10 rue Frédérick

"10 North Frederick" recounts the story of a middle aged man, successful in business, who is pushed into the political arena by his domineering, obnoxious wife.

Gary Cooper and Geraldine Fitzgerald are in fine form as the middle aged man and vicious wife. With the ending of his career approaching, Cooper gave an outstanding performance as a man who was just too good for the society that he lived in. Equally impressive was Geraldine Fitzgerald, his wife Edith, with her sterling political ambitions that could easily rival Mary Todd Lincoln. Erudite, yet a tramp in her own right, Fitzgerald etched an unforgettable character in using such terms as mawkish. (Fitzgerald could have easily played Mary Todd Lincoln in the great 1940 film "Abe Lincoln in Illinois if Ruth Gordon hadn't been available.) Some could call the film dated but what an impressive date! The mores of yesterday were defined that in politics, if you had a scandal in the family, you were ruined. Not so necessarily true today. The same more could be applied to older men married to younger women. Sociologists could really have a ball with this terrific film.

When he sees the dirt that politics brings, he begins an affair with his daughter's room mate. Diane Varsi, who was so good in "Peyton Place," shines as the daughter. Suzy Parker is her friend who has an affair with Cooper.

Fitzgerald pulls out all the stops in her vicious tirades. She is soon slapped down by her son who denounces her publicly for what she has done to her husband.

A wonderful film detailing moral values and their decline in a society where they are most needed. Highly recommended film to all viewers.

John O'Hara's novel transferred to the screen,half valid drama,half soap opera ; it was the fifties ,and with directors such as Sirk and Minnelli,the apex of melodrama. Philip Dunne is not in their league but his cast carries the movie on their shoulders and makes it a winner .

An aging Gary Cooper , towards the end of the career, is deeply moving as a man whose ambitions are relatively modest (he only wants to be a lieutenant governor) but whose life will be ruined by a selfish wife ; his scene with Suzy Parker,when he speaks of the children they'll never have (because of his age) ,goes straight to the heart ; note that in his scene with Stuart Whitman (then an up-and-coming actor who considered Cooper a model ),he only intervenes towards the end ,as though he reluctantly approves of his collaborators' advice (and blackmail)

Matching him every step of the way is Geraldine Fitzgerald' s cold self-centered socialite who does not care about her children 's happiness. A woman who never loved anyone but herself.

Diane Varsi is convincing as the sacrificed daughter ,but her affair with Buongiorno is a little botched ; Ray Stricklyn who,unlike Whitman , never became a big star, shines in his last scene when he takes a rebel stand against these hypocrit "friends " ( the first scenes ,notably with the journalists ,were revealing )

Although Gary Cooper is my favorite actor, this was a movie I had never seen until a few years ago, when I happened to catch it after waking in the wee hours of the morning and turning on the television after not being able to get back to sleep. It seems like this movie isn't very well-respected, but I think it is fantastic and have recommended it to several people. Admittedly, it's not High Noon, but it's quite bittersweet (heartbreaking, even) and has a touch of romance. Gary Cooper's character is a very decent man at heart and truly tries to do the right thing when it comes to the major decisions he has to make, but it seems he can't win being married to such a shrewish woman.

About 15 years ago my daughter (about 13 at the time) and I were surfing channels and got in on the last 30 or 45 minutes of this movie. WOW, I had to own it and finally found it on VHS. A wonderful movie. One of my favorites of this genre.

And Gary Cooper had his own style. This was a bit unlike his other... But he played it to a T... Cooper was a gentleman, and his wife an overbearing witch. His failures result from his being too nice of a guy to make him into the man she wanted him to be. It was wonderful that his daughter found out that he had been happy. And even in that happiness he was still a gentleman.

Gary Cooper plays Joe Chapin, a very successful man turning fifty years old, prodded into state politics by his nagging wife, played by Geraldine Fitzgerald. Chapin shuns the political scene when he finds it going against the standards and principles he lives by. His wife soon makes him feel a loser and he finds solace in the arms of his daughter's roommate, half his age.

Romantic and consuming; from the pen of Philip Dunne. This is an over looked drama shot in black and white. Daughter Ann is played by Diane Varsi and her roommate Kate is played by the lovely Suzy Parker. Also in the cast are Stuart Whitman and Ray Sticklyn.