Il delitto della signora Allerson

People like me who are Susan Heyward's fans would not miss that."I thank a fool" begins as a melodrama,a genre where Heyward won renown ,but soon becomes a "psychoanalytic " thriller ,in the grand tradition of the forties " Freudian" flicks ("Cat People" "Spellbound" "Gaslight" "secret beyond the door" "dark mirror" "leave her to Heaven" and countless others) with echoes of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" thrown in for good measure.

This does not renew the genre but it is very well acted by the two leads and an excellent supporting cast.The lines are often intriguing ,particularly when Diane Cilento tells Heyward they are both in a prison.The ending is a bit artificial and finally disappointing,compared to those of the movies I mention above,but the movie should appeal to Susan Heyward's fans as well as psychological thrillers buffs.

The premise of I Thank a Fool is very intriguing, so don't be surprised if you rent it on that alone. Add in the cast of Susan Hayward and Peter Finch and you're in for a dramatic treat. Suzy plays a doctor who mercy-kills her boyfriend and gets sent to jail. When she's released, she doesn't know what kind of new life she'll have, since she obviously can't practice medicine anymore. She gets summoned to a large, beautiful estate to interview for a caretaking position. Diane Cilento seems normal enough, but her husband, Peter Finch, says she's not all there. . . Suzy's very reluctant to take the job - because Peter was the prosecutor who sent her to jail in the first place!

This movie really is as exciting as it sounds. I was hoping for a little more romantic tension between the two leads, but it's not that kind of movie. With the exception of the last five minutes, I was riveted and kept wanting to watch more. I'm always forgiving when a movie doesn't end the way I want it to, because you never know what got altered during screenplay revisions, studio insistences, and preview screenings. So, with that in mind, I'll recommend I Thank a Fool for anyone who likes the cast and is in the mood for a drama with a slightly mysterious and thrilling edge to it.

I became aware of this film in 2010 when i was asked by my (then) girlfriend's sister to find her a copy. Their family come from, (and several still live in), Crookhaven in West Cork where the final scenes of the film were shot and several members of her family were used as extras. An uncle appears in the pub scenes and two of her brothers can be seen in the graveyard scene. Also, many local people known to them were featured. I tracked down a copy of the film and sent it over. I'm told that several viewings were arranged for the villagers (who number only about fifty people in the "off season") and much fun was had identifying local people in the film. The film itself has a strange, pretty unbelievable plot and i really can't imagine why Peter Finch and Susan Hayward agreed to star in it! Maybe they fancied a trip to Ireland! There are several "mistakes" in the film, although these are only obvious if you know Crookhaven. The graveyard scene is supposed to be after a Catholic service but was actually filmed in the Protestant graveyard, and when the bus arrives in the village it comes from the wrong direction, and later leaves in the wrong direction, Crookhaven being a dead end, the bus arriving and leaving by a road that doesn't exist! Still, the film does provide interesting external shots of The Marconi Tower and O'Sullivan's bar is a very nice place to have a beer today, as it was then. Go and see for yourself and tell Dermot O'Sullivan that Jeff says hello!

When I go two-thirds of the way through a mystery film and can't figure out where a film is going, I wonder if it's just me, or if there's not a logical progression of a plot line. In this case, since I had read a bit about the film in advance, my confusion was because that logical progression of a plot line was missing. What the heck does the title mean? Also not logical. And then, in the last 15 minutes, everything is pulled together...just a little too easily and slickly. Having said all that, there were two positives -- great scenery in Ireland, and the typical feisty performance of Susan Hayward. Peter Finch was very good, also. Fortunately, I can enjoy a bad film when Susan Hayward is in it. Otherwise, I'd be disappointed that I spent two hours on this film.

"I Thank a Fool" begins with a sick man in the hospital. You never know what he's suffering from, but it's exceptionally painful. Into the room comes his doctor (Susan Hayward) and she insists that she, not the nurse attending to him, give him a shot. Soon afterwords he dies and it is assumed she gave him an intentional lethal injection to ease his suffering. Next, she is in court--defending herself against a murder charge. She is convicted of a lesser charge, Manslaughter, and is sent to prison. When she gets out, she cannot find work and she is approached by the man who prosecuted her (Peter Finch)--he wants to hire her to help take care of his wife! It seems that the woman has some mental illness and of all people to choose, he picks this ex-doctor! While this setup for the story is difficult to believe, I did enjoy the euthanasia angle--it was pretty interesting and brings up a complex issue that is too seldom discussed. So where does all this go?

The idea is pretty intriguing and unusual--is what happens next worth your time? The answer is a definite yes--though the film does have a few plot holes here and there. You can't help but wonder why Hayward's character does some of the things she does--they aren't always very logical. Plus, there's the weird coming home scene in Ireland. I think I know what they were implying...but am not sure because it's so obtusely written. And, the very final scene is pretty bad. Still, despite these problems, the movie does keep you guessing and it is unusual. Not a great film but a very good one.