Affaire ultra-secrète

Susan hayward is Dot Peale, publisher. Lady of means and power. when her own candidate doesn't make the grade for a certain job, Dot brings General Goodwin (Kirk Douglas) to her home to try to get the goods on him, catch him being "too military". You'll recognize advance man Colonel Gooch... Jim Backus (Mr. Howell!) keep an eye out for Charles Lane, right at the start; he held the record for the most roles under his belt for the longest time; maybe he still does. and of course, Dot and the General have both under-estimated each other. lots of talking. they both think they have the upper hand, but do they? what have they won? can they come to an understanding? it's good. pretty low key. lots of talking and arguing. directed by Hank Potter. no oscars, but directed some biggies, like Mr. Blandings. Novel by John Marquand.

Solid performances by both Hayward and Douglas and a nice turn by Jim Backus in this battle-of-the-wills comedy. Hayward is head of a Time/Life-style empire that attempts to smear the record of war hero general Douglas. As worthy opponents the sparks are subtle and adult, especially for the time. It avoids politics in an obvious way while showcasing why Kirk Douglas had legions of female fans, and why Susan Hayward was the thinking man's movie fave. Not a knee-slapper, but fairly realistic as a smart comedy. Worth a watch and better than Leonard Maltin thinks it is.

Susan Hayward was a contract player at Warners and di a fww brief shots in WB films. Beautiful Susie left WB and went to Paramount where she got some plum roles such as Gary Cooper's Beau Geste, Frederic March I Married A Witch and Loretta Young in And Now Tomorrow

This film was set to be aBogey-Bacall film but the great Bogie developed cancer and both Bogie and Mrs Bogart aka Lauren Bacall droped out and Jack Warner asked Susan Hayward to return to WB where Susie was given a star Bungalow on the WB lot and her fave cinematographer Stanley Cortez (Cortez did the great train shot with Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker in Since You went Away), and her fave costume exec Charles LaMaire. Susan looks beautiful in this Carrolton Production her own production company named after her adopted town in Georgia (Susan married Floyd Eaton Chalkley a former FBI agent who was a strong Catholic and Susan converted to Catholicism and both Chalkley and Susan are interred in the Church graveyard.

Kirk Douglas replaced Bogart in this beautifully filmed movie.

This project was previously designed for Bogie and Bacall, nevertheless the malignat disease is about to win the battle against a hard smoking Bogie, thus the couple decided quit, they were replaced by Susan Hayward & Kirk Douglas, intriguing that Kirk already paved a solid career, but somehow he was casting as second billed, should be Susan enough great than Kirk Douglas??

The plot is engaging and pleasant to watch, with humor oriented through the funny character of the clumsy Col. Gouch (Jim Backus), a tycoon of high profile magazine Dorothy Peale (Susan Hayward) lobbied on backstage to nominee a civil person to Atomic Energy Committee, to her dismay the office went to war hero Major General Melville A. Goodwin (Kirk Douglas) a hard line soldier, over such defeat Dorothy has an insight, inviting Melville for an interview at her house in order to besmirch his reputation vis-à-vis to the public, the outcome is whatsoever foreseeable as Hollywood always did.

Due the poorest votes and reviews this picture seemigly didn't had any impact at its release time, that I recollect never hear a thing over this picture, maybe for a lack of chemistry between them, Hayward seems so prudish, well dressed and behaved, it ain't Kirk's kind of woman, I expected something hot, peppery, sounds a family movie,more suitable to Rock Hudson & Cary Grant (those guys that used to kiss the chins of the actress, sorry sounds a bit offensive) also the storyline is far-fetched, whoever heard an interview which takes ten days to be done, apart these minors flaws it won't bother anyone!!

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First watch: 2021 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

In "Top Secret Affair" both Kirk Douglas and Susan Hayward were allowed to do the things that they did best. They were respectively cast as intense, inner directed, talented people in search of soul mates. their initial antagonism (primarily on Hayward's part with Douglas oblivious to it) is based on her misunderstanding of Douglas' true character and personal qualities. In reality both are highly patriotic , driven individuals with only the good of their country at heart. They are perfect partners with matching vitality and values. This is one instance where Hollywood started over from scratch, ignoring the contents of a good book but creating an original piece of light entertainment in the process.