Herz ohne Hoffnung

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what is the most ridiculous thing about this 1958 Paramount melodrama - the notion of Lana Turner as an ace war correspondent, or Sean Connery's eyebrows. Turner plays Sara Scott, one of those movie journalists who remains gainfully employed despite never letting work get in the way of their personal life. She swans around wartime London in a fur coat, perfectly coiffed and oblivious to the realities of modern warfare although, to be fair, it's not difficult for her not to notice when director Lewis Allen has chosen to mostly omit it from the mise-en-scene. Other than a sequence showing sappers defusing an unexploded V2 rocket, and Scott's hired help making a passing reference to rationing, there's no indication that this is a city that's been at war for nearly 6 years. There's no bombed out buildings, no indication of food, gas or clothing shortages, and barely anyone in uniform on the streets. As a peroxide blonde society lady who spends her time lunching, loving and shopping on 5th Avenue, Turner is entirely convincing. As a highly rated journalist ready to fly off at a moment's notice to whichever battle front her editor deems her presence and writing talents to be essential, she's somewhat less plausible than Steven Seagal tackling Shakespeare. Which brings us to Mr Connery's eyebrows. They are both a wonder and a mystery and put Robert Pattinson's brow hair to shame. His are wider but inexpressive and just sit there above his eyes. Connery's, in contrast, are longer and undulate like two strips of dark brown deep shag carpeting strapped to the back of a couple of adult earthworms. They're so impressive they actually distract attention from his luxuriant head of hair which to anyone used to the older, more follically challenged Connery, is a talking point in itself. ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE was not the 28 year old's first movie but it was the first time his name had been billed in such close proximity to the film's stars, and clearly no one had considered that a little personal grooming might be in order to reflect his new status as love interest to a bona fide Hollywood star. His agent might also have found a tactful way to suggest that having Connery's character, with his distinct Scottish accent, wax lyrical at great length about his idyllic home town on the coast of Cornwall, might not be the most convincing. But even shifting location and pruning his eyebrows would not have prevented this turgid drama from dissolving into a pool of smelly sludge. Nothing about it rings true and no one does anything to evince our interest or sympathy. It's just a bust. Check out more of my reviews at http://thefilmivejustseen.blogspot.com/

I had heard a lot about this film. I like Lana Turner and I have always thought that Glynis Johns is one of the loveliest British actresses who ever went to Hollywood - our loss, their gain. She seemed to steal every scene that she was in.

I thought this was just going to be another love story with a wartime background, but it was more than that. It turned out to be a very touching and human story.

The scenes of Cornwall were beautiful. It would have been great in colour, and the film had the loveliest ending that I have ever seen in any film of this genre.

Lana Turner never won an Oscar, but I am surprised that she was not, at least, nominated for an Academy Award for this picture. She was always good at playing this sort of role, lighting up the screen as her performance developed.

I am not usually a fan of love stories, but there was just something about this film that made me keep watching it. I do not know what it was. Maybe it was just Lana Turner's performance and the beautiful scenes of Cornwall. I have recorded it on Talking Pictures. I might even watch it again.

I have also enjoyed watching Sean Connery in one of his early roles. He is always good, no matter what film he is in. However, I should imagine that British audiences must have sat in the cinema wondering how a Scotsman could have been born in Cornwall.

Set in Cornwall (not that you'd know from the accents, least of all Connery's) in 1945 (not that you'd know from Lana Turner's chic fifties wardrobe). The title is apt, as it belongs to a very specific moment in 1957 when Sid James was still playing Americans, Lana's film career was simply treading water (just before the publicity resulting from the Stompanato scandal revived it again) and Sean Connery - suffering yet another false start - cost next to nothing. Likewise it completely lacks the glossy high contrast colour photography by Russell Metty and mellow piano music by Frank Skinner (rather than the noisy score here by Douglas Gamley) that became a hallmark of her vehicles for Ross Hunter.

Turner's penchant for Bad Boys showed both in her offscreen liason with Johnny Stompanato and her onscreen one with a Connery still sporting his original bushy eyebrows. But it's really about Lana's relationship with Connery's wife Glynis Johns.

Sean Connery and Lana Turner are journalists who fall in love, in this enjoyable war time melodrama. Connery plays Mark Trevors, a radio reporter for the BBC and Turner plays Sara Scott, posted in London working for an American newspaper. Their relationship, which is never fully developed, has a sting in the tail. The second half of the story takes place in Cornwall, and although filmed in black and white, the scenery is still alluring. Turner, who gets most of the screen time, gives a decent performance and Connery, who at the time was relatively unknown, demonstrates the charisma which makes him a potent screen presence.

Whilst on assignment in a very 1950s-looking WW2 London, a plastic-haired US ace-journo' (Turner) and an impossibly baby-faced Cornish ace-journo' (Connery) are lost in the throws of a torrid affair, despite the disapproval of colleagues (stiff-upper-lip Longdon, laconic James). However, even as declarations of undying love are uttered, dark clouds loom in the form of Turner's newspaper boss and erstwhile lover Sullivan, and Connery's shock disclosure that he has a wife and child tucked away in his native Cornish village. When Connery is killed in a plane crash, a devastated Turner makes a pilgrimage to his native Cornwall where her path crosses that of his wife and child...

Risible weepy, serving as a star vehicle for Lana and an early showcase for the handsome young Connery, both of whom fail miserably to convince. Turner seems to possess only three facial expressions, even when trying to stay upright in her stilettos as she totters round 'St. Giles' (actually Polperro) - witness her horribly 2-D efforts to comfort Martin Stephens after his nightmare. Meanwhile Connery's description of his Cornish fishing village birthplace is delivered in such a rich Edinburgh brogue as to be quite giggle-some.

So often the case with British cinema of the 40s and 50s, it's the support players who steal the show - Glynis Johns' is a beautifully judged and modulated depiction of a woman recovering from grief. Her resolute kindness, generosity and warmth make her reaction to the final reel revelations all the more believable. Sid James shines as a world-weary American journalist trying to juggle loyalties, and Stephens' post-nightmare scene is desperately convincing.

Sadly however, excellent support playing, and beautiful location shooting are just not enough to save this overwrought turkey.