Nunca Deixei de te Amar

German film star Cornell Borchers stars with Rock Hudson in this Fifties romance of love and sacrifice Never Say Goodbye. Who would have thought that George Sanders would not be a cad in a film.

Hudson plays an army doctor in post war Europe awaiting home and discharge and he runs into Borchers and Sanders in a nightclub. He and Borchers marry and they have a kid who grows up to be Shelley Fabares. But the way she and Sanders keep hanging around together arouses the old green eyed monster in Rock. He confronts her and she takes off behind the Iron Curtain in post war Vienna where who knows she might have run into Harry Lime.

Fast forward to the present being 1956. Borchers and Sanders are in Los Angeles doing their club act and she runs into Hudson who has told his daughter that her mother was dead. After this the film becomes positively weepy.

I won't say more, but everybody here becomes positively noble and noble does not wear well on George Sanders.

Never Say Goodbye was what was termed a woman's picture back in the day and for those who are inclined to these type films this one is for you. Look fast and you'll see Clint Eastwood as one of Rock's medical colleagues.

Douglas Sirk guided Rock through a few of these kinds of films in their salad days. But Sirk knew enough to keep his hands off this.

It's a really sweet story, but the execution of it to bring it to our screens is disappointing.

The A to B of 'Never Say Goodbye' is rather endearing, with people reconnecting. However, how the film fills in the blanks is kinda shoddy. I found a lot of the dialogue to be cringeworthy and the way characters act came across as irritating. I will say most of that stems from the final 30 or so minutes, it's a tad more solid up until that point.

The cast members themselves are good, it's all well acted. Rock Hudson, Cornell Borchers and George Sanders are all decent value. The look of the film is also pleasant enough. I just wish the production itself, namely on the writing side, was more well made.

Clint Eastwood has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it uncredited role, though is named - as 'Will'. Still a fair few films until his career really got going.

While melodrama has been very variable in film and television history, with a mix of very moving and sometimes tense and also too soapy and over-heated in the case of others. Rock Hudson was always a likeable actor, especially in romantic comedies, and George Sanders has always been a favourite of mine since his voice work in 'The Jungle Book'. Being one of the best at that time at being cads and villains and possessors of one of the most distinctive and beautiful speaking voices in film.

'Never Say Goodbye' was something of an uneven film to me. There are a fair share of good things, including one particularly great performance, but also an equal fair share of shortcomings, including most of the traps melodramas have fallen in a number of times. 'Never Say Goodbye' is a long way from a bad film, there are far worse films out there including this type of film. It is also a long way from great and too much of a mixed bag for me to consider it particularly good.

The best aspects are the production values and the acting. The film still looks very handsome and ravishingly shot in Technicolor, while uncredited Douglas Sirk's contribution is skillful enough. The music is haunting and not too overwrought. Some of the film is poignant, especially the more tragic elements of the story.

Of the performances, Sanders comes off best, have always found it interesting when actors that specialises in a certain type of role go against type and pull it off equally as well as their usual roles. Sanders' character is a far cry from his caddish and villainous roles that he was known for, he has seldom been more sympathetic (even in 'Call Me Madam', another atypical role that he did beautifully) and noble and it comes off beautifully. Cornell Borchers (an unfamiliar name) also comes off beautifully and is very touching. Shelley Fabares is affecting as the daughter. Hudson's performance is uneven, much of it being down to how his character is written, but when his character isn't a jerk he is charming and dashing.

However, there are things that don't come off particularly well. When made to behave like a jerk, Hudson didn't seem comfortable with it and was out of his depth and the character's jealousy doesn't seethe. At times it seemed too melodramatic, at other points it was too reserved. The chemistry between him and Borchers varied as well, it was charming to begin with but loses its sparkle and becomes bland later on (was also rooting for her character to leave him). The direction fares similarly, Sirk's contribution shows how he was one of the few directors to play to Hudson's strengths and understand them whereas Jerry Hopper's direction was undistinguished with little of the hold no barrels approach that the film would have benefitted from.

Furthermore, the script manages to be both over-heated and under-nourished, lots of soap and syrup overdose but no substance underneath. The story becomes too excessively melodramatic and over-heated, as well as lacking in passion and rather dully paced. The characters became a lot less easy to care for and why Borchers' character would find any appeal in him later didn't come over as realistic.

Summarising, very mixed feelings here. 5/10.

Rock Hudson plays a military doctor who falls in love with nightclub pianist, Cornell Borchers. They marry and have a baby and all seems right. That is, until Hudson's seething jealousy wrecks everything that they had established. Tragedy tears the couple apart and Hudson must raise their daughter alone. Years later, fate brings the couple back together and their daughter (played surprisingly well by a young Shelley Fabares)must come to grips with the mother she had never known.

Undistinctive but enjoyable tearjerker: American doctor loves/loses/finds Vienna nightclub entertainer. The skillful screenplay mixes motherhood, medicine and the Iron Curtain, plus manages a few provocative digs at American male behavior. Rock Hudson and George Sanders give appealing performances. In the central role, German actress Cornell Borchers looks like Ingrid Bergman but lacks her warmth. A rich supporting cast includes a bit by Clint Eastwood . Old-fashioned, but done with some dignity.