary Cooper , towards the end of the career, is deeply moving as a man whose ambitions are relatively modest (he only wants to be a lieutenant governor) but whose life will be ruined by a selfish wife ; his scene with Suzy Parker,when he speaks of the children they'll never have (because of his age) ,goes straight to the heart ; note that in his scene with Stuart Whitman (then an up-and-coming actor who considered Cooper a model ),he only intervenes towards the end ,as though he reluctantly approves of his collaborators' advice (and blackmail)

Matching him every step of the way is Geraldine Fitzgerald' s cold self-centered socialite who does not care about her children 's happiness. A woman who never loved anyone but herself.

Diane Varsi is convincing as the sacrificed daughter ,but her affair with Buongiorno is a little botched ; Ray Stricklyn who,unlike Whitman , never became a big star, shines in his last scene when he takes a rebel stand against these hypocrit "friends " ( the first scenes ,notably with the journalists ,were revealing )

Parking Lot Thugs

[gattonero975 · 7/10 · 6 July 2020]

Not a lot of people know this but actor Charles Bronson had a uncredited bit role as one of the parking lot thugs that included Michael Pataki, Michael Morelli and John indrisano. At this juncture in his career, Bronson bit role in this Gary Cooper film can only be explained by his loyalty to that actor, with whom he had become friendly during the filming of USS Tea kettle and Vera Cruz. His flash appearance in this unsuccessful mixture of politics and tortured family relationships, from the John O'Hara best seller, must have been performed for a lark, and as a good luck salute to Cooper, during a visit by Bronson to the Fox set.

Small Town Boy

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 31 July 2015]

This is by far the best of the four novels by John O'Hara that have so far been adapted for the big screen (Pal Joey was a volume of short stories - and contrary to what one reviewer states here, O'Hara wrote Ten North Frederick in 1955 and won the National Book Award in 1956 whilst the film of Pal Joey was released in 1957; Chronologically in terms of publication the four novels were Butterfield 8, A Rage To Live, Ten North Frederick and From The Terrace. Although cutting it dramatically - the novel covers the entire life of the protagonist, the film merely the last five years - writer/director Philip Dunne has wisely retained a great deal of O'Hara's dialogue. I've never been a huge admirer of Gary Cooper but he is ideal casting as Joe Chapin, decency personified, whilst it would be hard to improve on Geraldine Fitzgerald as the wife/mother from hell. Cas support several viewings.

Wonderful!

[mbreidfan · 9/10 · 5 February 2005]

Although Gary Cooper is my favorite actor, this was a movie I had never seen until a few years ago, when I happened to catch it after waking in the wee hours of the morning and turning on the television after not being able to get back to sleep. It seems like this movie isn't very well-respected, but I think it is fantastic and have recommended it to several people. Admittedly, it's not High Noon, but it's quite bittersweet (heartbreaking, even) and has a touch of romance. Gary Cooper's character is a very decent man at heart and truly tries to do the right thing when it comes to the major decisions he has to make, but it seems he can't win being married to such a shrewish woman.

Could have been a masterpiece, but shy of the needed detail

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 6 September 2019]

This easily could have been a much better film version of John O'Hara's 1955 novel, but the film has been given the sense of being just a preview of what could have been. It's been shelled of its soul, and the characters never seem to be fully alive even with some great performances. The three standouts are Gary Cooper, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Ray Stricklyn while Diane Varsi and Suzy Parker seem to float in and out with the proper direction or spirit.

The film focuses on Gary Cooper's aging political influencer, stuck with an ambitious and nagging wife (Geraldine Fitzgerald), more in love with the idea of what her husband could be to benefit her then with the man who fathered her two children. Stricklyn and Varsi are the victims of the unhappy marriage, an alcoholic son with music ambitions stifled by his mother, and a daughter who becomes pregnant without marriage and victimized by her parents desire not to have a scandal. Cooper discovers his wife's infidelity, and ends up in an affair of his own with Parker, his daughter's beautiful but shy roommate.

