About Mrs. Leslie

In this romantic melodrama from Paramount Pictures and director Daniel Mann, boardinghouse proprietor Vivien Leslie (Shirley Booth) flashes back on her romance years earlier with George Leslie (Robert Ryan), an aircraft manufacturer and wartime (WWII) military adviser struggling with personal demons. Mrs. Leslie also tries to help out the various tenants at her residence whose dilemmas include a good cross section of middle class angst 50s style.

In the flashback, Vivien meets George Leslie at a nightspot where she is an entertainer. The two hit it off and he asks her to come to California with him for a six week vacation that he needs to treat the strain he is under and his resulting nerves. What starts out as friendship quickly turns to love and a "same time next year" arrangement with the two having six weeks together in the same beach house every January. Leslie is a bit of a Civil War buff, and Vivien starts to read about the Civil War too, because it makes her feel close to him when they are apart. And this brings me to the most shocking part of the film when it comes to modern sensibilities - A bookstore owner actually says something positive about Robert E. Lee! Oh the humanity!

Booth's nightclub act at the beginning is really quite bad. In spite of that and the fact that Booth and Ryan look every bit of their eleven year age difference, I was moved by Booth's various plights. Her great acting talent managed to transcend her age and even her singing. I also liked Harry Morgan in a small role as a sleazy talent manager with a pencil mustache. In his youth, Harry Morgan could always be counted on to be whatever kind of slimy little weasel the production required, and be memorable in the process.

The film also has a great score, and it turned out to be one of those films that is better than it ought to be.

Though she was known for her many roles on Broadway and an even more famous part on television, Shirley Booth did not seem to build much of a career as a movie star. Maybe this is because she was rather unlike other actresses that were headlining motion pictures in the 1950s. And that's a good thing, really, because for every Marilyn Monroe, it's kind of nice to have a Shirley Booth, who stands out and gives us something decidedly different and special.

In this film, ABOUT MRS. LESLIE, she is paired with Robert Ryan who plays against type as a mysterious magnate. It's fun to watch him make romantic gestures towards Miss Booth's character. Of course, his idea of companionship differs significantly from hers, yet a bond is forged and it is a lasting connection. Booth displays a range of emotions in this film, and she gets the chance to sing. The story of the couple's unusual courtship is told mostly in flashback, with several subplots in the present to balance out the narrative.

First, it must be mentioned that Shirley Booth was a fantastic actress in both film and stage, the latter being her forte. Here was an actress who, despite the fact that she was not Hollywood model material by any means, could run rings around scores of her drop-dead gorgeous contemporaries in the acting department! It's really a pity that she became typecast as "Hazel" in her popular television series, because she could, and did, offer so much more.

That said, now comes the plot of this particular film. A fairly good looking, well to do up and comer in politics, albeit married to someone else, falls in love with Ms. Booth's somewhat frumpy character. Highly unlikely, some people would say, but it happens in this film, and it happens in real life, no matter what the media would have you believe. Robert Ryan rendered a fine performance, and both of them generated the right chemistry. This is where it gets really good. The love that's shared between these two comes across as quite genuine. In fact, it blossoms throughout the film by way of a good plot! No spoiler here! You must see the film in its entirety to understand this.

Yes, the film plays out like a soap opera for the most part, but the idea behind it, the love between these two people, no matter the odds, is very real. There are lots of sub-plots going on throughout, but they all seem to come together perfectly and sensibly in the end. Many facets and foibles of human nature are addressed quite well in the process.

This is a must see, as are all of Shirley Booth's movies, at least in my opinion. It's too bad she didn't make more of them.

This movie was ahead of it's time, but still posturing to the "Code" and Hayes Office. "Mrs. Leslie" knew she was a once a year Date for a married man, in a "Open Marriage". The movie treated her with respect, as a woman, and not a cheap whatever, going to a Motel with a married man. It didn't matter to her the "reasons" that this man craved her companionship once a year. He never gave her the trite, "I'm getting a divorce", or "She doesn't understand me" spiel when he arranged their vacations. He didn't say anything about his wife, i.e. put-downs, horror stories, when he was Mrs. Leslie, either. The only people in the film that treated her like scum were the Lawyer for the Estate, and the neighbor she babysat.

About Mrs Leslie,in less credible hands,would have been just another average 1950's tearjerker,but in the hands of (Oscar) winning actress "Shirley Booth" the film crosses the boundary, from maudlin to interesting. Anyone familiar with Booth's acting genius, knows that the actress could have made a film about the invention of the "pencil sharpener" worth watching. It could be said, and rightfully so that 'Robert Ryan" was miscast, as Mr. Leslie, but if given a chance, I believe you'll gladly overlook Paramount's little casting error. All in all, About Mrs Leslie, isn't "Shirley Booth's" greatest moment, but she still had reason to crow! I highly reccomend this dramatization of "Vina Delmars" best selling novel of the same name.