Térésa

"Teresa", is a movie that is time well spent for several reasons. Patricia Collinge delivers a performance atypical of the most memorable characters she had played to that point in her career. When I think of Collinge, I think of her as the quintessential, albeit clueless mother in Hitchcock's, "Shadow Of A Doubt". The other character was the sympathetic, "Aunt Birdie", from the director, William Wyler's classic film, "The Little Foxes". Collinge, in "Teresa", is spine chilling as a domineering mother / mother-in-law from Hell. She is a great performer. The next reason to recommend spending time viewing this film is for the fine effort by the brilliant director, Fred Zinneman. His talents lend a positive element which makes the film artistically better than good. He was truly a great director. Finally, there is the powerful, yet poignant performance by Pier Angeli. She was perfectly cast as the young girl from post war Italy, who falls in love with an American soldier. Angeli was young, pretty and believable in her role. Zinneman really squeezed a gem of an acting performance from Pier Angeli that left me most moved. The story itself is good, with some predictability, but not to a degree that would make one roll their eyes. I saw this movie just once, several years ago. I am more critical than most when I watch a film. I have been hoping TCM would run it again, as this movie, "Teresa", left a very favorable impression on me. I wholeheartedly recommend this film to lovers of classic films, and to those who like stories from the post WWII era. The other elements are that, "Teresa", offers a good viewing for fans of love stories and stories involving strong, heroic female characters.

This is a Tough One to Like because while it is Filmed Exquisitely and the Performances are Top Notch, it is a Movie that has some Very Unlikable Characters. Necessity Determined to Show the Flaws in these Folks, because that's the Story being Told, it is Nevertheless Not Very Entertaining.

Film Noir can Approach the Angst and Suffering of Returning Vets with Stylistic Flourishes and a Snappy Script. But here it is the Drumbeat of Dreadful Psychological Impairment Suffered by John Ericson from Frame One that is a Heavy Load and is Never Lightened by the Angelic Pier Angeli.

She has a Viginal Charm Combined with a Worldly Wisdom brought on by the War and Her Family's Condition. They Live in a Bombed Out Building, Her Brother has an Amputated Arm, and They are All Next to Starvation.

So After She Marries this Basket Case with a Mother Fixation She is Believably Up to the Task of Supporting His Debilitating Condition Until the Inevitable Hollywood Happy Ending that is Typical of MGM's Take on Film-Noir and Socially Relevant Stories.

Overall, Above Average and should be Given Kudos for an Attempt to take a Look at some Disturbing Psychological Impairments that were Never MGM's Strong Suit.

Great looking, idiosyncratic movie with a fascinating cast and the kind of painterly imagery that lingers in the memory, but the story is a jumble and unwisely structured around a limp, spineless, infuriating character. There are so many terrific little details on the fringes that so powerfully convey a sense of time and setting (an outdoor wedding on a windy day in a bombed out Italian village, overheard conversations through thin walls on a walk up the steps of a cramped New York apartment building, an exuberant mob of WWII servicemen reuniting with their wide-eyed war brides the moment they step off the boat - sprinting to meet them and gather them up in their arms as each bride's name is called out on a loudspeaker to wild applause) that it's a shame they're attached to such a diffuse storyline.

John Ericson is a revelation (to me, at least) as the smothered, neurotic veteran (with similarities to "REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE", as others have pointed out). He looks astonishingly like Marlon Brando in many shots, and he IS a good, sensitive actor in the classic brooding mold. His scenes with the angelic Pier Angeli (future love of James Dean) are unusually tender and achingly romantic and he does an excellent job in one agonizing scene where he bombs in an ill-advised effort to make a living as a door to door salesman. The problem isn't really with his performance; it's just that his character is written in such a way that many of his actions don't seem to mesh with what's going on around him. The character loses our respect early with a terrible act of cowardice and seems to possess mild (at best) interest in getting it back. His behavior towards Angeli at one point late in the movie, is impossible to accept, as is the slushy resolution.

Extremely interesting cast if you're a movie buff. There's Ralph Meeker, the actor who replaced Brando in the stage version of "STREETCAR", if I'm not mistaken. There's Angeli and her association to Dean. And then there's Rod Steiger in his film debut, a five or so minute part as a psychiatrist. Not realizing he was in it going in, I was floored to see him turn up here and was certain at first it must just be some other actor who looked like him.

Really good movies just "nail it" somehow. Despite all its strengths, "TERESA" never quite zeroes in on what it's trying to say. It never quite achieves lift-off. Nevertheless, it's well crafted by Fred Zinnemann and parts of it really stick in the mind.

My main reasons for seeing 'Teresa' were for Fred Zinnemann and the subject. Zinnemann made a number of great films, 'High Noon', 'The Day of the Jackal', 'A Man for All Seasons' and 'From Here to Eternity' and was a fine director. The subject was a bold one at the time and the studio could never be commended enough for tackling difficult contemporary issues for the time (some still relevant now) and mostly handling them uncompromisingly. The mixed reviews weren't enough to deter me.

On the most part, to me 'Teresa' was a very sincere and brave effort. A well done film with a lot of merits, the best of them quite brilliantly executed. It is not great and has a few big drawbacks, and as far as Zinnemann's films go it towards the lesser end. That 'Teresa' did so courageously in tackling a subject as tough as this and generally not doing too bad a job with it is to be applauded in my view, even if it doesn't completely succeed (which was a bit of a shame).

'Teresa's' biggest issue is John Ericson, who did not have an easy role admittedly but was clearly over-parted by it. He didn't have the charisma, intensity or pathos for the role and often seemed unsure of how to play the character or what to do with him. The whole character came over as muddled, with such all over the place motivations and such it was very difficult to feel anything for him.

Do agree too with those that have said that the ending was very abrupt and too mawkish, which did feel at odds with the tone of the rest of the film. The script is not always very focused and could have gone into more depth in places.

Generally though, that it pulled no punches, was intelligently written and was written with honesty and respect was much appreciated. The story, regardless of any slightness, mostly does very well executing such a bold subject, and does so so sincerely and so movingly. It had hard-hitting tension and also poignant pathos, nothing is sugar-coated here. Zinnemann's direction is understated which did suit the film and to me it didn't go overboard on that and he didn't seem disinterested or uncomfortable with the material.

Visually, 'Teresa' is very well made with an effective documentary-like approach to the filming. The locations are nice too. The score is moody without being intrusive. The supporting cast are very good, with two of the most interesting characters being those for Ralph Meeker and Patricia Collinge. Rod Steiger is also very good in a very early role and one of his more subdued ones. Best of all is a truly touching Pier Angeli, whose performance and presence is always genuine with nothing ringing false.

All in all, a lot to recommend but with a better male lead and ending 'Teresa' could have been a winner. 7/10

Fred Zinnemann's attempt at Neo-Realism is a drab story about a soldier who brings his war bride back to America to live with his disappointment of a father and his overbearing mother. Pier Angeli, as the bride, is lovely, but John Ericson, as the soldier, isn't up to the acting challenge asked of him. Patricia Collinge is decent as his mom, but everyone is done a disservice by Zinnemann's detached direction. I think he was going for understated realism but everything is so understated as to be lacking in any kind of emotional impact whatsoever.

"Teresa" received a 1951 Oscar nomination for Best Motion Picture Story, a category that later was absorbed into the Original Screenplay Oscar.

Grade: C