Such a frustrating disappointment

Good start, but then it gets ruined

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It has been said that if you are not on the edge of life you are taking up too much room. The discovery and the adventure that comes with people deciding to have them is unique and remains of interest to us all. In this movie, we are introduced to someone who has started to wake-up from the inside out which is the beginning of finding ones purpose and identity. The main character is driven by questions and can only be satisfied by answers which he seeks here and there and when they come. What happens without realizing it is that if one does this correctly, their character changes for the good without calling attention to itself. It is subtle but consistent and this is the proof of the fruit of the tree i.e. who we are and why. Watching someone unravel their mystery is not only satisfying but encourages and supports others to go within for their very own experience. It is in all of us awaiting to be activated patiently standing at the door just wanting to be let in and go to work. The movie captures this and more. Along this journey, one cannot help but find love, true friendship and meaning as it is intended and free for the asking. The Razors Edge also has a dual meaning as well. We know that this is a very sharp edge to be sure but it is also a very narrow one leaving room enough for only one person to journey as the edge is that narrow. But what people find is that even on this Razors Edge, there is the creation power assisting all along supporting and beckoning to finish what was started. This movie will demonstrate all this and more. Have a tasty drink ready, a light snack or even a meal and be patient with the movie as it unfolds like a flower in the sun. It will bloom as intended and the rewards are there

A man's search for the meaning of life is captured in this Darryl F. Zanuck production, directed by Edmund Goulding, and screenwriter Lamar Trotti's interpretation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel. The film was nominated for Best Picture (and B&W Art Direction-Interior Decoration) by the Academy and won Anne Baxter an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category; Clifton Webb was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, and Lucile Watson play key roles as does Herbert Marshall, who plays (and narrates the story as) novelist Maugham.Larry Darrell (Power) returns from World War I wondering why he survived when a comrade of his, who was struck down just before its end, did not. This seemingly random occurrence causes him to question life. Raised without a religious or spiritual foundation, he asks "what's the point?" and considers loafing but instead decides to begin a quest for meaning. His upper class fiancée Isabel Bradley (Tierney), whose physical if not emotional attraction to Larry is obvious, is initially tolerant of his search despite her socialite uncle Elliott Templeton's (Webb) misgivings; a snob, his attempts to manipulate 'common' Larry out of his niece's life fail. Isabel's mother (Elliott's sister) Louisa (Watson) has long since given up trying to control her strong-willed daughter.But after giving Larry a year, which he spends in Paris, and deciding to abandon an attempt to trap him (the old fashioned way, with pregnancy), Isabel returns to her Midwestern roots and marries the multi-millionaire scion – Gray Maturin (Payne) – that her family had always preferred to Larry. Maugham's character, an acquaintance of Templeton's, observes the goings-on and often offers merely an expression – raised eyebrows or a "knowing look" – to exhibit his opinion; he words are usually neutrally tempered.Baxter plays Sophie, a childhood friend of Larry's – and Isabel's, despite their class differences – that marries Bob MacDonald (Frank Latimore). Her simple yet happy life is dramatically changed when her husband and their child are killed in an automobile accident. Years later, after the stock market crash that wipes out Gray and Isabel, who've come to live with Elliott in Paris, and Larry returns from the Himalayas where a Holy Man (Cecil Humphreys) and the setting helps him to find the spirituality he'd been seeking, they find a despondent and drunken Sophie in a bar in the lower class district of the city. Evidently she'd salved the hurt of her losses with alcohol and prostitution.Larry attempts to save Sophie, leading her to sobriety, and they become engaged to be married. But a jealous and incensed Isabel conspires to bring about Sophie's demise. When Larry later confronts Isabel about her actions, his inherent "goodness", coupled with his selfless gesture (which features a scene with Elsa Lanchester) to a dying Elliott, leaves her (and indeed the audience, through Maugham) to contemplate his chosen path.

