Top Secret Affair

This was inspired by John P. Marquand's 1951 novel "Melville Goodwin: USA." The book was about an Army general's affair with a prominent woman, and it was one of Marquand's most entertaining. Unfortunately, the movie retains almost nothing of the original story except for the names of the two romantic leads. In the book, the general is already married, and making him a bachelor in the movie simply changes everything. The movie even eliminates the narrator of the book, who supplied much of its humor. Readers of the book can watch the movie with no sense of what will happen next. The two are that different, and the movie is undeniably inferior.

This project was previously designed for Bogie and Bacall, nevertheless the malignat disease is about to win the battle against a hard smoking Bogie, thus the couple decided quit, they were replaced by Susan Hayward & Kirk Douglas, intriguing that Kirk already paved a solid career, but somehow he was casting as second billed, should be Susan enough great than Kirk Douglas??

The plot is engaging and pleasant to watch, with humor oriented through the funny character of the clumsy Col. Gouch (Jim Backus), a tycoon of high profile magazine Dorothy Peale (Susan Hayward) lobbied on backstage to nominee a civil person to Atomic Energy Committee, to her dismay the office went to war hero Major General Melville A. Goodwin (Kirk Douglas) a hard line soldier, over such defeat Dorothy has an insight, inviting Melville for an interview at her house in order to besmirch his reputation vis-à-vis to the public, the outcome is whatsoever foreseeable as Hollywood always did.

Due the poorest votes and reviews this picture seemigly didn't had any impact at its release time, that I recollect never hear a thing over this picture, maybe for a lack of chemistry between them, Hayward seems so prudish, well dressed and behaved, it ain't Kirk's kind of woman, I expected something hot, peppery, sounds a family movie,more suitable to Rock Hudson & Cary Grant (those guys that used to kiss the chins of the actress, sorry sounds a bit offensive) also the storyline is far-fetched, whoever heard an interview which takes ten days to be done, apart these minors flaws it won't bother anyone!!

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First watch: 2021 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

With the powerful energy and sex appeal present in both Kirk Douglas and Susan Hayward, isn't it strange that when they finally made a movie together, it was a comedy? It's an oddball comedy, a supposed battle of the sexes that doesn't really hit the mark of any target, but if you want to see both their energies up on the silver screen together, you've got to rent it.

Kirk is a war hero, a general up for a big promotion. Suzy is a journalist, in charge of a great deal of publicity (good or bad) in the country. She doesn't know him and doesn't like him, and she plans to turn a seemingly harmless interview into a damning reputation crusher. Kirk arrives at her house with his faithful sidekicks, Paul Stewart and Jim Backus, and his precise regime of eating, exercise, bedtime, and moral etiquette immediately irritate Suzy. What does she do when she realizes there's no legitimate dirt to find? She forgets she's a journalist and remembers she's a woman; in other words, she fights dirty.

Even though this is far from a romantic comedy, some naughty bits made it through the censors and amused audiences. In order to be alone with him, Suzy says she gets "inhibited with more than one man in the bedroom," effectively sending Jim and Paul away. When she's particularly mad, Kirk reminds her she can't yet make good on her threat to kill him, because "generals die in bed," and in that scene they're nowhere near a bedroom. There were some funny moments, and some more dramatic moments, but all in all it felt like a waste of their talents. Since we all know they're capable of making better movies, have one of your favorites on hand for next weekend.

Hayward is a clichéd stereotype--the tough as nails lady who really just needs a man! Because of this, you KNOW where the film will eventually go. If you think about it, this is the sort of woman she ALSO played in "The Conquerer", "Where Love Has Gone", "David and Bathsheba" and countless other films.

The movie begins with a VERY one-dimensional lady publisher (Hayward) deciding to do a hatchet piece on a famous general. In other words, while she would pretend to be fair, she already decided to make the article very negative regardless of how their interviews go. So, she invites him over to her house to stay for a few days--and again and again, she tries to trip him up and get him to say something she could twist and take out of context. As for the General (Kirk Douglas), he's almost as one-dimensional--way too perfect, sexist and in control to be real. I am surprised after this inauspicious beginning that I actually continued watching the film--especially since I knew what would happen next. After all, the fact that the movie is called "Top Secret Affair" made this deduction pretty easy! Basically, she tries again and again and again (without luck) and in the process falls in love with the guy. Is there more to the film than this? Not really.

Considering that at the time, Douglas and Hayward were top stars, it is surprising they'd be put into such a mediocre B-movie plot. Despite the budget, it's not a particularly good film and it's not surprising that the film isn't particularly famous. A must-see for die-hard fans of Douglas or Hayward but no one else.

By the way, I read one time that Kirk Douglas didn't like folks knowing he was 5'9" (which, by the way, is a perfectly fine height). In many films, they either hired very short actors or put them in trenches to make him appear taller. In the film, he even says he's 6' tall!

Solid performances by both Hayward and Douglas and a nice turn by Jim Backus in this battle-of-the-wills comedy. Hayward is head of a Time/Life-style empire that attempts to smear the record of war hero general Douglas. As worthy opponents the sparks are subtle and adult, especially for the time. It avoids politics in an obvious way while showcasing why Kirk Douglas had legions of female fans, and why Susan Hayward was the thinking man's movie fave. Not a knee-slapper, but fairly realistic as a smart comedy. Worth a watch and better than Leonard Maltin thinks it is.