Good idea lost in the noise

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

What is so great about a movie like this is that it touches on what I imagine must be somewhat common feelings among some people middle-aged or older, whether they themselves have felt that way, or know someone who did, about what it is like to feel one was robbed of some of life's opportunities.Shirley Booth really shines in the role of Lola, and one can see why she won the Academy Award for her work here. For much of the movie, she will occasionally call out for "little Sheba", their dog which has gone missing for quite some time, recalling fondly the good times they had had together and how much the dog meant to them.Burt Lancaster plays Doc Delaney, a recovering alcoholic, whose medical career was interrupted when he had to marry Lola, apparently due to an unexpected pregnancy. This meant he could no longer afford to continue with medical school, as a result of which he became a chiropractor. To make matters worse, Lola lost the baby and could never have any more children. As we meet the Delaneys in the movie, we learn that Doc has been attending AA meetings for some time now, and appears to have successfully quit drinking. The movie opens with Lola showing a room in the Delaneys house to Marie Buckholder (Terry Moore), a young college student who eventually moves in, with Doc's approval. Marie has a boyfriend/fiancée who isn't seen in the early part of the movie, called Bruce, but as we get to know her she is also going out with a college athlete named Turk (Richard Jaeckel), who occasionally poses for her (she's an art student), and he is all arms with Marie.Doc starts showing some well-founded concern for Marie, and seems especially worried that Turk is the kind of young man who might not have enough respect for her; he really starts becoming concerned after the two youngsters start spending time together, and the movie subtly suggests that he is concerned that Marie might meet with a somewhat similar future as Lola.At one point, Lola realizes that Doc has apparently started drinking again, when the lone whiskey bottle in their kitchen suddenly goes missing. It's not long before she has to face the facts and try to help Doc from relapsing completely into his old alcoholic ways; he seems to have been unable to handle even the simple glimpses of the impending romantic life of young Marie.Well acted and directed, Booth's Lola can still be quite irritating. Doc gives little hints into what is going on in his head since he helps other alcoholics who are brought into the hospital and mentions to Lola that "most alcoholics are disappointed men". Ouch. Even though Doc didn't mean that as a slap in the face the conclusions are easily drawn. She keeps mentioning the prayer that alcoholics say part of which is "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change". But then she keeps bringing up to Doc the past that cannot be changed, even though Doc tells her quite gently to leave the past behind.I'd recommend this one if it ever crosses your path.

Shirley Booth (of "Hazel" fame) and Burt Lancaster are married, but don't really communicate in "Come Back, Little Sheba." The film opens on Shirley who gets out of bed and moves about with no motivation to do anything, to dress, to clean. She has a likable disposition, but she doesn't have much drive. Her husband is a chiropractor, who never finished his medical schooling as a doctor, for reasons that are shown to us slowly throughout the film. Little Sheba is a dog they had that ran away and that Shirley has been praying will return. Burt Lancaster is excellent as the husband who just goes through the motions day by day without feeling. Terry Moore is a boarder who they take in for more income, of whom Burt takes a liking to. And, also, he is an alcoholic who has been sober for years and whose world will soon shatter. But this is Shirley Booth's picture, as she breaks your heart. She is both pitiful yet strong in conjuring up the depths of depression. Shirley deservedly won an Oscar for this film. What secrets are behind this façade? Will she come out of her delusions? This film is definitely worth your time. Please look for "Come Back, Little Sheba." It's an experience you won't forget.

I saw this movie 20 years ago and thought it was way over-acted. I saw it again tonight and enjoyed it a bit more. I still think that Lancaster is miss-cast and that Booth's acting is way over the top.Rather than being the story of a recovering alcoholic I saw it as the story of a woman who irritated everyone - even her own parents - with her child-like imbecility. The fact that her husband could stay off the drink for a full year while living with such a woman is remarkable. Surely the only reason the husband didn't leave was that his own self-esteem had been completely negated by marrying such a woman in the first place.Booth's acting is so melodramatic that it makes you cringe time after time. Not a movie for a modern audience.

'Come Back Little Sheba' is the story of a recovering alcoholic's (Lancaster as 'Doc Delaney') falling off the wagon, then back on again. His lapse is prompted by the appearance of a student lodger (Moore as 'Marie') whose flirting with a bad boy (Jaeckel as 'Turk') arouses Doc's lust and jealousy. Presumably because this was 1952, there is a lot of understatement of the passions that actually might be going on, but the scenes of Turk assaulting Marie, and Doc spewing his bitterness at Lola (Shirley Booth) are still powerful, and Burt's struggle not to pick up the bottle is good.Shirley Booth's performance is slightly over the top, and there's never any doubt that you're watching a stage performance, but it's a professional, consistent turn. The trouble is that Burt Lancaster's acting for the screen in a much more restrained way, and you do wonder what a cool, if wooden, dude like him is doing with a somewhat irritating frump like Lola (in spite of her implausibly being referred to as 'Pretty Lola' more than once). At first I was expecting Lola to be the one reaching for the booze as soon as Doc had gone to work, but alas there are no such twists or deconstructions in this movie. It's straight down the line, and the only suspense comes from wondering when Doc is going to reach for that Bourbon he's kept in the kitchen for a year. When he does, sparks fly gratifyingly enough.The teen characters and their plot are straight out of a McGraw-Hill public information short, often forgetting to act properly (see Bruce in the dinner scene), and while Lola's phone call to her mother telling of her unhappiness is effective, Doc's return and the resumption of suburban bliss is very weak and relies on sentimentality.'Come Back Little Sheba' portrays an abused woman's mundane heroism and does enough to get by, but whether you enjoy it will depend on whether you buy Shirley Booth's old-school performance. In 1952 it was probably quite moving; in 2012 it's a little bit grating.