Reviews

It was a great film in every way. In that Tom Hanks can play a serious person as well as having a light touch. He is here to cheer us all up, he really is. Nobody else can do that, like he can. BUT I do wish that whoever did Julia Roberts hair was severely reprimanded. Would it have spoiled some great eternal plan if she had nice dark brown hair. Dark hair really suits her. Those fluffy big heavy curls, blonded as they were, did her no favours at all. And she can look really good, she really can.

I was quite happy to watch this film again, some films are like that. Getting more from it, a second time around. Actors were hand picked, absolutely. Not that you noticed them acting because they all did their stuff seamlessly. Of course it's no crime to have a voice that is low, dead, and no lilting tones whatsoever to speak of, but Gwyneth Paltrow as a nightclub singer is a magnificent piece of acting. She really does manage to convince that she is part of a nightclub setup. I thought it was a little too indulgent when she "forgets herself" and the band seems to know but hey ho the director must have liked it. Toby Jones was a revelation, fantastic, as Capote. Though I should have known, he has been great in other work too, including some Charles Dickens stuff. Sigourney Weaver, Sandra Bullock, I loved those two ! It all seemed to be right in that era, those times. I have a photo of Truman Capote dancing with Marilyn Monroe in a New York nightclub. She is looking away and Truman is hanging on to her hands for dear life! because she brought something to him too. He could show her off and she could meet new people to the ones in California, having had Daryl Zanuck shout at her :"You'll never work again !" So they were both happy to be seen around town. It's uncanny how much Toby Jones managed to look just like him. And the personna he put across, he was right into it. It was a joy to watch and to follow the high jinks. There was some humour too even though it could be a sad subject. I feel he will rightly be proud of the result.

As I remember it, this was an exciting movie of the day and it still stands up to the test in my opinion. Steve Cochran was still the right age to look good and so was Anne Baxter. His character has caught up with her again, and they have some history together. She has got a job in a circus with a high diving swimmer. I remember the diver for his unique soft voice. He was the "goody" in the film. Anne Baxters character doesn't want to take up with him again and Steve Cochran sort of become a stalker, hanging around the tent at night and giving a low whistle. The dim witted strong man of the circus is a little in love with her himself and will do anything to protect her. The three main characters are all good looking people which puts this film at it best. There is also the technical and interesting stuff of climbing a high ladder and looking down at a drum of water that looks like you are going to dive into just a teacupful of water for you are seemingly so high. Anne Baxter is also expected to learn how to do this. Steve Cochran is bothering her... And watch out for the Big Wheel. A wonderful film.

A film for Robert Ryan fans, for this shows how handsome he was. Fit and virile, and before smoking began to take its toll. He was 40 yrs old by the time he made this film. He got the chance to be something of a hero for a change. He does some pretty good acting, for him, and romantics everywhere will love the way he desperately tries to save his wife in dramatic scenes. This movie pushes home the paranoia of anti-communist views as it was in the 50's. People scoff at the fear of communism in todays climate, but things were different then. People have forgotten how men died because of communist spies. British soldiers and some Americans and Polish too, died at the hands of communist spies such as Guy Burgess, Kim Philby and Anthony Blunt. They mainly operated from Whitehall, London, and spilled secrets to Russian Communists in the 40's during the war. They leaked details of planned operations that got back to the Russians. When they started being discovered by the British and American Intelligence they fled to live in Russia and they died in the 70's. However, this film expresses a fear and nothing more than that of dark forces at work among men. Essentially a "B" movie but certainly adequate and worth a look for Robert Ryan alone, and probably as a history lesson for movie makers.

This film made me aware of Jaqueline Bisset and how good she was to look at, but also gave us a chance to see Dean Martin in a serious role, which he did very well indeed. I liked the whole of the film, well put together, although at first it seemed a little amateurish. The best role to play, I thought, was that of the wife waiting at home, the one who decides to go to the Airport to help, as her husband is a hopeless case. She played her part marvellously, trying to get someone to listen to her at the airport with the information she had. She had me in tears, she was such a good actress. But also after seeing this film I came to the conclusion that Jaqueline Bisset was the best looking classical beauty we have, albeit her legs were a little on the thin side.

When I first saw this film it was about 1956 and even though I saw it again recently I have not changed my mind about it. I think it was Robert Ryans best film, because he portrayed someone like my father, and he was a schizophrenic in real life,(my father) although he never murdered anyone but was affected more so during the second world war which made him worse. Having to humour him just to get by and get through the day was so apt. (My mother and brother had to do this)When I saw Robert Ryan portraying this type of man, it was a very good imitation of this type of individual, and I was impressed.

As a fan of Rod Steiger I was not disappointed, and of course, Robert Powell as Jesus did seem to fit the bill. Electric Blue eyes, and all. But Steiger, although he wasn't given much to do, and not many props either. In fact, it was like a test of an actor's ability in that he was given such a bare set. Just a wooden table, etc. But, didn't he come through ! I'll say he did. And how. Just a little bit of business to do on the screen and he certainly made the most of it.He managed to make himself look too busy and preoccupied, as if he had just come back from the "front line" to bother with this "Jesus question" This guy can act, believe me. I thought afterwards, that it was almost an insult to an actor of his calibre, not to have given him more of a part in this production. But a rare treat nonetheless.

I went to see this film when I was about 15 yrs old. It made a big impression on me because I was very idealistic then. The film was honestly and earnestly made, straight as a die, that was its charm. The fact is it only cost 1/- to get in the cinema to see it. In todays money that is about 5p. The film belongs in that era of course, the fifties. I have never fogotten the little boy in court trying to decide which parent he should choose to be with. He conveyed the correct personal inner torment of knowing he should choose his real mother, but being so used to his adoptive one.