Before this movie was aired by TCM last night, I reviewed the rating and comments on this website. Noting the extremely high rating and rave reviews, my wife and I eagerly tuned in. We were both very disappointed. This movie promises much but delivers little. The location and the scenery are great, and they are captured nicely by the cinematography. True, the film is a bit obvious in its symbolic use of mist and storm and surf sequences, but their beauty and power more than compensate for the heavy-handed symbolism. Along with the great architecture, they effectively establish the film's dark mood.
The acting is also very good; in what is essentially a melodrama, there are no real histrionics. The cast is nicely restrained and credibly reflects "real" people. Although a little too young for the role of "evil stepmother," Susan Peters is great as Leah, the central character. Beneath her radiant beauty, winning smile and demure demeanor, she is palpably evil and cruel. But why? After setting itself up as a psychological thriller, the film completely ignores the psychological aspects of the pathological, wheel-chair-bound Leah.
In an early scene that seems full of portent great emphasis is placed upon the photograph of Leah's best friend - her husband's deceased first wife and mother of her stepchildren. Her death is never explained, although it seems essential to understanding a story and a character that become increasingly ominous. As we become acquainted with Leah's devious character, we wonder if she had anything to do with her friend's death. Remarkably this idea is never confirmed or laid to rest!
Prior to the film's beginning, Leah has martyred herself: a couple of years after her marriage to her friend's widowed husband, she sustained a broken back, saving 2 of her stepchildren from drowning. Confined to a wheelchair, she has adopted a pseudonym, Faith Hope, to write syrupy poetry, reflecting an attitude of optimism and determination. That she writes in such a vein to mask her true feelings seems clear, but what are her true feelings? Does she blame her stepchildren for her injury? Are there even deeper, darker feelings about her old friend that she has been struggling to hide? Did she play a part in her death? Why does her cynicism gradually seize control at the moment of the film? Does Dame Witty finally get to her; is she completely susceptible to the old woman's suggestions? Is she really suspicious of her new personal secretary?
At the climax, she smashes the photo of her stepchildren's biological mother, screaming, "I hate you; I hate your whole family!" But why? In a voice-over, all we are told is that she rues being alone. This extremely shallow explanation, reflects no real psychological insight. In the end, Peters' Leah is just a cruel enigma.
Leah is a beautiful menace, manipulating everyone around her to her own selfish ends. But without insight into her twisted mind or the background of those relationships, this film is confused and unsatisfying. It squanders all the makings of a good psychological thriller and ends up more superficial than the daily soaps. Way too many loose ends here.
The acting is also very good; in what is essentially a melodrama, there are no real histrionics. The cast is nicely restrained and credibly reflects "real" people. Although a little too young for the role of "evil stepmother," Susan Peters is great as Leah, the central character. Beneath her radiant beauty, winning smile and demure demeanor, she is palpably evil and cruel. But why? After setting itself up as a psychological thriller, the film completely ignores the psychological aspects of the pathological, wheel-chair-bound Leah.
In an early scene that seems full of portent great emphasis is placed upon the photograph of Leah's best friend - her husband's deceased first wife and mother of her stepchildren. Her death is never explained, although it seems essential to understanding a story and a character that become increasingly ominous. As we become acquainted with Leah's devious character, we wonder if she had anything to do with her friend's death. Remarkably this idea is never confirmed or laid to rest!
Prior to the film's beginning, Leah has martyred herself: a couple of years after her marriage to her friend's widowed husband, she sustained a broken back, saving 2 of her stepchildren from drowning. Confined to a wheelchair, she has adopted a pseudonym, Faith Hope, to write syrupy poetry, reflecting an attitude of optimism and determination. That she writes in such a vein to mask her true feelings seems clear, but what are her true feelings? Does she blame her stepchildren for her injury? Are there even deeper, darker feelings about her old friend that she has been struggling to hide? Did she play a part in her death? Why does her cynicism gradually seize control at the moment of the film? Does Dame Witty finally get to her; is she completely susceptible to the old woman's suggestions? Is she really suspicious of her new personal secretary?
At the climax, she smashes the photo of her stepchildren's biological mother, screaming, "I hate you; I hate your whole family!" But why? In a voice-over, all we are told is that she rues being alone. This extremely shallow explanation, reflects no real psychological insight. In the end, Peters' Leah is just a cruel enigma.
Leah is a beautiful menace, manipulating everyone around her to her own selfish ends. But without insight into her twisted mind or the background of those relationships, this film is confused and unsatisfying. It squanders all the makings of a good psychological thriller and ends up more superficial than the daily soaps. Way too many loose ends here.