This is the type of stuff that good soap opera is made out of, but the film required another half hour to really divulge into the emotions of this saga. Cooper, as always, creates a character that you root for in spite of his weaknesses. Fitzgerald's character, as nasty as she is, is perhaps the most interesting, and she was definitely award-worthy. Stricklyn also scores as the embittered son who lashes out in alcoholic stupors that in spite of their bluntness and inappropriate timing actually make sense. The film is the perfect ideal of the missed opportunity that could have been so much greater but suffers in the translation due to nervous filmmakers who were too insecure to go with their best sense of what it should have been.

Gary Cooper and Geraldine Fitzgerald Shine ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 5 February 2006]

"10 North Frederick" recounts the story of a middle aged man, successful in business, who is pushed into the political arena by his domineering, obnoxious wife.

Gary Cooper and Geraldine Fitzgerald are in fine form as the middle aged man and vicious wife. With the ending of his career approaching, Cooper gave an outstanding performance as a man who was just too good for the society that he lived in. Equally impressive was Geraldine Fitzgerald, his wife Edith, with her sterling political ambitions that could easily rival Mary Todd Lincoln. Erudite, yet a tramp in her own right, Fitzgerald etched an unforgettable character in using such terms as mawkish. (Fitzgerald could have easily played Mary Todd Lincoln in the great 1940 film "Abe Lincoln in Illinois if Ruth Gordon hadn't been available.) Some could call the film dated but what an impressive date! The mores of yesterday were defined that in politics, if you had a scandal in the family, you were ruined. Not so necessarily true today. The same more could be applied to older men married to younger women. Sociologists could really have a ball with this terrific film.

When he sees the dirt that politics brings, he begins an affair with his daughter's room mate. Diane Varsi, who was so good in "Peyton Place," shines as the daughter. Suzy Parker is her friend who has an affair with Cooper.

Fitzgerald pulls out all the stops in her vicious tirades. She is soon slapped down by her son who denounces her publicly for what she has done to her husband.

A wonderful film detailing moral values and their decline in a society where they are most needed. Highly recommended film to all viewers.

Interesting but not particularly likable characters.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 26 June 2010]

While you don't necessarily need to love all the characters in a film in order to like it, a film has a HUGE uphill battle when you like absolutely none of them! While you hate some much more than others in the film and understand why the characters are essentially jerks, the overall picture is severely compromised by the writing. The bottom line is that I didn't like any of the Chapin clan and while the soapy elements of the film were interesting, connecting to or caring about them was really, really difficult.

Gary Cooper plays a rich and well-heeled man with political aspirations. His wife is played by Geraldine Fitzgerald--a rather cold and conniving character whose one goal seems to be her husband's advancement. Sadly, there really isn't any love or passion between them--just what seems like a good working relationship. Naturally as a result of this, their two grown children are emotional basket cases. However, while you can understand how they got that way, neither shows any strength or depth of character and as a result are easily swayed and manipulated by their parents.

Eventually, when Cooper's plans are dashed, the marriage becomes much more strained and the coldness becomes evident--as if Fitzgerald's character no longer cares. And, as a result, the same ambivalence begins to grow within Cooper. At first he tries to deal with by having an affair. Later, when he realizes how fruitless this would be he decides to just drink himself to death and wait for a slow death. Again, this certainly does not make for pleasant viewing. But, because the characters are so emotionally stunted, you can't even enjoy their misery in a voyeuristic fashion--like you would with a really sleazy soap like "Peyton Place" or even "Valley of the Dolls"s (admittedly, this last one is a terrible film). Overall, the picture is only mildly interesting, at best. Well acted but flat.

Heartwarming love story

[JLew3500 · 10/10 · 21 April 2006]

This love story reaches out and touches the heart like no other movie has been able to do in years of movie-making. It's tear-jerking capability is what I've been searching for in movies of this kind. The cast is so wonderfully suited for this film. As you watch, you begin to wonder if Gary Cooper hadn't been born, who could possibly have played this wonderfully passionate older man. My belief - no one! I can't urge movie lovers enough to buy, rent, or whatever one must do in order to view this movie.

