Tenera è la notte

Other comments cover every aspect except: The semi-autobiographical nature of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald's novel, "Tender Is The Night". It is the story of his love for Zelda Sayre. Putting himself in the role of a psychiatrist who makes the fatal mistake of falling in love with a patient. F. Scott Fitzgerald from Minneapolis, MN, transforms his real life experiences into fiction beautifully in the Fitzgeraldian style. Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald spent time at Shepard-Pratt Hospital and at Eudowood Sanitarium. Fitzgerald and Zelda became hypnotized by the lifestyle provided by the money from Scott's work. When the money ran out he went back to work until his luck ran out. I enjoyed seeing "Tender Is The Night" several times and would enjoying seeing this film again.

and stilted about this film, and its casting.

Jason Robards who always delivers, just seems wooden and ineffectual as Dick Diver. Jennifer Jones as the ever desirable, but tragic Nicole Diver, just seems unsympathetic, even strident and cruel.

The alcohol flows freely and the jet-set lifestyle is invoked by a humorous Tom Ewell, who sings the movies theme song at the beginning of this disjointed movie. (Tom Ewell is forever planted in my memory as Marilyn Monroes bumbling neighbor in "The Seven Year Itch", or as the silly, clichéd father in "State Fair") That being said, it almost seems as if the writers did not know how to treat the subject of psychoanalysis and mental illness. F Scott Fitgerald and his wife endured tragedy, his wife Zelda Sayre Fitgerald was diagnosed with schizophrenia while still in her 20's. She was delusional at times, and probably never walked around at all times looking like a John Robert Powers model,(as Jones does in this movie).

It was 1962 after all, psychoanalysis was chic and stylish, so this film presents the illness as stylish and merely the effect of being rich and bored on the French Riviera. I wanted to like this film, but it is sorely dated and due for a remake. If nothing else it aptly demonstrates society stigma and misconceptions when portraying mental illness. No wonder there is still so much denial, if this film was considered an acceptable story of a physician and his wife in 1962. Worth seeing as a curiosity. 5/10.

"Tender is the Night" seemed to be the sort of film Jennifer Jones should not have been making at that time in her career. She was a woman who had emotional problems that seemed uncomfortably close to the problems her character in the film experienced.

The film is based on what is considered F. Scott Fitzgerald's most autobiographical novel. According to some sources, Jennifer Jones' character, Nicole Diver, was based on Fitzgerald's marriage to a highly-strung woman who suffered from severe psychological disorders.

Like Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises", the film is set among expatriate Americans in Europe in the 1920's. Nicole (Jennifer Jones) is married to psychiatrist Dick Diver (Jason Robards). They are financially well off and their life revolves around serious partying. They even have a resident, alcoholic, piano playing composer, Abe North, played by Tom Ewell, who is frustrated at having a great melody stuck in his system.

We learn through flashback that Nicole had been Dick's patient and there is concern that she may not really be cured and that Dick himself may have issues. Infidelity lurks in every corner, especially when a young starlet takes a fancy to Dick. Eventually Nicole and Dick drift apart as Dick heads deeper into alcoholism (as did Fitzgerald).

Jennifer Jones still exuded that amazing aura and fits the part well; too well if one is aware of her story.

Cary Grant was considered for the part of Dick Diver, but it finally went to Jason Robards. Although he was a brilliant stage and character actor, Robards didn't project the charisma of a Cary Grant, and maybe that's what was needed.

Although the final scenes do pack a punch, for the most part the film seems dry and talky.

There is location work in Switzerland and France with brilliant scenes at the end shot on the French Riviera, but much of the interior studio work is flat and uninspired. Also, Bernard Herrmann's score doesn't marry with the fabric of the film the way his scores did for "Vertigo", "North By Northwest" and many others.

The actors are photographed mainly at the middle distance with few close-ups. Possibly Selznick forbade closing in on Jennifer Jones who was about 43 at the time. She looked fabulous though with a tightly bobbed hairstyle.

Big and glossy, the film is interesting more for the behind-the-scenes story, but for Jennifer Jones fans, she is still a good reason to seek it out.

'Tender is the Night' remains one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's most important works, but, sadly, he, today, is not recognized as one of America's truly formidable writers. Film representations have not always worked, but his characterizations are etched superbly when given to the right performer e.g. Alan Ladd's extraordinary depiction in 'The Great Gatsby'. The film of 'Tender is the Night' had been criticized for all the wrong reasons, one of them, perhaps, relating to the fact that some critics continued to misinterpret the work of Jennifer Jones, surely as fine an actress of the era as is Meryl Streep today. Perhaps Selznick did limit her access to some of the best scripts offered, but, here, in 'Tender', she is still so absolutely right in every movement and shading of Nicole's character. Jason Robards, a brilliant actor, may not have been perfectly cast, but Joan Fontaine, in the latter part of her career, expertly captures the selfish, ego-involved woman of the era. Jill St. John and Tom Ewell are only adequate, but, in total, the film works because of the expert script, the cinematography, the music, King's direction, and the ever-important work of Fontaine and Jones. Both of these women essayed numerous kinds of roles in their careers. Here, Jennifer Jones is still in top form, and the film deserves to be reevaluated.

**spoiler alert**

This movie does not have the greatest reputation in the world. I'd read that Jennifer Jones was too old to play Nicole, that she overacts, that she has no chemistry with Jason Robards, that it was too long, etc.

Well don't believe it!

It DID take me several attempts to watch the whole thing, but that nothing to do with the movie, that had to do with something else. When

I finally saw the whole thing all the way through, I enjoyed it very much and questioned why it does not have more admirers.

It explores many themes, thoughtfully and without exploitation. Should a doctor romance his patient? When does the patient stop being a patient, exactly, and start being a person?

Nicole meets Dick in a sanitarium. She's there for a variety of reasons, none of which sister Joan Fontaine really care to discuss. It has something to do with their father. Nicole eventually is released and runs into Dick years later, and they get married. They have a wonderful life and two children but it starts to fall apart. Not because of Nicole's mental state - actually, as it turns out, she becomes the stable one. But a friend of theirs (Tom Ewell, making a fool of himself as a chronic drunk) dies, their daughter almost dies from alcohol poisoning, and Dick is see with an actress (Jill St. John) at a brawl in a café and their picture makes all the front pages.

Jennifer Jones is prone to be very mannered. In spite of them she's still a favorite, but here she's really very good, she's not too old to play the part, and her chemistry with Robards is believable. Fontaine doesn't do much but enjoy her own wardrobe. As I mentioned, Ewell is a drunk but his death scene (or, rather, the circumstances surrounding it) are the worse thing in the movie. Jill St. John is first seen as a youngster but she matures as the movie progresses..unfortunately, her acting does not improve.

At over 2 1/2 hours, its an investment, but worth your time. Now I want to watch it again. 8/10.