Ciúme não é Pecado

Strange, strange, strange. This does not feel anything like a typical Hollywood movie from 1941. At times, it feels almost like a proto-Woody Allen film, talky and intellectual and neutotic in a very Woody-like sort of way. And then there were a couple of moments when I thought of 60s-style European auteur cinema, especially Fellini. And then there are moments of standard Hollywood-style screwball comedy. And then there was that utterly bizarre and hilarious dream sequence with the Dali-esque set design--I was reminded of that dream sequence from Hitchcock's Spellbound.

Three different writers are credited with the screenplay, and inconsistency in writing styles seems glaringly apparent as the film plays out. Subtle and witty at times, the writing becomes painfully clumsy and forced at others, especially when it goes for a broader style of comedy or when it tries to advance the plot.

I don't know the story behind the making of this film, but it feels very tampered-with, like maybe it started with a clever and original screenplay, but the studio execs didn't trust it and so they hired a couple of hack writers to come in and dumb it down for the masses. It feels like it ALMOST could have been something of a classic. It's still very worth watching, though. The storyline is interesting and, in a way, seems about 30 years ahead of its time. I'd be particularly interested to hear a feminist scholar's take on the film.

Do women really prefer a caveman to an intellectual, a protector to a partner? Despite the feminist movement, it still seems to hold true. Perhaps I should grow a beard.

This film was made in the days when dialogue was king, and this dialogue requires the viewer to pay attention. There are elements of Rosalind Russel's performance in "His Girl Friday" with stinging repartee delivered subtly by the four stars. Good acting is required here too, because much is conveyed through the actors eyes. Scenes with Russell, Francis, Heflin, and Ameche all on screen at once are a real treat, and no one upstages anyone else. I would guess they had fun making this funny picture, which is underrated by many people who do not follow the actors' exchanges.

Look too, for Robert Ryan who is uncredited in his early pre-war days, and an uncredited song by a barely 21 year-old Peggy Lee, who had just joined Benny Goodman's Band; and oh, my, you can hear her rich, cool, perfect pitch starting to come alive.

Don Ameche plays a very cerebral professor who avoids dealing with his wife (Rosalind Russell) by over-intellectualizing their relationship. While she does love him, his refusal to act like a human being irritates her to no end--especially when he never shows an ounce of jealousy, no matter what she does. Even when Rosalind spends time with her husband's publisher, the lecherous Van Heflin, Ameche refuses to act jealous and he takes his marriage for granted. At first, I found Russell's demands for jealousy to be petty, but after a while I wondered how any woman could live with the cold and annoying Ameche. Only later in the film when Ameche loosened up and showed his wife that he cared was everyone able to live happily ever after.

This is a little comedy from MGM that tries very hard to entertain and generally does, though at times the humor does seem a tad forced. However, despite this and the shallowness of the script, the actors are fun to watch and the film has a certain kooky charm that make it a nice, though not especially deep, time-passer. Worth a look, but that's really about all.

Charming goof-ball comedy played by experts. Roz, looking great, is sassy and fun one of the greatest at the slow burn ever. She comes across as a bit addle-pated at times but she also has an enormous amount of patience with her husband, a good but not very sensitive man.

This was Kay Francis' last part in an A level film and a shame since she is both humorous and chic. Her slide into low grade junk and obscurity within a few years of this is an example of the way Hollywood wastes talented performers once they are no longer as big at the box office. Since this is an MGM film and she made a good showing in the picture it's surprising they didn't take her on. Her brand of sophistication seems right up their alley and even if no longer a leading lady she could have done well in support.

Ameche's character as I said is a rather clueless blow-hard but his natural charm makes him less irksome than he would normally be. Heflin, fresh off his Oscar for Johnny Eager, is well cast as a would be gigolo who thinks he is more suave and irresistible than he in fact is.

Overall a bit dated in it's attitudes, unsurprisingly, but the four stars make it worth watching.

I agree with "Aeovox" below that this is an unusual film, and also an unsatisfactory one. I was drawn to it by the presence of Don Ameche and Rosalind Russell in the cast. I thought the whole premise of the film - the Dionysian wife's unhappiness with her Appolonian husband's refusal to recognize the emotional legitimacy of jealousy, and her subsequent attempts to make him jealous - was a bit tenuous, and it is executed in a rather - to me at least - incoherent way. The movie is far too talky, although that talk often is quite witty (and just as often seems implausible and pointless), and goes on far too long. The slapstick bits are weak. On the whole, despite the good efforts of Ameche and Russell, I found this a disappointment.