10 rue Frédérick

"10 North Frederick" recounts the story of a middle aged man, successful in business, who is pushed into the political arena by his domineering, obnoxious wife.

Gary Cooper and Geraldine Fitzgerald are in fine form as the middle aged man and vicious wife. With the ending of his career approaching, Cooper gave an outstanding performance as a man who was just too good for the society that he lived in. Equally impressive was Geraldine Fitzgerald, his wife Edith, with her sterling political ambitions that could easily rival Mary Todd Lincoln. Erudite, yet a tramp in her own right, Fitzgerald etched an unforgettable character in using such terms as mawkish. (Fitzgerald could have easily played Mary Todd Lincoln in the great 1940 film "Abe Lincoln in Illinois if Ruth Gordon hadn't been available.) Some could call the film dated but what an impressive date! The mores of yesterday were defined that in politics, if you had a scandal in the family, you were ruined. Not so necessarily true today. The same more could be applied to older men married to younger women. Sociologists could really have a ball with this terrific film.

When he sees the dirt that politics brings, he begins an affair with his daughter's room mate. Diane Varsi, who was so good in "Peyton Place," shines as the daughter. Suzy Parker is her friend who has an affair with Cooper.

Fitzgerald pulls out all the stops in her vicious tirades. She is soon slapped down by her son who denounces her publicly for what she has done to her husband.

A wonderful film detailing moral values and their decline in a society where they are most needed. Highly recommended film to all viewers.

John O'Hara's best selling novel, described by one critic as 'a brilliant portrait of the personal and political hypocrisy of mid-century America', has been adapted by one of cinema's finest screenplay writers Philip Dunne who also capably directs although he himself admitted that he had 'started directing too late'. Albeit truncated, this version apparently met with the approval of the author.

The political ambitions of leading character Joseph Chapin in the novel have been reduced here and Dunne has opted to develop a brief fling between middle-aged Chapin and Kate Drummond, a woman half his age, into a full blown romance. It must be said that the beautifully understated and sensitive playing of Gary Gooper and lovely Suzy Parker has resulted in one of the most moving and heartbreaking Spring/Autumn affairs ever committed to celluloid.

By all accounts Mr. Cooper jumped at the chance to play the part originally turned down by Spencer Tracy and would no doubt have identified with his character as he had earlier called off his relationship with Patricia Neal and returned to his wife who was hopefully more forgiving that his spouse in this, played by the superlative Geraldine Fitzgerald. There were also distinct echoes of Diane Varsi's own life in her role of Chapin's daughter, having come from a broken home and been twice divorced by the age of twenty one. This talented but fragile artiste suffered a breakdown during filming and was later to quit Fox studios as she felt she was 'heading for destruction'.

Great support from John Emery, Philip Ober, the ill-fated Tom Tully and the inimitable Barbara Nicholls as a party girl. There is a splendid score by Leigh Harline but the confounded Cinemascope format alas proves itself once again totally unsuited to intimacy. The phrase 'they don't make them like that anymore' is used to describe the character of Joe Chapin. It might just as easily refer to Gary Cooper.

The disillusionment, regret and sense of failure depicted here cannot fail to strike a chord with most of us and call to mind Whittier's 'Of all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.'

John O'Hara's book TEN NORTH FREDERICK was hardly the masterpiece of political life, but it had strong characterizations, and the film, also not a masterwork, has a lot more going for it than we initially thought. Still of major consequence are the performances of the supporting players. In this tale of a failed political hopeful, his vengeful wife, his youngish girlfriend, and assorted other characters, the viewer is caught by the superb work of the cast. All seems possible with the effective work. Geraldine Fitzgerald, as always, is a total marvel -- one of the finest of three decades. She should be almost deified. In this, she eschews her sensitive side to superbly capture the nastiness of a woman who want more and more... with less change to get it. But she is matched by young Ray Stricklyn as the confused young son... with at least one scene that should have done for him what the telephone scene in The Great Ziefgeld did for Luise Rainer. His work indicates the hope we all had for him.... but he correctly went to the L.A. stage where he scored enormous successes. Diane Varsi and Stuart Whitman both underscore the acting skills we first saw in them. The love story between the older Gary Cooper and the younger Suzy Parker works better than I had recalled. He tries with his expected skill to show the desperation of the man, but Suzy Parker DOES offer a multi-layered performance -- far superior to the work she had done in other films. This film remains an interesting Hollywood look at the world of politics, and it should not be buried unmarked in the annals of solid craftmanship.

A successful small-town lawyer (Gary Cooper) with a beautiful wife (Geraldine Fitzgerald), two over-achieving children, and aspirations to be president, seems to have it all. But as his daughter looks back on his life, a different man emerges: one in conflict with his ambitious and shrewish wife, terrified that the misdeeds of his children will dash his political dreams, and in love with a model half his age (Suzy Parker). With black wit and penetrating insight, as a portrait of the personal and political hypocrisy of mid-20th-century America Ten North Frederick stands much above Butterfield 8, Revolutionary Road, Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge, though much beneath The Swimmer and Mad Men. Pretty competent drama extracted from John O'Hara. Certainly half-flawed. There is, for example, a flashback in which the character who remembers could not have previous knowledge of the remembered facts, which only the viewer knows.

Although Gary Cooper is my favorite actor, this was a movie I had never seen until a few years ago, when I happened to catch it after waking in the wee hours of the morning and turning on the television after not being able to get back to sleep. It seems like this movie isn't very well-respected, but I think it is fantastic and have recommended it to several people. Admittedly, it's not High Noon, but it's quite bittersweet (heartbreaking, even) and has a touch of romance. Gary Cooper's character is a very decent man at heart and truly tries to do the right thing when it comes to the major decisions he has to make, but it seems he can't win being married to such a shrewish woman.