In fondo al cuore

This is the kind of WASP angst movie that in the skilled directorial hands of a Sirk, Stevens or Stahl would have been visually striking and dramatically compelling but in the very average mitts of Robert Z. Leonard is mostly tepid schlock with admittedly decent performances from the three leads. The biggest problem I had with it was the general blandness of the proceedings. I realize WASPS are on the repressed, undemonstrative side (I know this because I was married to one) but it's almost as if Leonard and his scenarists went out of their way to find the most bottled up and fizzled out members of this buttoned down sect in all of Rhode Island and large swaths of eastern Connecticut. Little of the dialogue in the screenplay by Whitfield Cook and Ann Morrison Chapin, whose names sound like headmasters of a dull prep school, is of much interest. When it isn't being mushy, as in the love scenes between Pidgeon and Colbert, it's annoyingly melodramatic, as in Colbert's final pep talk to Allyson that too easily "cures" her of her daddy fixation. Also in the spirit of WASP repression the screenplay leaves out essential stuff, like how Larry's first wife died, and informing Allyson's shrink (a refreshingly restrained Lionel Barrymore) that his patient has, you know, just tried to off herself. And Leonard's typically somnolent direction assures that any potential excitement, be it from Colbert's boogie woogie dance to Allyson's suicide attempt, will remain firmly latent. C plus.

PS...I counted five times Colbert was shot from her right profile. That's the kind of stuff you do when you're watching a boring movie.

This is not a review; it's a personal experience only.

I saw this film on TV in the late 1950's (at around age ten) and, for years, have been wanting to see it again and regretting the fact that it's not available on home video. I was thrilled to learn it was going to be shown on Turner Movie Classics the other night.

I had correctly remembered the story, including some dialog (Dr. Rossiger: "Your daughter is in love with a ghost, which means she's on the brink of disaster!"), and the central role of the music. The composer, Bronislau Kaper, skillfully used the Liszt Piano Concerto #1 throughout the film, including during the climax scenes. I had actually studied and performed this piece with a symphony orchestra at the age of 19; how stunning to hear the orchestra's opening chords under the MGM lion, followed by the piano's imposing solo entrance as the film's title appears. The Chopin Nocturne in Db, my personal favorite, is the romantic piece played in the film by both Penny and her father; Kaper also used its theme creatively in his underscoring. (I'm unable to identify the other, more mournful piece that runs through the film.)

I remember being smitten with June Allyson when seeing this film as a child. The other night, it was interesting to realize that, 45 years ago, I hadn't noticed the stunning Claudette Colbert!

Thanks for sharing my reminiscences. Here's hoping that MGM might see fit to release "The Secret Heart" on DVD.

An oddity that comes closest, I think, to a noirish family drama. Troubled Penny (Allyson) is obsessed with her dead father, causing problems with her stepmom (Colbert) especially when they become rivals over affections of family friend Chris (Pidgeon). It's a June Allyson seldom seen and a long way from her usual bubbly roles. Still, she handles the disturbed daughter's antics in effective fashion. Those scenes at cliff's edge bordering an eternal sea are eerily enchanting and a tribute to the production crew. This was a period following the war when movies with strong Freudian themes were popular, including Bewitched (1945) and The Snake Pit (1948). .

The acting is first-rate, and I especially like Sterling as the upbeat Chase who furnishes a counterpoint of normality to the moody family atmosphere. Pidgeon too is suavely effective, though his Chris seems a little dense about Penny's obvious designs on him. The version I saw (TMC) didn't include the narration by Hume Cronyn listed in the credits. Perhaps it's just as well since the movie works well enough without a voice-over. The ending is about what you'd expect from this Code enforced period and is way too pat for what's gone before. Nonetheless, it's an effective little exercise that manages a shade of difference from other programmers of the period.

June Allyson can't accept stepmom Cluadette Colbert and (after her father dies), begins to lose touch with reality. A very eerie film...sometimes seems more like a horror film. The performances are excellent (especially Allyson and Colbert) and it looks fantastic. The psychology is a bit dated, but the film still works. Not for everybody, but worth seeing.

JUNE ALLYSON is really irritating in this one. She's got the petulance down pat, pouting throughout what is supposed to be her great dramatic role (musicals being her forte). MGM obviously hoped that this would prove to be a turning point in the way of future dramatics for the usually sunny June.

Seems she's supposed to be despondent over losing her dead father at an early age, unable to accept his death and unwilling to depart from his memory (like him, she plays piano constantly), unable to accept her step-mother, CLAUDETTE COLBERT, who is concerned about Allyson's psychosis--especially when Allyson starts imagining that Claudette's love interest (WALTER PIDGEON) is in love with her.

To give it class, MGM made sure they used some classical music for Allyson to play, gave it elegant sets and an overall polished look that might have worked well on a better film. But this is so obviously supposed to be a psychological tear-jerker to give Colbert and Allyson strong dramatic roles. Unfortunately, the contrivances are so pat and the overall effect so absurdly superficial that all you can do is hope JUNE ALLYSON will get over her dramatic ambitions and do the things she does best.

Nice cast, including ROBERT STERLING (as Allyson's more sensible brother), PATRICIA MEDINA, MARSHALL THOMPSON and LIONEL BARRYMORE (as a crusty old doctor), helps somewhat, but nothing can disguise the fact that they're all wasting their time in a phoney melodrama adrift in the usual Hollywood psycho-babble meant to be taken seriously.