And, a note to the so called Classic Movie Channels - Where in the hell has this movie been? Please, let's allow the public to view this touching story and be able to comment for all to read.

Great Movie

[highlander9992003 · 9/10 · 18 January 2007]

About 15 years ago my daughter (about 13 at the time) and I were surfing channels and got in on the last 30 or 45 minutes of this movie. WOW, I had to own it and finally found it on VHS. A wonderful movie. One of my favorites of this genre.

And Gary Cooper had his own style. This was a bit unlike his other... But he played it to a T... Cooper was a gentleman, and his wife an overbearing witch. His failures result from his being too nice of a guy to make him into the man she wanted him to be. It was wonderful that his daughter found out that he had been happy. And even in that happiness he was still a gentleman.

A bit of trivia about this movie.

[thedivo · 17 February 2002]

I watched this movie last night after having not seen it in many years. In the very first scene we are told it is the year 1945. Then a string of cars are seen pulling up to a house. The second car is a 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan which of course did not exist in 1945.

Not much to entertain.....

[hennystruijk · 5/10 · 3 April 2019]

Varsi, Fitzgerald, and Stricklyn have a few good moments... Whitman impressive in a small role... But surprisingly boring most of the time. Better to read the novel!!

A must-see film for Cooper fans.

[davidallen-84122 · 9/10 · 20 April 2021]

Although an ardent Gary Cooper fan even I did not expect to enjoy him quite as much as I did on viewing this underrated gem for the first time. His performance is so multi-layered that his every reaction seems justified considering the stress he is under from all directions and we find ourselves caring very much for this likeable man who is striving to do his best by everyone. The scene where he struggles to comfort his abandoned daughter is Cooper at his most sensitive and touching.

Very impressive too is the gifted Geraldine Fitzgerald who manages to portray the shrike of a wife in such a subtle way that it's possible to search for justification in her behaviour e.g.her inability to compete with her husband for their daughter's affections. I just can't go along with the majority of viewers' complete condemnation of this woman and don't like the son's drunken treatment of her after the funeral. Suzy Parker is very beautiful and her character's May-September romance with the gentlemanly Gary Cooper is sensitively played and refreshingly lacking in self-pity and hysteria.

I'm thrilled to add this "classic" movie to my growing collection of Gary Cooper's immortal portrayals. Buy it now !

Sadness of ' forgotten ' films

[jromanbaker · 9/10 · 8 August 2023]

I found this on YouTube in perfectly crisp black and white 1950's Cinemascope and was gripped by it from beginning to end. Philip Dunne was in my opinion a variable director, but he directed this very well and my other film of his I especially like is ' Hilda Crane ' with Jean Simmons at her best along with Guy Madison who was never better. I mention this because all of the actors in this film are on top form and clearly Dunne knew how to get the best out of actors, which is not that usual as it should be. Gary Cooper is excellent as a man abused in subtle ways and not so subtle ways by others. Geraldine FitzGerald as his aspiring wife is cruel to him beyond belief, but in the eyes of society she has her hands clean. Their marriage due to political disaster for Cooper collapses into marital infidelity. No spoilers but to say that their two children equally suffer, and Diane Varsi ( what a great actor ) as the daughter suffers appallingly. To sum up this is a film about how people can inflict pain and torture and because it is so quietly done and without bloodshed no one intervenes or cares to. Quiet cruelty is simply part of the so-called normal social fabric. A film with depth and should be more widely known than it is. Perhaps it is too saddening in its content to be universally liked, which says a lot about us as human beings.

Cooper is miscast and the film is watchable at best.

[MOscarbradley · 5/10 · 20 December 2020]

A miscast Gary Cooper is the well-to-do lawyer and failed politician caught in an unhappy marriage who embarks on an affair with a younger woman, (Suzy Parker), in this rather average screen version of John O'Hara's novel, "Ten North Frederick". It's told in flashback on the day of Cooper's character's funeral, (Cooper himself was to be dead from cancer only two years later), as he's remembered by his daughter, (Diane Varsai). Geraldine Fitzgerald is the ambitious shrew of a wife who basically drives Cooper to drink and into Parker's arms.

