Touches You

That was an excellent one.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Well acted soap opera about how a wealthy young woman's nymphomania negatively impacts her life and the lives of people around her. Not that it doesn't take two to tango. However, she has a way of attracting men with no self control or moral fiber. Lovely Suzanne Pleshette is excellent in the role of the promiscuous woman. Ben Gazzara is also notable for his disturbingly slimy role. There's not much of a storyline; she has no control of her sexual compulsions throughout her life and does nothing about it despite the counsel of her family and friends. There aren't many likable characters in this movie making the movie itself hard to like. Not really my kind of movie but it's okay for this genre.

A rather sordid topic is given a mostly tasteful, if daring for its time, treatment in this adaptation of a John O'Hara novel. Pleshette plays a young girl who, whether purposeful or not, attracts men to her like bees to honey and decides it's something she likes. Her post adolescence is spent canoodling with boys in the backseats of cars or on family room sofas, much to the concern of her faint-hearted mother Matthews. She starts to skirt scandal when boy-toy Goddard's mother Somers catches them making out, but is redeemed by the love of optimistic and caring college man Dillman. After a rough start, they make a go of things until a) hirsute engineer Gazzara sets his sights on her and b) dignified, but badly-married Graves starts to fancy her as well. Plenty of complications ensue until the melodramatic and ironic ending comes about. Pleshette, while preposterous as a high school student in the early sequences, gives a passionate and sensitive performance, achieving the near impossible which is eliciting sympathy for a reckless nymphomaniac. She looks terrific in her (Oscar-nominated) Howard Shoup gowns and the black and white cinematography loves her eyes. She deftly portrays the sensational fact that her character has a sexual disorder and finds it hard to resist the liaisons. Dillman is also very good, aptly conveying the sensitive and disgusted colors of his role. His hair is lighter than usual (perhaps to contrast with the raven-tressed leading lady?) Gazzara is convincingly obsessive and brutish, not to mention seductive. Graves hasn't got a whole lot to do and doesn't do a whole lot with it. He would soon move on to the career-defining role of Mr. Phelps on "Mission: Impossible." Leslie, as his wife, exhibits unexpected levels of despair, though she comes more than close to unintentional comedy at times. Matthews (who, coincidentally, played Dina Merrill's mom in the film of O'Hara's "BUtterfield 8") is appropriately weary and worried. Gregory pops up as the family doctor, dispensing some interesting and amusing advice when it comes to teen love. Goddard is adorably sniveling. Like Graves, he too would soon be performing his most iconic role on TV's "Lost in Space." Furth, a Broadway fixture, has a small role as Dillman's pal. Christine, as Matthews' maid, was the well-known Folger's coffee spokeswoman in the 70's and Somers, of course, became a staple panelist on "Match Game" several years after this. One can't help feeling that this is a cousin to the earlier "BUtterfield 8", but it's different enough to retain its own level of interest. If this had been filmed in color, it may be better known than it is as many black and white films fell out of favor when it came to TV airings as color TV became prominent in the late 60's. However, the already dicey subject matter may have come across as lurid (by the day's standards) in color. The opening credits feature a striking instrumental title number by Ferrante & Teicher as the names are displayed amongst various rural settings (politely placing the black print against white items like barns or covered bridges or sky, etc…) It's no earth-shaking piece of cinema, but it's interesting for its period approach to sex and captivating thanks to its name cast and the stalwart performance of its leading actress.

"A Rage to Live" had beautiful, haunting theme music which crept in at just the right moments. The story of Grace Caldwell, a beautiful young girl with a "problem," not unlike most men, everywhere, she loved sex and had no control over her actions. She was a nympho.Women like Grace are scorned and hated by other women, because men are so drawn to her type -- women who crave sex just like men. There wasn't a lot of "dating and cat and mouse" with a girl like Grace. A brief look into her eyes and the next stop was the bedroom.Personally, I felt sorry for Grace after her marriage to Bradford Dillman and the birth of her child. She seemed truly happy. Into her life walks Ben Gazzara, with a bulging crotch and sexy Italian bravado. Much too much for Grace to resist, especially when he tells her that he has the hots for her. Obviously, Grace is not getting the KIND of sex she craves: cheap, tawdry, motel sex with strange men. Well, that's what she got with Ben, but he was mentally "off" and easily fell in love with Caldwell. Trying to break off the affair with Gazarra, she tells him, "You knew what this was. I have a husband and child that I love." His response, of course, is to call her a "dirty slut" and a "rotten, filthy whore!"Ben is not the only man that is after Grace. Every man she comes across "knows" her and "her kind." Unfortunately, it's difficult for her to say "no." Even on a vacation with her mother, who has a bad heart, Grace sneaks out in the middle of the night to have tawdry sex with a hotel worker. She copulates with a college buddy of her brother's, plus, it was insinuated that she had "entertained" other men.The ending is sad, especially because her husband deserts her after a drunken, jealous wife accuses Grace of "sleeping" with her husband (Peter Graves.) After calling Grace a "tramp," the woman breaks down in tears and tells Bradford that her husband "admitted it!!!"Susanne Pleshette was wonderful. Her performance was as good as any other actress's in 1965, certainly better than Liz Taylor's in 1960's "Butterfield 8." Perhaps if Grace had been a prostitute, the role would have been more appealing to the Academy. They just LOVE giving Oscars to actresses who play ladies of the evening. Nymphomania, obviously, is too strong for their coffee.Too bad Susanne didn't become a major movie star -- she certainly had the looks and the talent.I'd love to have this on DVD. And, that THEME music was lovely.

Grace Caldwell differs from the usual "bad girl" in that she's not trading sex for money, social advancement, etc. Nor is she detached from a "normal" life of home and family. Rather she is an intelligent wife & mother who has a fling on the side just because she's horny, in the manner expected of men. A good film with strong performances by Suzanne Pleshette as Grace & Ben Gazarra as her lover.