Souvenirs

What a remarkable movie! It contains, as far as I've seen her, Hedy Lamarr's best performance ever...she's luminous here, human, warm, heart-wrenching, not the aloof goddess of other MGM films (which I like too, by the way). She gives a complex, multi-layered performance as a liberal, independent, unprejudiced, modern working woman who falls in love with a lad (grandly impersonated by Robert Young) who comes from an aristocratic, old fashioned, "blue-blood" family from Boston.

They meet while working together in an advertising/publicity company, but their relationship is not an easy one, due to Marvin's (Hedy) unease with his family's morals, mores and ways...

The movie is told in flashback, with Harry Pulham (Robert Young) remembering his childhood and younger days, when he's well into his forties and married to a woman of his same "Social Circle" (Ruth Hussey-what a good actress she was, giving a first-rate performance in a role so different from the one she played the previous year in "The Philadelphia Story").

You can tell this movie was directed by a first rate director like King Vidor, who could handle so well "sociological" issues.

Good performances too by Van Heflin as Young's pal, Bonita Granville as his sister, Charles Coburn as his father et al.

An engrossing film, watch it on TCM, where it's scheduled regularly.

Though dealing primarily with an upper-class character, this picture involves decisions and emotional conflicts that everyone can relate to. The bittersweet story reminds us that to a greater or lesser extent we all settle for something less than the life we dreamed of. On the surface, the characters here are happy: they say they are, and they mean it. But beneath that surface are disappointment and longing that they keenly feel when the past is recalled. Better not to think about it, and just go on with the life you have.

Hedy Lamarr was a curious choice for this role. It doesn't really suit her, but she handles it better than one might expect.

This movie is very thought provoking about how life is or how it could have been. It helped me appreciate life, the good and the bad, most of everyday life is actually quite good especially when we don't dwell on the could haves. It was very nostalgic for me. I especially liked the spontaneity as thats something we like to do as a couple, but we don't see a lot of it these days. The idea of taking a chance was a little scary for me. The romance was soft and touching, very clean. It actually gave me some ideas on how to be more romantic. It was a kick seeing Van Heflin so young and skinny. The movie really was a fantasy, but so close to the truth that it just grabbed me. Being older, the film quality was worn, some of the pan scenes were distorted. That Robert Young smile is contagious, thats how I'll remember this movie in my mind's eye.

Previous comments referred to the slow pace of the story, in a way I agree, but we're talking about a different time in the cinema. It was a pleasure to see how the characters were formed and could only attest to the direction of King Vidor. Hedy in her role as a career woman, had the full understanding of the character. Her outstanding beauty ( even in a masculine business suit) are not to be denied. Some people have said she was not a great actress, and indeed she wasn't, but certainly a competent one, and she proved here, given the right roles. As for Robert Young, I thought he was also excellent in the main role, as were all the others. Kudos to all of them for an enjoyable two hours.

This terrific little gem of a drama puts forth the idea that we all "settle" in life, for a life (or person) more "stable" or, at least, more comfortable (e.g. per our upbringing). Though we may passionately believe we want that something (or someone) else, for practical reasons (or other circumstances) we'll accept "less". We may even hold onto an old dream, which we've romanticized about to the point that all the negatives are gone and only the positives remain in our memories, such that we believe it can still be made to work ... only to find that the moment has passed, we've changed, and/or the "air is out of the balloon":

Such was the relationship portrayed between the staid title character, played by Robert Young, and a businesswoman, whose character was intentionally given the male name of Marvin, but is played by the decidedly unmasculine Hedy Lamarr. Though Pulham was raised to marry a woman like Kay (Ruth Hussey), whom he eventually does, he spends his early years in the advertising business pursuing co-worker (and artist?) Marvin, who's a bit too "modern" for his conservative family's values.

The story is told in flashback, with Pulham examining his life while writing his Harvard class biography. Coincidentally, he's just gotten a call from Marvin, who's also married and just wants to meet for drinks after all these years.

Produced and directed by King Vidor (who co-wrote the screenplay, based on the John Marquand novel with his wife Elizabeth Hill), the cast is excellent and includes Charles Coburn as Young's father, Van Heflin as his longtime friend, classmate and business associate, Fay Holden as his mother, Bonita Granville as his sister, Douglas Wood as his boss, and Sara Haden as his secretary. Charles Halton plays a client of the ad agency, Leif Erickson a football playing friend of Pulham's, and Anne Revere (uncredited) his father's secretary. Frank Faylen, Byron Foulger, Ava Gardner (her second film), Connie Gilchrist, and Grant Withers also appear uncredited.