The book was one of those typically scandalous O'Hara bestsellers and this was a fairly prestige production but Philip Dunne, who also wrote the screenplay, was a dull director and Cooper was already looking pretty frail while Varsai hadn't moved on from her Allison McKenzie character in "Peyton Place". Only Fitzgerald shows any real mettle though in a small, but showy, role as the trumpet player who gets Varsai pregnant, Stuart Whitman shows real promise. Watchable, then, but equally uninspired.

A Sweet , Romantic , Old Fashioned Tear Jerker

[johnpelaro · 10/10 · 10 March 2022]

I discovered the movie while doing a search foe Diane Varsi films , and fell in love with it , especially the 25 minutes of serious adult romance involving Cooper and Parker . It's hard to find fault with the sequencing of events , the characterizations , the drama and the pathos ....everything fits together with little or no hint of contrivance . Of course current tastes often demand more action , more skin , a good dollop of vulgarity , with fine acting performances counting for far less than the ability to titillate the senses . But for those of us who appreciate fine acting , class and refinement on the screen , this gem must always stand as a classic , albeit a largely forgotten one . High Noon and Friendly Persuasion are now my second favorite Gary Cooper films .

Fantastic performances in a great drama

[HotToastyRag · 9/10 · 6 July 2020]

Bring your Kleenexes, people! Ten North Frederick is a tearjerker. You'd better not watch a double feature with Enchantment otherwise you'll cry yourself out!

Unfortunately, this heavy drama starts out at the end and goes back in time. So, since everyone is preparing to go to Gary Cooper's funeral, you know he doesn't have a happy ending. His daughter, Diane Varsi, talks his son, Ray Stricklyn, into attending the funeral, and their mother, Geraldine Fitzgerald, is putting on a dramatic front of the grieving widow. As we learn through a giant flashback, Gary's life was far from happy. He and Geraldine fought constantly, and her hatred for him drove him to misery. Diane and Ray didn't help matters, as they rebelled in their own ways. Ray acted out in school, causing embarrassment to the family. Diane fell for a bad boy musician, Stuart Whitman, and caused her father an enormous amount of grief.

I won't tell you any more than that, because there are so many interesting plot points it's really better if things play out as you watch them rather than reading about them. Needless to say, this is a grand drama, with all the earmarks of being a great classic. It's been forgotten through the years, and I don't know why. There's scandal, romance, tragedy, and ambition. There's eye candy on both sides: Stuart Whitman plays the trumpet and seduces every woman in the audience, and the beautiful Suzy Parker makes every man fall in love with her. She only made six movies, so catch her while you can. Ten North Frederick is a gem, and it's one of Gary Cooper's greatest ever performances. While my favorite of his can be found in his final film The Naked Edge, this movie also shows great depth and sadness he doesn't usually display. Geraldine also gives an electric performance. She's such a villainess, it's hard to believe she was the same actress we pitied in Wuthering Heights!

If you like The Soaps. . .

[Kirasjeri · 4/10 · 31 July 1999]

Powerful older man romances gorgeous woman a third his age; daughter gets pregnant by a bandleader who is threatened and bought off by the powerful father, etc etc. Sound familiar? Yes, it's a well-acted Soap with a good cast. If you love Gary Cooper or think Suzy Parker looked marvelous, check it out. But you've seen this kind of thing before - and this is really a dated antique vis a vis values. I just want to know where the "psychotic evil twin sister" is, and other stock Soap characters.

