Fantastic!

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

One thing the campy reviewer above forgot to mention was the lush score of Elmer Bernstein. Very very memorable themes, beautifully scored... tying everything together... and haunting long after the movie is over...It's a shame this film cannot be seen today on the networks... Too tame by today's standards... but representative of solid storytelling, and fine drama... never possible to be replaced by today's synthesized orchestras, computer drawn scenery, and wannabe character actors...It's also a testament to an era when big name movie stars existed - something you don't have today. Those stars are from an era gone by, and never to be repeated - thanks to our interfering government breaking up the Hollywood system!!!Today's here-today-gone-tomorrow stars just don't have it!

I had to see Lana Turner with Efrem Zimbalist, or the other way around. It was a curiosity – superstar with moderate actor. However, she did have some less than star quality leading men. Zimbalist is GQ for sure, and that voice - attractive shell but hollow performance.There have been other films with the same deficits of this one that have come across. Usually, the higher caliber actors can put it over. Someone must have called for flat line, and they all adhered. What comes out is exactly what one can find on daytime soaps. Everyone was at some stage of pathetic. That would except the Mitchell character, who was a breath of fresh air. They could have called this "All Fall Down." Too bad Helen didn't pass around the cleaning fluid and clear out all the suds. The simultaneous make-ups at the end were so low on the meter, they hardly registered. This one lacked a pulse from start to finish.

It is certainly not a great movie, but it makes enjoyable television watching. The cinematography is great. It's fun just watching the marvelous rooms with the elaborate woodwork, sweeping hallways. These folks live very well. The camera is quite static so it is a visually appealing, quiet movie with very literate characters. It is fun just watching these drab folks live among such rich colors. Their lives may not be a rich tapestry, but their backgrounds sure are.OK, the plot is very melodramatic and a bit contrived. Folks have very big problems (infidelity, crimes, court drama, family break ups) but nothing much really seems to happen. They sure talk a lot. Oh well, but late at night, when you don't want to go to sleep, this is almost perfect.

Despite coming off the success of 1959's classic sudser, "Imitation of Life", and 1960's mystery/soap, "Portrait in Black", Lana Turner made a poor career choice with "By Love Possessed". Not a bad film exactly, it does pale in comparison to the other melodramas of Turner's later career. The great cast includes Efrem Zimbalist,Jr., Jason Robards, George Hamilton, Susan Kohner(the black daughter passing as white in "Imitation of Life"), and Barbara Bel Geddes. In this vehicle, Turner plays the alcoholic, pleasure-deprived wife of a handicapped lawyer(Robards). So, she begins an affair with his law partner(Zimbalist), despite the fact that he is married to Bel Geddes and has a son(Hamilton). Hamilton is involved in a lacking side plot in which he's in love with a rich, but mentally unstable local girl(Kohner). The film is super plush and has a great score. However, the character development is so lacking, that by the end of it all we don't care about them. Too bad. It could all have been so good. This movie's only worth a look if you're a big fan of Turner's.