Un amour pas comme les autres

I'd forgotten how much i loved this film until i watched it yesterday. I remember watching it a lot years ago but it isn't the sort of film that sticks out as being mind-blowing. Nevertheless it's still a really good one to watch when you don't want anything too heavy. There are some nice floaty songs, a few teary scenes and overall a nice mix of everything a good film needs, without anything harsh thrown in.

Frank Sinatra and Doris Day are totally believable throughout and compliment each other perfectly. The cast as a whole works very well, the characters are all complex and not over-the-top or dull. In short, it is a perfectly likable film.

Once again Gordon Douglas deals with characters faced with moral dilemmas. In this case the three sisters and their infatuation with Gig Young, Doris Day's commitment to Frank Sinatra, and Sinatra's decision. From the opening scene of the neighborhood in which they live to the very end this movie is much more then it seems. Within the artificial look of the sets,there's no hiding the many themes that meander throughout this somewhat dark (musical?). For those who don't get it, take another look. These characters are far deeper then the picture perfect world they live in might make you believe.

Unconvincing musical drama, a remake of 1938's "Four Daughters", has bright, cheery Doris Day picking brooding Frank Sinatra for a suitor over bright and cheery Gig Young. She's hoping to cure Sinatra of his demons, of course, and isn't true love the best medicine after all? A corny, artificial outing, although one mounted with classy studio-style and featuring pleasant supporting characters and chipper family chit-chat. Still, Sinatra's dour mood and Young's attraction to Day (over one of her sisters, whose tender emotions are never quite dealt with) leaves one unsatisfied. It's certainly a well-scrubbed, family-oriented diversion, but the all melodrama the screenplay brings up seems wrong-headed, and sour Sinatra never fits in with this sunny family and he never clicks with Day. **1/2 from ****

Before reviewing the movie proper, I'll just mention that the YouTube upload I watched of this was off-sync after the first 30 or so minutes. So much so, my mom was very confused at the narrative but I managed to figure out what was going to happen about 30 seconds or more ahead of time. This was the only time popular singers Frank Sinatra and Doris Day teamed up for a movie and it's pretty entertaining if not quite as great if it could have been. I mean, Sinatra doesn't appear until about 30 or so minutes have passed and when he does, he's not quite the happy-go-lucky fella he was previously in other movies, instead he's quite depressed because of his character's attitude. Ms. Day, in contrast, is quite the opposite considering the family she lives with. I know this was a remake of a straight drama called Four Daughters and that the fate of the character Sinatra plays here was different when he was played by John Garfield. I'll reserve actual judgement until I see FD and perhaps watch this again, hopefully with a more perfect print than the one I just watched. While Sinatra sang some standards, Ms. Day sings some new songs. I'll just now say that despite those technical flaws I just mentioned, I enjoyed Young at Heart. I think my mom did as well despite her confusion...

This film features Sinatra relishing some great songs and some fine dialogue which suits him perfectly. The scene where he sings "Someone to Watch Over Me" at the cafe piano is quite unforgettable. This is a very re-watchable movie with a fine cast - Doris Day, Gig Young, Ethel Barrymore, Brian Keith etc.

The standard songs are joined by some new ones written for the production - and they too are a total delight. A fine example of 1950s Americana as seen by Hollywood.