cgvsluis
Joined May 2015
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cgvsluis's rating
I want to preface my review by saying that I am a huge classic film fan and a hardcore romantic. I recognize that I am in the minority with my review...but I find this film very hard to take. Let's start with the title, it's hardly a "brief" encounter when the two keeping going back week after week!
The whole thing starts at the end, when a wife is imagining confessing everything to her husband...and this is how we relive the tragic events that lead her back to her own living room and two children upstairs. You see she encounters a "doctor" at a train station cafe when she gets something in her eye and then starts a weekly pubescent assignation with him. Like most teenage love affairs its filled with drama, both imagined and real...there is sneaking, lying to one's family, and thinking you are being judged. The dialogue lacks depth and frankly is overly melodramatic..."I love you, I love you." "I want to die". I have difficulty understanding how these two can be in love after such a brief encounter and, unlike with Romeo and Juliet, without either being a great beauty.
As a movie goer, I have come to think of infidelity as being very British and this is no exception as both of the participants are married with children. It doesn't seem to slow them down however...and the film leaves me with more questions than it does answers. You might have noticed that I used quotes around doctor when describing our hero and the reason for that is how does she know he is an actual doctor. Yes, she meets him outside the physical hospital...but how does she know this isn't just a ploy that he uses to romance (aka sleep with) women? For all she knows he is a train station lothario who claims to be a doctor, so stupid naive women like her will have sordid little affairs with him, in fact he might not even be married! Then there is my question as to why this woman leaves her two kids and home...to go to another town to shop, wander around and go to the movie theater. Am I the only person who thinks that is odd?
The one thing the film does really have going for it is the score and cinematography. Both the setting of the train station and the way it was filmed is incredibly romantic...which really pulls at me, as a romantic. Unfortunately, I can't get over the fact that these two are married to others, don't have anything in common, and that the good doctor might be a predatory philanderer in reality. It's for those reasons that this film doesn't come near my list of top 100 classic romantic films and keeps me from recommending it to fellow romantics. Now if you are a fan of cinematography or you just love tragic love stories, I would recommend the film with caveats.
Final note, I loved seeing Stanley Holloway in this film...it's always delightful seeing him outside of My Fair Lady and he plays a bit of a flirt in this one. His appearances may be brief, but they are delightful!
The whole thing starts at the end, when a wife is imagining confessing everything to her husband...and this is how we relive the tragic events that lead her back to her own living room and two children upstairs. You see she encounters a "doctor" at a train station cafe when she gets something in her eye and then starts a weekly pubescent assignation with him. Like most teenage love affairs its filled with drama, both imagined and real...there is sneaking, lying to one's family, and thinking you are being judged. The dialogue lacks depth and frankly is overly melodramatic..."I love you, I love you." "I want to die". I have difficulty understanding how these two can be in love after such a brief encounter and, unlike with Romeo and Juliet, without either being a great beauty.
As a movie goer, I have come to think of infidelity as being very British and this is no exception as both of the participants are married with children. It doesn't seem to slow them down however...and the film leaves me with more questions than it does answers. You might have noticed that I used quotes around doctor when describing our hero and the reason for that is how does she know he is an actual doctor. Yes, she meets him outside the physical hospital...but how does she know this isn't just a ploy that he uses to romance (aka sleep with) women? For all she knows he is a train station lothario who claims to be a doctor, so stupid naive women like her will have sordid little affairs with him, in fact he might not even be married! Then there is my question as to why this woman leaves her two kids and home...to go to another town to shop, wander around and go to the movie theater. Am I the only person who thinks that is odd?
The one thing the film does really have going for it is the score and cinematography. Both the setting of the train station and the way it was filmed is incredibly romantic...which really pulls at me, as a romantic. Unfortunately, I can't get over the fact that these two are married to others, don't have anything in common, and that the good doctor might be a predatory philanderer in reality. It's for those reasons that this film doesn't come near my list of top 100 classic romantic films and keeps me from recommending it to fellow romantics. Now if you are a fan of cinematography or you just love tragic love stories, I would recommend the film with caveats.
Final note, I loved seeing Stanley Holloway in this film...it's always delightful seeing him outside of My Fair Lady and he plays a bit of a flirt in this one. His appearances may be brief, but they are delightful!
