Review by dbdumonteil

This may seem a traditional melodrama but it is deceptive;none of the usual tricks are used:no tear- jerker scenes,nothing really romantic ;the case of the illegitimate son is treated in a way which often verges on comedy .For instance ,the way the aristocratic dad reveals the truth to his son takes a very long scene -and even longer if you include the scene with the servant-

The movie tends to show that even blood ties are weaker than values and traditions of the upper class.In the Bible,the Prodigal Son did belong to a wealthy family so he did not need a period of readjustment.A child of the circus living in a clown's trailer ,with a faithful partner who doesn't stand on ceremony with him,finds that his father's desirable mansion is a gilded cage and that his ward (Ingrid Bergman) is haughty even though she accepts to marry him to please her uncle:she gives free reign to her anger and her contempt when he tries to have sex with her before the wedding.We live in a compartmentalized world.