Le jardin de mes amours

It seems that too few people have been privileged enough to bear witness to this magnificently presented, overheated camp epic. A sort of romantic science-fiction saga, it takes place in a world where every man in evidence wants a piece of Oberon and nearly all of them get some! Things kick off with a love song, somewhat wobbily crooned by none other than Sammy Davis Jr! Next, mining entrepreneur Cochran lands his plane in Acapulco in order to meet a local honcho who will be utilizing his services. However, Cochran is spirited away to a glamorous party at which the honcho (Jurgens) and his half-sister (Oberon) are mixing business (on his part) and pleasure (on her part.) Oberon's character is a highly neurotic sex-addict who causes her brother a fair share of grief. Cochran scarcely gets to meet Jurgens before Oberon has her hooks in him, playing a see-through version of hard-to-get one minute, then desperately tugging at his heartstrings the next. After their bedroom romp, Oberon is up and at 'em in the swimming pool (impressively sporting a bikini at age 53), soon joined by Cochran, who has to choose from a variety of suits, some left behind by her army of ex-lovers. He settles on a monogrammed bikini brief of his own (which he also displays admirably for a 46 year-old man), playfully indicating that whomever's initials are on it has left it behind. When Jurgens chides her behavior, Oberon has another meltdown, but soon overcomes it long enough to take Cochran on a lengthy jaunt all over the Mexican shoreline. Just as Cochran has decided he loves Oberon and is willing to overlook the legions of men who came before him, Jurgens schemes to break them apart with the help of the man (Agar) whose initials are on the swim-trunks. What follows is a heaving dollop of melodrama including attempted rape, attempted suicide and attempted acting by the principal actors who are trapped in an overheated, sometimes preposterous scenario! The climax involves a sidesplittingly hysterical scene in which Oberon frantically runs through every corridor, stairwell and foyer of a busy hotel and then out onto the street, all the time being confronted by man after man after man. There isn't a woman anywhere in sight! Suddenly, the entire city of Acapulco is male and they all have goo-goo eyes for her! This recap can only begin to describe the camp overload as Oberon changes from one eye-popping outfit to the next, always with a complimentary hairdo, flashy jewelry and false eyelashes that seem to have a life of their own. She even has a pointless scene in bed with her hair spread out on the pillow, a cruel reminder that this was once Cathy in "Wuthering Heights"! (Coincidentally, her character here is named Katherine.) Secret motives and pasts are revealed which shed light on the rather kinky earlier proceedings of the film. Filmed amid the properties and adopted homeland of Ms. Oberon, it's a colorful, briskly paced and vastly entertaining piece of dirty soap. Sadly, Cochran would die mysteriously on board a private boat not too long after this film. Oberon wasn't finished yet. After a glamorous role in "Hotel", she tried one last time to fashion a glamorous, romantic, Mexican-set weeper with "Interval", but it was even more disastrous. Director Rush, whose career could be described as a roller-coaster of highs and lows (one high being "The Stunt Man", for which he snagged an Oscar nom) would go on to direct one of the all-time good/bad screamfests "Color of Night".

I came to this film because of Steve Cochran. Surprisingly, it is lovely to look at, has an over the top love story, and though a bit of editing would have helped in the last half hour, It is well acted for this genre. Katherine is a middle aged woman, whose self esteem is determined by the number of men who desire her. She meets Steve and something happens--they fall in love against all odds. With a half brother whose intentions are a bit bent, you wonder if the lovers will wind up with each other or go their separate ways. Oberon and Cochran in real life did both--a RL romance that ended with the film, but a connection that caused Oberon to ask the Los Angeles police to further investigate the cause of death for Steve on his boat 2 years later.They refused but she cared enough to risk headlines for him. Life IS sometimes stranger than fiction.

Merle Oberon became a legend for her beauty that never faded. She just went one remaining beautiful decade after decade, from the 30s and into the 60s, and somehow, in this film, which she made when she was 52, she is still more beautiful than ever, besides being a very good and perfectly convincing actress. This film is particularly romantic, set in a gorgeously lush Acapulco with some dominating scenes set in her own actual garden, drowning in gorgeous flowers. It's a film of people living in exaggerated opulence, they can do what they want and buy whatever they desire, so Merle Oberon bought this marvellous villa of unlimited space of rooms and floors, where one lover after another leave their bathing suits behind, unintentionally because of refuted love, because she never gets the one she wants, who is a ghost of the past lost in the war, apparently by suicide for having been refuted by her, the first of many. It's a great story of significant psychological interest, since her half brother (Curt Jürgens) is equally passionate but in a different direction, of jealousy for her. In all this the blank businessman and engineer Steve Cochran stumbles in and, like all the others, can't find his way out. The colours and the music add considerable lustre to the film, nothing is wrong, everything is beauty and love and passion, while, as usual, only the passion goes wrong, but things get sorted out.

Merle Oberon was a great beauty often tabbed the 8th wonder of the World so striking was La Oberon in person and on film. In a career that started in London in the 30's Oberon worked with Laughton, Wayler, Hopkins, Brando, Olivier in a long and great career. A good actress her lavish lifestyle got more attention than her ability as an actress.

Of Love And Desire is a vanity production produced by Oberon's then fabulously wealthy Mexican husband Bruno Paglai, and many of the settings are in the various Mexican homes ( palaces really) that the Paglai's owned in Mexico. A sight to behold is then 53 year old Merle Oberon in a bikini in a scene with an equally daring Steve Cochran also in a bikini who despite the fact that Mr. Paglai was financing this film was said to be Merle's off camera lover as well. No horror roles for Merle like her peers Joan Crawford, and Bette Davis and Ann Sothern, no way! It was glamor all the way with Merle Oberon looking fantastic in this film.

Back in the day, when a woman reached the age of forty, she cut her hair and started wearing sensible clothing with high-cut necklines. When she reached fifty, she focused on her grandchildren and wore orthopedic shoes. She certainly didn't prance around in revealing swimsuits, wear low-cut evening gowns, and enjoy numerous lovers! Well, when Merle Oberon was fifty-two, she did all those things in the risqué drama Of Love and Desire. What a knockout!

Steve Cochran meets Merle when he gets a new engineering job in Mexico. Her brother Curd Jurgens is his boss and owner of the company, and he's pretty protective over her. Steve tries to stay away from Merle because he thinks she's just an irresponsible flirt, but over time, he goes the way of all the other men who came before him. He becomes completely enamored by her, risking his job and the wrath of Curd.

If you're a Merle Oberon fan, you're going to want to watch this movie. If you're neutral about her, you can probably skip it. Yes, it's naughty and fun at times, but it also has a darker twist that will (hopefully) make audiences feel uncomfortable.