Producer: Lawrence Weingarten. Copyright 21 January 1952 (in notice: 1951) by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at Loew's State: 29 January 1952. U.S. release: February 1952. U.K. release: 31 March 1952. Australian release: 9 June 1952. 7,629 feet. 84 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A melodrama about a wealthy young woman with a serious heart condition who learns that her father arranged her marriage in the belief that she had only a year to live. — Copyright summary.
NOTES: The picture marks the Hollywood directorial debut of Gottfried Reinhardt, son of the famous Max Reinhardt. The younger Reinhardt produced such hits as Command Decision and The Red Badge of Courage, prior to entering the field of directing. — M-G-M publicity.
COMMENT: A dramatic subject treated and played on a soap opera level. None of the characters are at all convincing, the direction is tediously dull, and the script manages to combine facile superficiality with stupefying boredom.
OTHER VIEWS: Wonderful to look at but awful to listen to, "Invitation" is a prime example of M-G-M photographic gloss at its best. Notice how artfully arranged and lit almost each single shot is. The aim is to make the stars look radiant/appealing/attractive even if this means putting the support players firmly into shadow. Ray Collins is often forced to deliver his lines with his back to the camera so that all the audience's attention can be focused exclusively on the stars.
A pity all this expertise were not directed at a more worthy object than this promising but ultimately completely boring and tediously enervating round-robin of a soapie. — JHR writing as George Addison.
SYNOPSIS: A melodrama about a wealthy young woman with a serious heart condition who learns that her father arranged her marriage in the belief that she had only a year to live. — Copyright summary.
NOTES: The picture marks the Hollywood directorial debut of Gottfried Reinhardt, son of the famous Max Reinhardt. The younger Reinhardt produced such hits as Command Decision and The Red Badge of Courage, prior to entering the field of directing. — M-G-M publicity.
COMMENT: A dramatic subject treated and played on a soap opera level. None of the characters are at all convincing, the direction is tediously dull, and the script manages to combine facile superficiality with stupefying boredom.
OTHER VIEWS: Wonderful to look at but awful to listen to, "Invitation" is a prime example of M-G-M photographic gloss at its best. Notice how artfully arranged and lit almost each single shot is. The aim is to make the stars look radiant/appealing/attractive even if this means putting the support players firmly into shadow. Ray Collins is often forced to deliver his lines with his back to the camera so that all the audience's attention can be focused exclusively on the stars.
A pity all this expertise were not directed at a more worthy object than this promising but ultimately completely boring and tediously enervating round-robin of a soapie. — JHR writing as George Addison.