Wonderful Movie

Thanks for the memories!

Absolutely Fantastic

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

An American doctor in the 1930s marries the mental patient he has been treating, but life together in the South of France proves to be an unsettling mix of emotional highs and lows. F. Scott Fitzgerald's epic novel, the last book he had published before his death, is most likely unfilmable; this glossy, indifferently-made adaptation has so little depth that it barely seems to give the source material a chance. Jason Robards continually snarls and flashes his teeth as Dr. Richard Diver (whom everyone ridiculously keeps referring to as 'Dick'); Jennifer Jones is the unstable wife he has 'cured'; Joan Fontaine is Jennifer's decadent sister; Jill St. John is a flirtatious actress out to stir up trouble in paradise. No one involved has the vaguest idea how to approach the material, least of all director Henry King, who allows his cast to visibly flounder. In a dated subplot, Robards, who has been treating a young homosexual, is accused by the boy's father of having similar inclinations, to which Robards responds like a rabid dog. It's too ludicrous to take seriously, and yet too limp and meandering to be passable as camp. The locales are nice and the Oscar-nominated title song is a big plus. Otherwise, an awfully long 'Night'. ** from ****

Jennifer Jones was a real movie star. Chic, glamorous and was simply great in front of the camera. A very good actress who in hindsight made far too few films. In this Henry King directed film of the classic Fitzgerald novel, Jennifer Jones stars in the lead role of Nicole Diver Jennifer Jones looked 30 years old in this picture beautifully photographed by 20th's top studio camera man Leon Shamroy. I liked Jennifer Jones in this movie more so than any other save for "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" and "Song of Bernadette" both directed by Henry King. The King-Jennifer Jones relationship was meaningful in the success of those films.The outdoor scenes shot in Europe are particularly good; the interiors were done at 20th's studios in Los Angeles. Oscar winners Paul Lukas and Joan Fontaine give fine support to the Star and I found Jason Robards fine as Dick Diver. There was much discussion about former Jennifer Jones co stars and friends Gregory Peck or William Holden playing Dick Diver but eventually the role went to Jason Robards who had played F Scott Fitzgerald in the play The Disenchanted on Broadway.Kudos to a great theme song Tender Is The Night which was nominated for Best Song, it should have won. A beautiful haunting song! This lushly produced movie really gets to you and when you see it over and over it is like a beautiful spell.I wish I could see this movie uncut and at a major revival house in wide screen. The picture when released was not critically well received and 20th Century Fox quickly released the film and forgot about it.20th Century Fox needs to release the DVD of this Film.

Miss Jones returned to the screen after a 5 year absence and looked better in this film than she had in years..and gives a truly nuanced performance, edgy, beautiful, just perfect for the role of Nicole. She got beat up bad when it premiered saying she was too old for the part, seen today, she looks wonderful. Isn't that what acting is about? Does every actor have to be the exact age of the role played?The costumes for the film to me did not seem very authentic to the period but it wasn't David Selznick's fault...he carped, badgered and stormed 20th Century Fox with endless memo's about 'this and that'. If only had DOS made this film. It is like a baseball manager guiding the team from the locker room or worse the hotel room vs. the dugout.

When this was released I managed to see most films first-run, except the ones clearly aimed at my age group. (Such a snob, n'est-ce pas?!?) So, being a fan of both Jennifer and Joan, I went to a Los Angeles-area theater with top-notch projection and sound. Back then Twentieth-Century Fox rarely stinted on sending companies to the actual locales of the stories being filmed, so this one has plenty of its share of gorgeous shots set in Switzerland and elsewhere on the Continent, as I recall.But, as other comments herein attest, the rest is somewhat of a disappointment. Henry King, the director, seemed to encourage Jennifer Jones in some of her less-attractive mannerisms which somehow were not so apt as a rendition of her character's mental distress. Jason Robards, Jr. was never much of a success as a romantic lead, in my opinion. And Joan Fontaine was assigned the rather thankless role of a rich "bitch." All in all it's a prime example of how the studio "system" was growing out of touch with an ever-younger movie audience. Nevertheless for those of us who have always appreciated luxurious eye candy, it was a fairly tasty treat.