Mansion of Vipers

[EdgarST · 8/10 · 27 December 2016]

Pennsylvania is at the heart of the story of "Ten North Frederick," a movie directed by Philippe Dunne, a filmmaker who mostly worked for Twentieth Century-Fox, where he signed the screenplays of classics such as "Magnificent Obsession", "The Last of the Mohicans", "Suez", "How Green Was My Valley", " Forever Amber" and "The Robe". In 1955 he began directing films and although he did not do great works among the 10 films he made, some are more than acceptable, like "Wild in the Country", one of Elvis Presley's best films; the much appreciated melodrama "The Inspector" with Stephen Boyd and Dolores Hart, or the funny spy comedy "Blindfold" with Rock Hudson and Claudia Cardinale. However, "Ten North Frederick" exceeded my expectations. Filmed in black and white Cinemascope, it is based on a novel by the controversial John O'Hara, described as an irascible Pennsylvania social climber, who could not have a college career at Yale as he wished, when his father unexpectedly died. These facts allowed him to be a keen observer of class differences, which are dramatically expressed in the plot of the film, set in the fictional town of Gibbsville, which O'Hara used several times as the location of his stories. The movie opens with the post-funeral reunion in the mansion of a Gibbsville patriarch named Joe Chapin (Gary Cooper). So it begins a retrospective account of his life: at the age of 50, Chapin's professional plans collapse. His aspirations in the upcoming elections are betrayed by his "image maker" and by the local politicians, but the drama inside his house on 10 North Frederick street is even worse. His upstart wife Edith (Geraldine Fitzgerald) scorns him, she has thwarted their son Joby's (Ray Stricklin) desire of entering Juilliard School to study music, and she is partially responsible of the abortion of their eldest daughter Ann (Diane Varsi) and the breaking of her marriage to a trumpeter of Italian origin (Stuart Whitman). While watching the film, which does not evade dramatic special effects (a great storm lashes Gibbsville during the night of the rupture and the abortion) or Leigh Harline's musical bursts in the most classic melodramatic style, I remembered all the relationships I have seen truncated by differences of class, the prejudices against many who have wanted to study art, the agreements between corrupt politicians who have been discovered but remain in power, or castrating mothers who emotionally destroy their families... But in the final half hour of the film, the story made a sudden turn when Chapin travels to New York to take a break, and looks for his daughter Ann, who has separated from the family. Arriving at her address, he knocks on the door and who opens it is his daughter's roommate, the beautiful Kate Drummond (Suzy Parker). And then a tender love affair surges, but fleetingly, just as a preamble to his final days. In this last movement, the story is honest and Chapin, in a very lucid reflection on old age, says goodbye to Kate: there is no turning back, the deterioration of the man is eminent, the retrospective narration concludes and we return to the present, to the score settling with Mama Chapin. "Ten North Frederick" is perhaps the best kept secret of Dunne's career. Maybe his best film. Discovering it was a very enjoyable experience, as well as watching Gary Cooper once again, one of the greatest actors that the United States has given to cinema, accompanied by a prominent cast.

A sensitive and deeply compelling look into the private life of a gentleman.

[mamalv · 8/10 · 25 March 2019]

This film delves into the private lives of a family that has always shown the world a respectable environment. However behind the closed doors of 10 North Frederick are many secrets and personal struggles. Gary Cooper is a man out of his time and place among people who are climbing the ladder without scruples. He sees his life as just as it is, until it is disrupted by an unexpected pregnancy. His daughter, "his lovely daughter", played by Diane Varsi has married an unacceptable man, who later is bought off. Geraldine Fitzgerald as the ambitious wife is hateful and insincere in everything. The explosion comes when she admits to Joe that she had an affair. She does this on the worst day of his life losing all chances of a political career. Needless to say he is now destroyed, and afloat in a sea of lost dreams. His daughter has moved to New York, and shares an apartment with Suzy Parker a model. He meets her and despite the large age difference they are in love. She loves him without reservation, but he sees the age gap as a detriment to any future. Totally sad, since they are true to the love forever. I love Gary Cooper here. The age difference disappears into the small light of his hopes to be with a truly loving woman. To say this is a sentimental journey would be selling the film short. It is more about how people live their lives and deal with love, and sometimes disappointment.