Invierno en el alma

This film begins in England...just a few months before World War II begins in Europe. Mark (Walter Pigeon) and Mabel Sabre (Angela Lansbury) have been married three years--and it turns out he married her on the rebound. His old fiancée, Nona (Deborah Kerr) has just returned to her home town....the first time since she broke Mark's heart. Mark and Nona are foolish, as the start spending time together alone 'as old friends'. Not surprisingly, however, it stirs up feelings within them--dangerous feelings for both their marriages. Soon, however, Mark pushes Nona away and remains true to his wife.

Over time, it becomes painfully obvious that Mark is a very nice guy. While his wife is easy to dislike since she's so unpleasant, he wants to fulfill his obligations to her and the marriage. He also is very kind to a young neighbor, Effie (Janet Leigh)--as she lives with a puritanical and tyrannical father. When Effie becomes pregnant and is thrown out of her home, Mark invites her to live with them. This throws Mabel into a nastier than usual mood. She verbally abuses her servants and so they quit, then she lets Mark know that Mark must do nothing to help Effie. Mark chooses, instead, to tell his wife to get out...she's gone too far.

After young Effie moves in, Mark's boss uses this as an excuse to break his contract by firing him. They claim he's violated a morals clause. Can things get worse in this very soapy film....oh, yeah! The moralistic town begins to boil like a cauldron...why and what happens is something you'll need to see for yourself. Be aware, however, that it is a bit racy for a 1940s film.

While you do feel sorry for Mark because he's such a decent guy, as you watch you might also feel that he's incredibly foolish and makes many dumb choices. Clearly he's backed himself into a corner and now it looks like everyone is ready to tear him to pieces.

Despite Mark being a bit dumb (and by the end he seems like a TOTAL idio), the film is pretty good. As I mentioned above, it is very soapy--like a traditional soap opera with LOTS of salacious elements. But it works because the acting is so good--otherwise the film might have come off as too over the top and perhaps even silly. Worth seeing but blunted a bit because Mark was just too nice--almost a putz in the film. Otherwise I might have scored it a bit higher.

This was sort of two movies in one. It started out with Angela Lansbury as a self-centered woman who was fearful that her husband (Walter Pidgeon) would be drawn back to his old flame. Lansbury was quite good as the wife who had an interesting approach to this situation. But later, the movie turned into a story about a young woman (Janet Leigh, doing a good British accent), who turns to Pidgeon for help and inadvertently causes a host of problems for him. Deborah Kerr is also good as Pidgeon's old girlfriend, but even with the good cast, the movie overall is little more than a confused soap opera, and the ending doesn't make much sense. Not one I'd recommend, unless you're a particular fan of anybody in the cast.

Set in a small English town just before the beginning of WW2, the story follows the trials and tribulations of Mark Sabre (Walter Pidgeon), a good, decent man married to the shrewish Mabel (Angela Lansbury). He's secretly in love with the also-married Nona Tybar (Deborah Kerr), but both are hesitant to make a move forward. When the war breaks out, Mark discovers that young Effie Bright (Janet Leigh) is pregnant, and the father is a mystery that she won't divulge. Forced out onto the streets by her religious father, Mark agrees to take Effie into his home, much to the rage of Mabel, and the condemnation of his fellow townsfolk.

The overstuffed script reveals the material's literary roots, with perhaps one or two too many minor characters for the 90+ minute running time. I get the feeling this was supposed to be a an Oscar contender for Walter Pidgeon, but he's not quite up to challenge, faltering in the film's last act with some amateurish acting. 19-year-old Janet Leigh, in only her second film, seems to have had trouble with her British accent as much of her dialogue is noticeably looped. Poor Angela Lansbury was only 22, and she auditioned for the role Leigh got, but was instead cast as the disagreeable wife of 50-year-old Pidgeon. Kerr often seems like an afterthought, a victim of the script trying to do too much. The clash of old morals mixed with small-minded people and small-town gossip would make this a good addition to a triple bill including My Reputation and Cass Timberlane.

Good deeds better be their own reward since they can easily backfire as the movie shows. Poor Mark Sabre (Pidgeon) undergoes something of a mid-life dedication to doing good for others above everything else. Maybe it's a reaction to his cold-hearted wife (Lansbury) or renewed affection for now married former flame Nona (Kerr). Whatever the reason, circumstances are conspiring to ruin him because of his kindness. So how will things finally sort out.

It's the kind of production MGM specialized in—classy players in classy surroundings (British). Nonetheless, the topic of unwed motherhood was rather daring for its time, figuring quietly but importantly in the plot here. It's Britain 1939 and civil society is responding to WWII mobilization, including the small town of Pennygreen, whose sons are suddenly marching off to war. While on the homefront, volunteers are flocking to boost civil defense.

The movie's first part meanders some, appearing to head in one direction— namely, straightening out Sabre's love life. But then his lady-love Kerr largely disappears from screen, gone into civil defense. At the same time, the second part changes direction, picking up in suspense, when the unlucky Effie enters the picture. Because of Sabre's selfless attitude, we can't be sure how the movie will end. Still, I wonder if there isn't a backstory to Kerr's abrupt absence and the resulting shift of direction.

Anyway, in my book, a youthful Leigh steals the film with a highly sensitive turn as the star-crossed Effie. It's easy to see why she climbed the Hollywood ladder so quickly. At the same time, the unknowns playing High Jinx and Low Jinx manage to spark proceedings with their imaginative character concepts. Of course, vets like Pigeon and Kerr come through on cue, while Lansbury's stony wife would send any guy packing.

All in all, it's well done soap opera with a few surprises that should please fans of tangled relationships.

As mentioned in another review this film admittedly appears flat in the beginning, but develops rapidly into a well-blended story about true love, charity, and the foibles of human misunderstanding and communication akin to those so eloquently portrayed in the American film 'Peyton Place.' Both films are set in small, idyllic towns as well, with this one in England, and both films show the ongoing impact of WWII loses of native sons on their respective communities.

The addition of three extremely accomplished actresses in the initial flash of their stardom -- Angela Lansbury, Deborah Kerr, and Janet Leigh -- makes this film evermore an enjoyable watch.