L'amante proibita

This is my love the love I thought would be These are my tears that you will never see..."

an unheralded gem of a romantic melodrama. Not really noir - but not that far away either - and Linda Darnell is popping up this month...

As soon as Franz Waxman's lush score swelled up over the credits I knew this one would deliver - and I wasn't disappointed. Vida (Linda Darnell) is a "spinster" who slings hash in her Brother in Law's diner and is engaged to the world's most boring man. Into the diner wanders her fiancée's army buddy - foxy Rick Jason - a "gas station casanova", and when left alone together Rick comes on to her... she plays hard to get - so hard to get in fact that Rick turns to her married sister Evelyn (Faith Domergue) for comfort, and the stage is set for resentment, deceit, adultery, jealousy, sibling rivalry.. and murder. This one really deserves to be better known. I'm not sure whether the lurid greens and purples that dominate the colour scheme are symbolic of the jealousy and anger simmering below the surface, and mark out Stuart Heisler as an neglected auteur... or it was just a lousy print. Connie Russell sings the tune with lyrics as Darnell and Jason go out dancing. Dan Duryea is a bitter cripple. and Darnell is absolutely heartbreaking here - never knew she had it in her. Its everything I wanted from Douglas Sirk or late period Minnelli and never got. Absolutely delicious from start to finish and highly recommended. 9/10 (on my fourth watch now in one week!)

There is no way I would have let dan talk to me like that. Her boyfriend joked and played ⚙ much. Glenn wasn't all that, he knew the sister was married but didn't care. Evie was a tramp and spoiled. Dan may been in wheelchair, but he still could have watched his own kids. Telling Vida to answer the door, when all he had to do was roll his ass over and open it. Vida should never have moved in with them. I would have told Dan what I thought about him, and let him know his precious Evie was cheating. He was so full of self pity. He was too over the top in this. Cripple or not I didn't feel sorry for him.

Directed by Stuart Heisler {The Glass Key} and starring Linda Darnell {Vida Dove}, Faith Domergue {Evelyn Dove/Myer}, Dan Duryea {Murray Myer} & Rick Jason {Glenn Harris}, This Is My Love is a Noirish potboiler dealing in sexual repression, deception, heartbreak, sibling strife and murder. All of which sounds like the film should be a most potent piece of work, sadly the film never rises above being a ponderously paced story that's devoid of a blood pumping heart.

It's a shame this vastly underachieves as a drama since the performances of the three principal actors are very strong, especially Darnell, who as Vida Dove neatly blends a smouldering sexuality with a tinted confusion of the life she is leading. Based on Hugh Brooke's story, Fear Has Black Wings, This Is My Love is filmed in Pathécolor and theatrically released out of RKO. Never released on DVD and mostly forgotten by all but Darnell/Duryea purists, Heisler's film hints at being far more intriguing than it actually is. It's not so much that one finds themselves waiting for a plot spark that never arrives, it's the overriding feeling that the finale here will be a let down. The very nature of the piece telegraphs where these characters will end up, thus rendering the ending the damp squib it ultimately is.

It's a testament to Darnell, Domergue and Duryea that they have given the characters some substance, managing to hold the viewers attention span by way of their craft. One scene as Darnell's Vida shouts down at the wheelchair bound Murray is worth sitting thru the movie for. But it's a rare moment of heat raising as the tepid screenplay, staid direction and the woefully bland performance of Rick Jason swamp any chance of movie ignition. There's some value with Franz Waxman's score, and Connie Russell popping in to sing the title song is a bonus. But much like the sisters Vida & Evelyn Dove in the picture, I too felt boxed in, and that is something I'm sure the makers wasn't aiming for. 4/10

I have always been a Linda Darnell fan and this movie is her at her finest acting ability.I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. It's a storyline that delves into the subject matter of heartbreak,infidelity, disappointment, and abuse. How many people are at a loss when dealing with life's complexities? It makes one think about about one's own shortcomings and vulnerabilities. I felt for her through out the movie considering everything she had gone through. It's been about 50 yrs. since I've seen it. Maybe I would see her role in a different light now.Great acting especially by Linda Darnell. At this point in her career it seems her movies ended. It was such a shame because she seemed to finally be cast in a role that could prove her ability. She was very talented and beautiful.It's too bad she was never appreciated for the great actress she was. I'm also a Dan Duryea fan and this role was made for him. His reputation for playing mean,angry,abusive men casts him in a role he sinks his teeth into. He is a very convincing actor who makes the plot come together. It was the first time I saw the actor Rick Jason and what a head turner. Also irresistible sex appeal. He was perfect in the role as a charming and handsome womanizer. The setting takes place in old Cali. The old diner gives you a sense of the Calif of back in the day. The romantic beach scenes also take one back to Calif before all the development. The channel on TV that shows old classics has a place on internet to vote for films, fans would like to see come out again. If you're interested go and vote for this one.

Linda Darnell and Dan Duryea make this film by perhaps the best performance of their careers both of them, in a play perfectly suited for them and bringing out the best of both of them, Dan Duryea as a bitter cripple, a former dancer, bringing his bitterness to a burning epitome of pathetic anger and despair, and Linda Darnell, the more beautiful of two sisters, making you wonder why she was left a spinster while her sister Faith Domergue gets stuck with two children with a later incapacitated furiously bitter husband. Of course Linda must take this "gas station Casanova" (Rick Jason) seriously when he deigns to court her, actually to get at her married sister, but as the sensitive and empathic woman she is, she takes it too seriously and realizes her mistake too late. It's a great story of frustrated love and jealousy, human fallacy and passion running amuck because of misapprehensions. To this comes the innocence of the two children, making noise by their mischief but at least pointing out their presence, and Eddie (Hal Baylor) as the clown of the drama, totally naïve and believing his jokes to be funny, while he is the only one laughing at them, which actually makes them funny for their sheer stupidity. The scenery is remarkably and consistently bleak and humdrum, a shabby restaurant and a claustrophobic home, with only some dream sequences for a relief - this is actually a drama on level with Ibsen, Tennessee Williams and others of that category. To this comes Franz Waxman's irresistible music, giving the story and the characters and their bleak world all the beauty that they are missing. It's a wonderful, tense drama which must bring about deep reflections for everybody about their own life meanings and motives.