Being an intellectually engrossing, enormously stylish, deeply emotional picture, The Razor's Edge is both the most captivating and the most satisfying adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's inspiring novel of the same title. Even though in its core subject the film has much to do with spirituality and self-realization, it also ponders such considerable topics as obsession, greed, alcoholism, war-related traumas, etc. Wrapped up in a neat package of astounding visuals and fascinating camera shots, The Razor's Edge proves to be a very successful collaboration between the director Edmund Goulding and the cinematographer Arthur C. Miller. Splendid performances by the stellar cast only confirm that The Razor's Edge is an irrefutable masterpiece of the Golden Era of Hollywood.The literate and dramatic script gives a thorough psychological insight into all the character's minds. Tyrone Power plays Larry Darrell, the main character, who is about to begin a long and demanding search for the true meaning of life. Gene Tierney is his fiancée Isabel Bradley, a girl who tries to trap him into a marriage she wants, but ultimately realizes that she won't be able to. Clifton Webb is Elliott Templeton, a shallow, pompous, and supercilious uncle who – surprisingly so – turns out to be a rather likable and reliable old gentleman.Larry goes to France and then to India, discovering many new facts about life and fulfilling his destiny as the passionate truth-seeker. In the meantime, Isabel marries Gray Maturin (John Payne), a man who's always been in love with her. Along with her uncle and a few relatives they move to a classy palace located in France and stay there until the heavy depression hits them really hard.The turning point of the film comes when a long-time family friend Sophie MacDonald (devastating performance by Anne Baxter) loses her husband and child in a car crash and starts drinking in order to forget about this horrible accident. After a while, all the characters meet up in France at the most unexpected time. Though married, Isabel is still fully in love with Larry. He, on the other hand, decides to help poor Sophie and proposes to her instead. Thing turn ugly, as Isabel tries to cause Sophie's final fall into alcoholism and dejection, just to get Larry only for herself. As the obsessive behavior progresses, she realizes that many people, even those that she truly cared about, desert her.Starting in the period ingeniously named the roaring 20's and following up to the difficult times of the Great Depression, the film exhibits – in an utterly realistic manner – how a social and economic situation in the USA shaped the way people corresponded to one another. Pretentious, shallow and greedy members of the aristocracy cared only about their own, mostly material, needs. However, after the horrible stock market crash in 1929 everything suddenly changed. It's perfectly exemplified in the way Isabel Bradley's closest relatives handled the loss of money, and how it actually lead up to the beginning of the respected family's end.Undoubtedly, Tyrone Power's performance is the greatest force of this picture. Avoiding many clichés, he presents a man who is as confused as he is curious about life in general. Handsome and charismatic, it's not hard to see why Gene Tierney was so obsessed with his persona. Her awe-inspiring portrayal of a woman who can't distinguish between what's good and what's bad is as convincing as it is heartbreaking. Exploring both an ill-fated love affair and a promising spiritual journey, the film is a 144-minute ode to effective and convincing filmmaking. Enhanced by marvelous supporting performances, The Razor's Edge cuts deep and uncovers a deeply sorrowful intrigue, promising neither second chances nor happy endings.

Old Hollywood was always in trouble when dealing with Deep Think. That's because of the medium's commercial nature. When flirting with spiritual or religious beliefs, the studios simply didn't want to risk offending potential ticket buyers. So, when dealing with Deep Think (not their many biblical epics which were unabashedly Christian), the studios compromised to the point of absurdity by either flattening out the message or trivializing it. Here it's trivialized. After all, who's against Goodness. As a result, we wait 145-minutes to find out that, yes, Goodness is in fact a good and noble thing, and with that, Larry (Power) is on his way to enlightenment. And naturally, no one's offended, except maybe those who had expected something more.Of course, the profundity is wrapped in lavishly mounted studio soap opera, with two of Hollywood's most beautiful people surrounded by whirling hosts of well-clothed extras. In fact, that opening ballroom scene is a marvel of orchestrated staging as the characters are introduced by serially playing off one another. At the spectrum's other end, however, is that dreadful monastery scene with its painted mountain backdrop and facile dialog. Flattening the import of that pivotal scene are the repeated references to god as though that's where all paths must inevitably lead. And that's along with the spectacular alpine vistas fairly shouting celestial light from a heavenly above. I'm sure all that window dressing comforted nervous audiences who could then wink at Larry's spiritual quest and not feel the least bit threatened. But it also reduced a profound subject to a superficial level.Another area that gets a Hollywood treatment are values and class, always tricky topics for an industry backed by Wall Street. The movie goes to pains circulating Larry among the gilded elite of Chicago as epitomized by the petulantly snobbish Templeton (Webb) and the selfishly insulated Isabel (Tierney). But, the elite's values are clearly materialistic, a spiritual dead-end in Larry's view as he heads off to learn from suffering with the working class. The screenplay thus sets up an implicit critique of the gilded class and the values that guide them. Well and good. But then the screenwriters can't seem to decide what to do with this point of view; after all, that's another touchy topic among audiences, especially coming so soon after the societal upheaval of the 1930's.As a result, Larry never really criticizes the peer group he's been a part of, never really explains, that is, why he sees his social class as a spiritual dead-end, which of course would delve into a socially touchy subject. Nor, for that matter, does Larry explain why "salvation" lies through sharing a working class experience. We're left, I guess, to suppose the answer has to do with the suffering caused by hard physical labor and poor pay this class must endure. This subtext, however, is never really brought to the surface and remains unresolved at movie's end. Thus, big studio TCF and its head honcho, producer Zanuck, nibble around a second tinderbox topic, tantalizing us but never really delivering.The movie does have a definite upside. For one, it's exquisitely well photographed, compensating somewhat for the 2-hour-plus run time. At the same time, the ballroom scenes are especially well choreographed and lavishly upholstered, creating an impressive air of wealth and breeding that makes Larry's renunciation a genuine material sacrifice. Then too, there's Webb's lively version of an unregenerate snob, a character he could do to waspish perfection. Also, Marshall's quietly observant author provides a needed contemplative note. However, in the film's pivotal role Power fails to provide the needed depth his character requires, or as another reviewer observes, Larry is pretty much the same after his trip to India as he was before. Fortunately, Power would later find that depth in Nightmare Alley (1947).All in all, the movie remains an overlong visual treat that fortunately includes the exquisite Tierney. But as one might expect from old Hollywood, the film fails crucially at coming to grips with its two overriding themes—spirituality and class. As a result, two of life's most important questions are given unchallenging treatment. In short, here as elsewhere, where Deep Think is concerned, commercialism precedes all else.