I watched this film...all the way through...but I didn't like it. It seems to me that if there were ever a man and a woman that didn't belong together it was the two main characters in this film, played by Wyman and Heston. Aside from that, and I admit I can't put my finger on it, this film just feels off-target to me. Like when I play pool and every shot is about one inch off the mark. And although I'm a man, it appeared to me that Charlton Heston wouldn't have been a good kisser at all.
The basic story line...at least for a while...seems okay. Wyman is traveling by train through Texas and gets laid over in a cow town that is becoming an oil town. She gets the idea to go into a store for ladies fashions and makes a hit of it. Meanwhile she falls in love with a ranch owner who eventually becomes an oil man. But, oil and water don't mix and Wyman and Heston always seem at odds. And frankly, I have to align with Wyman's character here. Heston plays a mild bully. In the end, she -- unfortunately -- bows to his idea of what a wife should be. What a shame.
Interestingly, Texas Governor Allan Shivers and fashion designer Edith Head both appear as themselves near the end of the film.
There's nothing wrong with the performance of Jane Wyman here. It's the film that's off. But despite Wyman's strength as an actress, I'd have no desire to wade through this again.
Charlton Heston apparently disliked his performance here...and I concur. To be frank, I was never impressed with Heston in romantic films. Despite being in several of the great films of the era, (and "Ben-Hur" is in my top 5), I'm not sure Heston's acting ability was very broad.
Claire Trevor is here, and I liked her in her role. There just should have been much more of her! The wonderful Thelma Ritter is here...basically playing Thelma Ritter...and she's as fascinating to watch here as in any other film! William Demarest, usually an interesting character actor, doesn't fit here. And Wallace Ford (as her husband) has little to do beyond drinking whiskey.
I don't know that I've ever seen a Jane Wyman film that I felt quite this negative about. Not bad though...a single miss in her most productive years.
The basic story line...at least for a while...seems okay. Wyman is traveling by train through Texas and gets laid over in a cow town that is becoming an oil town. She gets the idea to go into a store for ladies fashions and makes a hit of it. Meanwhile she falls in love with a ranch owner who eventually becomes an oil man. But, oil and water don't mix and Wyman and Heston always seem at odds. And frankly, I have to align with Wyman's character here. Heston plays a mild bully. In the end, she -- unfortunately -- bows to his idea of what a wife should be. What a shame.
Interestingly, Texas Governor Allan Shivers and fashion designer Edith Head both appear as themselves near the end of the film.
There's nothing wrong with the performance of Jane Wyman here. It's the film that's off. But despite Wyman's strength as an actress, I'd have no desire to wade through this again.
Charlton Heston apparently disliked his performance here...and I concur. To be frank, I was never impressed with Heston in romantic films. Despite being in several of the great films of the era, (and "Ben-Hur" is in my top 5), I'm not sure Heston's acting ability was very broad.
Claire Trevor is here, and I liked her in her role. There just should have been much more of her! The wonderful Thelma Ritter is here...basically playing Thelma Ritter...and she's as fascinating to watch here as in any other film! William Demarest, usually an interesting character actor, doesn't fit here. And Wallace Ford (as her husband) has little to do beyond drinking whiskey.
I don't know that I've ever seen a Jane Wyman film that I felt quite this negative about. Not bad though...a single miss in her most productive years.