Contro la sua volontà

Walter Matthau delivers a stunning portrayal of a near defunct attorney who takes a desperate case. In this film, Matthau's character must gain the release of severely troubled patient of the "corrupt" state mental hospital of Maryland. With a performance such as this, many must wonder why Matthau settles for such poor roles on the big screen.

As there have already been several comments written about this movie, I'd like to add some information that seem to be unknown to all the comment authors so far.

One of them praises Delbert Mann for giving role to Susan Blakely. This certainly wasn't Mann's choice, because "Against Her Will" is a sequel of 1990. movie "The Incident" where Blakely plays the same role of Matthau's daughter-in-law. As death of her husband (Matthau's son) is a part of the first movie's plot, it is natural that her new found love in the sequel has to be reflected in her relation to her father-in-law.

The last movie in trilogy "Incident in a Small Town" was also made by Mann, but this time without Blakely (and without child SF star Ariana Richards playing her daughter).

The first movie wasn't made by Mann, but by another well-known director (working mostly for TV) Joseph Sargent.

Delbert Mann is one of the greatest directors of our time, an Oscar-winning director for "Marty," and a pioneer of great television. In this film his skills are as good as they get. His work with Walter Matthau demonstrates how he understands Matthau's intelligence and depth. Mann's choice of Susan Blakely is notable because she's got the brilliance as an actress to be able to hold her own with someone like Matthau. This is an example of what TV Movies should be and can be if the talent is both on the page and on the screen.

When I began watching "Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore", I was completely unaware that it was the second of three films with the same actors and characters. In 1990, the TV movie "The Incident" debuted and in 1994 "Incident in a Small Town" debuted. I know that these three films are currently posted to YouTube.

Harmon Cobb (Walter Matthau) and his daughter-in-law and granddaughter have just moved to Anne Arundel County in Maryland. This is because retired Judge Bell (Harry Morgan) has given Cobb a job at his legal practice. But Bell is odd in that he not only gives him a job but buys him a car and house....and apparently this generosity is related somehow to the previous movie...which I'll be seeing next.

At this law firm, Cobb is well paid but also a bit unhappy, as he doesn't have much to do and Judge Bell is too generous. In the midst of this, a man comes to Cobb and asks him for help. It seems his Greek girlfriend is stuck in a hellish Maryland state mental hospital. She checked herself in but cannot check herself out...and the hospital isn't being very cooperative.

I assume this is not based on any particular true case, though the story rings true in many ways. Back in the 1940s, some psychiatric facilities were indeed awful and did more harm than good. In essence, many were just dumping grounds for the unwanted. Now I am not attacking current psychiatric treatment, after all, I am a trained psychotherapist...but things were often quite bad back in the 'good old days'...and the film does a nice job of addressing this problem.

There's plenty more to the film, including a subplot involving the daughter-in-law, but the bottom line is that the film is well worth seeing due to the fine acting and lovely period look of this story. Well worth seeing...and it left me eager to see the other two movies.

A phenomenal movie with superb performances by Walter Matthau and Harry Morgan. Both would reprise their types of roles 2 years later in "An Incident in A Small Town."

While the latter film was also quite good, this one is even better because it exposes conditions in a mental institution in 1947's Baltimore. At the beginning, some of the harrowing scenes reminded me of Olivia De Havilland's memorable performance in 1948's "The Snake Pit."

Matthau, as a widowed attorney who has moved to Baltimore with his widowed daughter-in-law and granddaughter, takes on the case of a woman who committed herself to an asylum for depression and then was held there totally against her will. You will see plenty of corruption, abuse and other things that we unfortunately read in the papers about such institutions. You'll also see how this was a profitable business and the definite need for state intervention.

As if the picture isn't good enough, the sidebar story is where Susan Blakely, the daughter-in-law finds happiness with the 4-F math teacher in the town. This angers Matthau and he insults her in a memorable scene. The picture depicts the adjustment of finding a new life for the war widowed after World War 11.

The film is truly remarkable from beginning to end.