Les désemparés

Near perfect, this is a marvellous and magical non stop emotional thriller with the camera moving with such fluidity we can only stare in wonder. As the camera swirls, so does the middle class family of Joan Bennett. She is constantly keeping the plates in the air, cheering them along chiding them at dinner or suggesting changes of clothes. When trouble strikes it is she who has to confront the big bad world and visit the boat shed, the less salubrious parts of town and confront people and issues she never has before. All seems to depend upon her and James mason's character appears forcing financial worries on top of all else. Until he falls for her and begins to relent and finally even more. Not a wasted frame.

An unusual film, this slow-burner starring Joan Bennett and James Mason seems like a straight-forward murder and blackmail case, but that's only part of the story. Joan Bennett is the mother living apart from her husband (he's working away), and coping with her growing son and daughter, and their maid. James Mason is an Irish low-life, who hopes to make money from Bennett's family misfortunes.

From the start, where we see the 'murder' and find out what really happened, to the startling ending, this film, directed by Max Ophüls, grips. Aside from the two leads, Geraldine Brooks is good as the teenage daughter struggling with a lost love affair and the hormonal rage of puberty; and Kathryn Card is suitably condescending as she refuses to loan money to the increasingly desperate Bennett.

'The Reckless Moment' has a frisson of noir, and a strong script. It is a minor film, certainly, but a rewarding one.

Taut drama with the always underrated Joan Bennett great as the panicked mother and James Mason just right as the conflicted anti-hero. They interact so well it's a pity they only made this one film together.

Wonderfully directed by Ophuls and atmospherically shot this was updated as The Deep End with Tilda Swinton also a fine film but this has a distinct allure of its own.

Most of the supporting cast isn't given much to do which helps focus the film but an interesting character is the faithful maid Sybil played well by Frances Williams. Always in the background but seemingly all seeing she emerges with a nice showing of grit and understanding at a climatic moment.

For fans of noir and melodrama this is a pleasure from start to finish.

Joan Bennett and James Mason star in "The Reckless Moment," a 1949 film directed by Max Ophuls and featuring Geraldine Brooks and Shepperd Strudwick.

I actually saw the remake of this movie, The Deep End, with Tilda Swinton and Goran Visjnic of "ER" fame. Both films are excellent, though the emphasis in each is slightly different.

Bennett plays Lucia Harper, mother of two, a teenage daughter and a younger son. Her husband works out of town currently - he appears to be an engineer - so Lucia has to hold it all together for her family, which includes her father. They have a house on the beach and lead a comfortable life, but her family needs and depends on her in every way.

Lucia doesn't like Darby,(Strudwick) the man her daughter Bea (Brooks) is seeing -- he's older than she is and seems on the sleazy side. She goes to see him in Los Angeles and asks him to stay away. Darby is happy to, for a price. When Lucia relates this to Bea, Bea doesn't believe her and that night, sneaks off to meet him in the family boathouse. When she learns that he did indeed want money, she hits him and runs away. He chases her, becomes woozy from being hit, and falls through an insecure railing to his death. I believe he impales himself on an anchor, as he did in the remake, but truthfully I couldn't see that shot clearly enough.

Lucia finds the body and, not knowing it was an accident, gets Darby into the family boat and dumps it in a lagoon; Bea doesn't know Darby is dead until the following day, when his body is found and the police and press descend. Bea becomes hysterical and Lucia has to calm her.

That should be the end of it but a man named Donnelly (James Mason) appears demanding $5000, on behalf of a man named Nagel, for letters that Bea wrote Darby. Lucia is frantic - how can she get her hands on that kind of money without raising her family's suspicion? Seeing the stress she's under and her protectiveness, Donnelly is moved by her plight.

This particular version of the story focuses on thin veneer of normalcy that Lucia operates under, and he emphasizes this by having her son ask innocuous questions constantly, her daughter's hysteria throughout the film, and all the while, her father takes to the blackmailing Donnelly and invites him for drinks and dinner. It also focuses on the veneer of the class system that was quickly fading after World War II. For Lucia, going to a bar, a pawn shop, a loan company, for her to even admit she needs money, is difficult. And ultimately she confides in her black maid and needs her help. Joan Bennett, with her educated accent and sophistication, does a marvelous job of portraying this as well as the stress of Lucia's life.

One couldn't ask for a better actor than James Mason as Donnelly. His presence, his voice, his attractiveness give him a veneer of respectability, but he's quick to point out he's not of Lucia's class. "She's lucky to have a mother like you," he tells Lucia about Bea. "Everybody has a mother like me," Lucia snaps. "You probably had one yourself." They become partners to satisfy the cruel Nagel.

Max Ophuls keeps the atmosphere dark and the suspense tight throughout the film, juxtaposing the bright home with the inquisitive, bothersome teenage boy and the relaxed father with the dark and foreboding beach front and lonely roads. Very powerful.

In the "Deep End," the story has been modernized - the son is gay, and the focus is on the character of the mother more than what she has to cope with, in my opinion -- it's a fascinating character study. And her connection to Visjnic is explored more.

I highly recommend both versions of this film, each on its own merits.

In the charming community of Balboa 50 miles from Los Angeles, the middle-class housewife Lucia Harper (Joan Bennett) travels to Los Angeles to meet the scoundrel Ted Darby (Shepperd Strudwick). Her seventeen year-old daughter Beatrice (Geraldine Brooks) is in love with Ted that is a worthless man. He asks for money to leave Bea, but Lucia refuses to give. Bea does not believe on her mother and during the night she sneaks out to the boat garage to meet Ted that admits that Lucia told the truth. Bea pushes him and Ted falls on an anchor immediately dying. On the next morning, Lucia finds the body and assumes that Bea has killed her lover. She decides to get rid of the corpse and puts it in her boat and dumps far from home. When the police find Ted, the stranger Martin Donnelly (James Mason) visits Lucia to blackmail her on behalf of his partner Nagel (Roy Roberts) that has several letters that Bea had written to Ted, asking US$ 5,000 for the letters. The desperate Lucia tries to raise the amount since her husband is working in Berlin. However, Martin falls in love with her and tries to help her. But the dangerous Nagel wants to receive the amount at any price.

"The Reckless Moment" is a suspenseful melodrama of Max Ophüls. The despair of Lucia is impressive trying to protect her family and specially her teenage daughter from the scandal. The plot point is when the criminal falls in love with her and as he says, he had never done a decent deed in his life but he decides to help his beloved victim. Joan Bennett is fantastic in the role of Lucia and James Mason is a nice villain in the end. David Bair plays the annoying son of Lucia that is irritating. In 2001, Tilda Swinton played the lead role in "The Deep End", a good remake of "The Reckless Moment". My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Na Teia do Destino" ("In the Web of the Destiny")