No Minor Vices

I saw this movie as a little girl and fell in love forever with Louis Jourdan. I have just fleeting memories of it, but remember he was so charming and handsome and adorable. I saw Him in a play as a young teen and never really got over it.

Being so young my moral compass was not fully developed and i simply couldn't believe Lili Palmer wouldn't just take his hand and never look back...Would love to see it again.

I did try to like this - and Lilli Palmer is excellent as the bored wife of gifted doctor Dana Andrews, doomed to a life of cooking lobsters and making do. The part of the doctor though seems to be beyond Andrews and needs a Cary Grant or a William Powell to give it some zip. And Louis Jourdan wouldn't float my boat, far too scheming and false, yuk. Watch out for little Beau Bridges in one of his early film roles. It's fun but with the right cast and a lighter touch than director Lewis Milestone had it could have been more than a minor curio.

I saw this charming comedy several times in the 1950s, when I was a little girl. I was absolutely enthralled with the suave and handsome Louis Jourdan, who is the personification of what a leading man should be. Lili Palmer, who looked exquisite, was his match. I was able to eat lobster after seeing this, but not as an adult.

This movie used to get me into trouble with my parents because I didn't have a TV in my room and would sneak out of bed at night occasionally when this movie was on, turn the sound down very low and sit on top of the screen in order to see and hear it. But I would still get caught. It wasn't the movie, it was the late hour that would get me into trouble.

I would really like to see this again to see if it still stands up. I know I have always been a Louis Jourdan fan because of it.

The fact that I disliked so much of "No Minor Vices" says a lot, as Dana Andrews is one of my favorite actors. But good actor or not, the plot to this film is pure nonsense...and I don't mean that in a good way.

Perry (Dana Andrews) is a very successful child psychologist who seems to always know how to cut through to the roots of the problem with his patients. He's really good...and dreadfully aware of this. However, when he meets a kooky guy, Octavio (Louis Jourdan) he's finally met his match. Octavio is not mentally ill so much as a manipulator...and soon he's manipulated himself into the life of both Perry and Perry's wife, April (Lili Palmer). All sorts of silliness ensues...or at least is supposed to ensue.

The first 15 minutes or so of the film is quite good...and most enjoyable. But when Octavio is introduced, the story becomes muddled and dumb. It just doesn't make sense but most importantly, it's not funny...and this is supposed to be a comedy. A huge misfire...though the actors try their best.

If you do watch the film, watch for a really bratty kid at the beginning. That's seven year-old Beau Bridges in his first film.

"No Minor Vices" is a gem. It uses wit and humor to comment on the conflict between Life and Art. The plot centers on a confrontation between the quintessential MD, who fancies himself a psychologist, and the quintessential Artist, who fancies himself a philosopher. While every dullard believes he may criticize Art, no one would ever suggest criticizing the validity of scientific judgment. The supercilious Artist (played to perfection by Louis Jordan) decides to teach a lesson about Art to the know-it-all MD (effectively played by Dana Andrews), using as tools: Love and the MD's wife (charmingly played by Lilli Palmer). In a series of funny episodes, each teaches the other understanding and respect. The Artist's satiric drawings, used to comment on the MD/and the Scientific, are wonderful and all too true to LIFE and to the Humor in the human condition. Ars longa vita brevis, Hippocrates said. Bravo Lewis Milestone for bringing the truth of this home to us with so much fun.