Ginger Rogers plays Ellie Mae Adams a girl on the cusp of adulthood, stuck in poverty and circumstances beyond her control. On the way to dig clams, she encounters a delightful and kind "Gramp", played by the wonderful Henry Travers. Gramp is charmed by the sweet but tough Ellie Mae and he not only offers her a ride, but a meal at his gas station diner. It's there that Ellie Mae encounters the smart mouthed, quick talking Ed Wallace (Joel McCrea). Ed is intrigued by the pigtailed Ellie Mae, especially when his quick talking routine doesn't seem to ruffle her much. Determined to break Ellie Mae's shell, Ed helps her dig clams and gives her one crazy motorcycle ride...one that results in a kiss and a ticket from a police officer.
Back home Ellie Mae thinks of nothing but Ed and this kiss...dressing up as adult as possible, with a little help from her mom (a prostitute who is supporting the family which includes Ellie Mae's drunken father, younger sister and grandmother), she goes to meet Ed at a unsavory bar where she knows he'll be. Ed tries to take her out of the bar and send Ellie Mae Home, but Ellie Mae makes up a story about struck parents and having nowhere to go now...which all ends up in their marriage.
The marriage is a happy one, with Ellie Mae working alongside Ed and Gramp at the gas station-diner. The family is one big happy lot and they are doing big business with happy customers, thrilled to flirt with the fast talking Ellie Mae. Then one day Ellie Mae's mom drives up with a couple of Johns and a customer says something that upsets Ellie Mae...leading to a great spiral downward that starts innocently enough with Ellie Mae taking Ed to meet her family and leads to her mom's death and Ellie Mae having to take up her mom's profession.
The story itself isn't amazing literature....but Ginger Rogers, Joel McCrea and especially Henry Travers really elevate it into an enjoyable film for me. I could watch the three of them together forever, they just bring me so much delight. I recommend that classic film fans give it a watch...you too might find yourself thinking these two...with their third wheel are particularly well paired. And did I mention the ending? It's great and well worth waiting for. I like a commanding Ed!
Back home Ellie Mae thinks of nothing but Ed and this kiss...dressing up as adult as possible, with a little help from her mom (a prostitute who is supporting the family which includes Ellie Mae's drunken father, younger sister and grandmother), she goes to meet Ed at a unsavory bar where she knows he'll be. Ed tries to take her out of the bar and send Ellie Mae Home, but Ellie Mae makes up a story about struck parents and having nowhere to go now...which all ends up in their marriage.
The marriage is a happy one, with Ellie Mae working alongside Ed and Gramp at the gas station-diner. The family is one big happy lot and they are doing big business with happy customers, thrilled to flirt with the fast talking Ellie Mae. Then one day Ellie Mae's mom drives up with a couple of Johns and a customer says something that upsets Ellie Mae...leading to a great spiral downward that starts innocently enough with Ellie Mae taking Ed to meet her family and leads to her mom's death and Ellie Mae having to take up her mom's profession.
The story itself isn't amazing literature....but Ginger Rogers, Joel McCrea and especially Henry Travers really elevate it into an enjoyable film for me. I could watch the three of them together forever, they just bring me so much delight. I recommend that classic film fans give it a watch...you too might find yourself thinking these two...with their third wheel are particularly well paired. And did I mention the ending? It's great and well worth waiting for. I like a commanding Ed!
This is a dark psychological thriller about a missing man named Tom. Investigator and best friend, John Klute (Donald Sutherland), is on the case after six months of the FBI coming up without answers. The case leads him to New York City and a prostitute named Bree Daniel (Jane Fonda), who seems to be a bit of a contradiction. She's in therapy, trying to become an actress and is only prostituting part time...as she tells her therapist she doesn't like the sex, but the sense of control.
Klute systematically goes through his suspects looking for clues and eventually striking up a sexual relationship with Bree, who he eventually convinces to help him locate witnesses that may be hard to find. The two eventually uncover the murderer and there are not a lot of twists, but the pacing of the film keeps you engaged until the end.
It was refreshing seeing Jane Fonda pre-implants, we kind of have a skewed perception of women thanks to Hollywood these days. This was not just a thriller, but a character study...which gave it a timeless feel. While not my favorite thriller, I think if you are fans of Donald Sutherland or Jane Fonda... you will enjoy this film.
Klute systematically goes through his suspects looking for clues and eventually striking up a sexual relationship with Bree, who he eventually convinces to help him locate witnesses that may be hard to find. The two eventually uncover the murderer and there are not a lot of twists, but the pacing of the film keeps you engaged until the end.
It was refreshing seeing Jane Fonda pre-implants, we kind of have a skewed perception of women thanks to Hollywood these days. This was not just a thriller, but a character study...which gave it a timeless feel. While not my favorite thriller, I think if you are fans of Donald Sutherland or Jane Fonda... you will enjoy this film.