Ne dites jamais adieu

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.

This is a beautiful color film which many might classify as a '"woman's picture". However, it has three very fine performances by Rock Hudson, George Sanders and Cornell Borchers, very good supporting actors and a moving storyline told from the point of view of the male participant. So it is a romance, a dramatic film, and a frankly superior "tear-jerker" all rolled into one. The storyline is fairly straightforward. Michael Parker, a doctor, married a German girl and lost her during WWII, having to go on while thinking she is dead. She reenters his life in the US with an old friend as escort, one who blames him for what she had to suffer. She wants to get back together with Parker, but first has to win over his daughter who idolizes the mother she has never known; finally, the escort, an artist, draws the little girl a picture of her mother, and seeing it, the little girl learns who is her real mother accepts her joyfully. The film was written from a Luigi Pirandello play, and the final version of the screenplay was done by Charles Hoffman. The cast is an unusually good one. Directed by Jerry Hopper, it also features Ray Collins, David Janssen, Casey Adams, Jerry Paris, John Banner, Robert F. Simon, Helen Wallace, Frank Wilcox and many others. The remarkable fact of the production is the realism of its motivations and reactions; it is never glossy, never cheap, often very moving. Shelley Fabares as the stubborn little girl is quite good also. But lovely Cornell Borchers and suave George Sanders are the best actors in this solid film. The technical production is very good, for any era. Sets by Russell A Gausman and Julia Heron, music by Frank Skinner, Bill Thomas's costumes and hairstyles by Joan St. Oegger plus makeup by Bud Westmore insured that this was to be an expensive-looking ad beautiful finished product. This is an appealing story, which qualifies as a wartime film also, one partly told in interesting flashbacks; it has never been appreciated for what it avoided becoming nor for what it was made to be--a very fine story about people whose lives were torn asunder by war...

Although widely acknowledged that parts of "Never Say Goodbye" were directed by Douglas Sirk, the credit is given to Jerry Hopper with no mention of Sirk at all. Filmographies of Sirk's work most often do not include this work.

"Never Say Goodbye" has many of the hallmarks of Sirk's work, though is much lacking in the biting social criticism that elevated his finest work. Like "Interlude" this is pure melodrama, filmed with style but ultimately forgettable.

Rock Hudson and George Sanders turn in predictably solid performances but it is Cornell Borchers an Ingrid Bergman Greta Garbo hybrid, who manages to bring a sense of truth to the more than unlikely drama, which is essential for the melodrama's success.

While obviously not in the class of the major Sirk melodrama's there is enough here of interest to followers of his work.

Please, does anyone knows where this movie can be found? To either buy or rent! Please advise and thank you in advance.

A wonderful family movie...yes with drama! I liked it very much and thought it was well put together. With the war surrounded this couple and the jealousy of Rock made the wife a bit uncomfortable. However he seemed to have loved her very much and was very concern for her safety after she was missing and wanted to take her with him to the States especially since she was his wife and the mother of his very young daughter. It was hurtful for all 3 of them with her missing for so many years.

How can I get to watch this movie again? It has been quite a number of many years and I just cannot find it to purchase and not in rental stores either. Can someone please advice on this? Much thanks

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.