Dear Heart

This is a film about two middle aged people in search of their soul mates. It is a very adult film. Children under 35 usually don't find it very rewarding unless they possess an unusual emotional maturity. I loved it the first time I saw it when I was about 22, but I didn't understand its depths until I was about 38. It shows the despair of lonely singles. It shows the "innocence" of the never attached. A spinster (what an ageist and sexist term) and a not too old jaded and bored bachelor try to make relationships which don't really fit work for them. The efforts they go through and the situations they find themselves in make for a lovely and sweet ride. The resolution is extremely gratifying and not so unrealistic. Its tone, mood and pacing as the two meet and learn about each other build beautifully. I don't want a remake, but I miss movies of this maturity, thought and charm. No glamour, no glitz, no silly gags, no pretty young things, this film shows ordinary people with ordinary problems trying to find someone to love in a world that isn't always kind to people past their "prime". Geraldine Page is revelatory as the slightly ridiculous woman who grows more lovely as the story progresses. Glenn Ford's charms are used to their maximum effect and Angela Landsbury adds the right shrewish tone. This is a must see for people who love a good complicated normal romance.

A lonely and single woman look for love and companionship in New York City at a postmasters' convention. This sweet film brought tears to my eyes watching it. Dear Heart was wonderfully acted by Geraldine Page, Glenn Ford, and Angela Lansbury. It was a delight to watch.

Geraldine Page turns in a great performance as Evie Jackson, a middle-aged woman who seems to have missed the boat and fills her life managing everything and trying to make a home wherever she is. At a postmasters' convention in New York City, she treats the staff like long-lost friends while she evades a group of old maids. She says at one point, that after a woman has given up, she bonds with a group of spinsters and loses her identity.

Glenn Ford is a rather desperate middle-aged man whose just gotten a promotion and will have an office in New York City. He's been a salesman on the road for decades and yearns to settle down. He's recently gotten engaged to a woman from Altoona, PA (Angela Lansbury) and plans to find an apartment in the big city.

Of course these two lonely people keep running into each other at the convention hotel where they are both staying. Slowly they begin to be attracted to one another, but he's already engaged. To make matters worse, his soon-to-be step son (Michael Anderson, Jr.) has bailed from college and has basically moved in with Ford at the hotel. But Lansbury has misled him and he thinks the kid is 13. Plus he wants a home, but that's not what Lansbury has in mind.

Page and Ford are just terrific in this on-and-off romantic story of two souls who finally find one another despite the pitfalls along the road. Lansbury is brash as the "other woman" and Anderson is OK in an odd role and subplot.

Others in the large cast include Charles Drake as Evie's one-time boyfriend, Barbara Nichols as the sales girl, Patricia Barry as Ford's old girl friend, Richard Deacon as the convention runner, and Sandra Gould as his assistant. The pack of old maids includes Ruth McDevitt, Mary Wickes, and Alice Pearce. Neva Patterson is Page's oft-married friend. Lots of other familiar faces pop up: Hal Smith, Doris Roberts, Maxine Stuart, Patsy Garrett, Ralph Manza, and Steve Bell as Chester.

Geraldine Page won a Golden Globe nomination for this film.

The lives of a woman and man intersect at a New York hotel in this sentimental story from 1964. Glenn Ford plays Harry Mork, a traveling salesman who has decided to slow down and settle down after years of schmoozing, boozing and extracurricular intrigues. Geraldine Page plays Evie Jackson, a small-town postal worker who annually visits the big cities for the industry convention and a chance to let loose a little and take in the sights.

Evie is the person who has never met a stranger. Outwardly she is an eternal optimist and delights in knowing everyone's names, as if that knowledge makes them friends. Under the surface, though, she might be "Miss Lonelyhearts" from Hitchcock's "Rear Window" in a few years, if her life situation doesn't resolve into a satisfactory conclusion. Ms. Page's portrayal of Evie is so fascinating that she dominates the film. Frankly, my attention is always riveted to the screen when this film plays, even though I know how it turns out. As others have pointed out, this is a performance worthy of an Oscar.

The screenplay is very well written, allowing the viewer to observe every aspect of the characters, learning their way of life, their fears, and even their hidden dreams. The acting is good across the board. The end result is very satisfying, especially for viewers who can identify with the emotional vulnerability of the two main characters.

I don't know about Chimale1025's claim that "Children under 35" won't enjoy it unless they are exceptionally mature, but I am currently in my mid-20s and have loved this film since I saw it on TCM in my early 20's. Then again, many of my favorite films deal with the loneliness of not quite fitting in to society's big picture.

This is a lovely story of two lonely people who find each other at just the right time, and the growing closeness between the two forces them to look at their lives more clearly and see what they really want out of life. The title song by Mancini is rather cloying and irritating, but I can overlook that for the wonderful performances by Ford and Page. Lansbury is also quite good as the supposed shrew and "tomato", but even she is not entirely unsympathetic in the end. She is also lonely, you see.

Anyone who has been truly lonely or is sympathetic to that position will react emotionally to this film. True, it is a little dated, but that is a large part of its charm for the innocence and hope that fills it. Definitely worth a look, and hopefully it will appear on DVD soon enough!