What a drag.
Curious film buffs may be interested in seeing Doris Day in a dramatic suspense film, outside the comfort zone of the musicals and romantic comedies for which she's most famous. But JULIE (1956) is an endlessly infuriating film, and an endurance test for even the most enthusiastic classic movie fan. It's the longest 1h 39min movie I've ever seen. Two minutes into the film I knew it was awful, and I began itching for it to end.
The beginning of the movie is terrible, with the thick marital melodrama and Doris Day's vague voiceover exposition. Dullsville, and a real chore to sit through. There is no mystery to the film. In the first scene we see that one of the characters is a dangerous psychopath, and soon thereafter an even more horrible secret is revealed. Viewers may be expecting some red herrings, or may guess about shocking twists, but the plot is completely straightforward. The movie becomes one frustrating, drawn-out suspense sequence after another, as Doris Day tries to escape her husband. The second half is a little more interesting, once the police get involved. Somehow the entire third act (a surprisingly large chunk of the movie) takes place on an airplane. The sequence is compelling at times, exasperating at others, and it never seems to want to end.
The story (by director Andrew L. Stone) seems to be constructed as an analysis of worst-case scenarios, and it's always upping the ante. How do you escape the watchful eye of the sociopath you married? How do you keep him from tracking you down? What do you do when you can't prove a murder? What can you do when there are no legal steps to take, and the police don't believe you, or can't help you regardless? Can you get away? Can you stay hidden? What happens when he finds you? What if the police can't warn you in time? What if you're on a plane? What if something happens to the pilot?
Frank Lovejoy as the San Francisco police lieutenant is the only character who talks sense. He knows his way around a homicide, and he recognizes the danger Day may be in, even if there's little that law enforcement can do at the time. When the situation escalates, he's the voice of reason, knowing the consequences that certain behavior may have in delicate scenarios involving dangerous psychopaths. He does everything he can, takes every precaution, although his efforts are sometimes foiled by rotten timing.
Stone's script aims for a certain deglamorized, Murphy's Law realism. It highlights the real-world frustrations one might face in extraordinary circumstances. Nothing is neat and tidy; nothing is easy. Police are bound by laws, for instance, and can't open a murder case on the whim of some woman with no evidence to prove it. A wounded man may not be noticed by the one person who could help him. The telephone operator may be the only resource available for piecing together key information in a time of desperate urgency. Sometimes phone calls are put on hold. Sometimes the elevator takes too long. Sometimes people take the stairs. Sometimes the sociopath has a gun. The characters are not written as cinema heroes; they are everyday people bound, more or less, by real-world constraints, who must be resourceful.
Like the detective's reasoned response to the threat of danger, the final flight emergency is interesting in its apparent real-world detail. Flight instruments and radar and landing protocols are touched upon in a way that is fascinating to those who don't know much about flying planes. Again, it adds to that sense of practical realism, telling a Hollywood-sized tale grounded in the nuts and bolts of everyday life.
But the torturous suspense sequences, where every little thing goes wrong and the maniac villain keeps coming and coming, wear on the nerves and only add to the awfulness of the first part of the movie, which by the end feels a lifetime away. Louis Jourdan is instantly detestable and completely devoid of any sympathetic qualities or charisma. Barry Sullivan does an admirable job as a sort of white knight. Lovejoy is solid as Lt. Pringle. Day's character is under considerable emotional strain, but remains courageous against a stacked deck. Ultimately, JULIE is a dire film played straight by its cast, resulting in a marathon trudge through eye-roll-inducing scenes. (Don't try to land an airplane with your eyes closed.) Luckily Doris Day appeared in other dramatic and suspenseful films, so viewers can skip this one.
Curious film buffs may be interested in seeing Doris Day in a dramatic suspense film, outside the comfort zone of the musicals and romantic comedies for which she's most famous. But JULIE (1956) is an endlessly infuriating film, and an endurance test for even the most enthusiastic classic movie fan. It's the longest 1h 39min movie I've ever seen. Two minutes into the film I knew it was awful, and I began itching for it to end.
The beginning of the movie is terrible, with the thick marital melodrama and Doris Day's vague voiceover exposition. Dullsville, and a real chore to sit through. There is no mystery to the film. In the first scene we see that one of the characters is a dangerous psychopath, and soon thereafter an even more horrible secret is revealed. Viewers may be expecting some red herrings, or may guess about shocking twists, but the plot is completely straightforward. The movie becomes one frustrating, drawn-out suspense sequence after another, as Doris Day tries to escape her husband. The second half is a little more interesting, once the police get involved. Somehow the entire third act (a surprisingly large chunk of the movie) takes place on an airplane. The sequence is compelling at times, exasperating at others, and it never seems to want to end.
The story (by director Andrew L. Stone) seems to be constructed as an analysis of worst-case scenarios, and it's always upping the ante. How do you escape the watchful eye of the sociopath you married? How do you keep him from tracking you down? What do you do when you can't prove a murder? What can you do when there are no legal steps to take, and the police don't believe you, or can't help you regardless? Can you get away? Can you stay hidden? What happens when he finds you? What if the police can't warn you in time? What if you're on a plane? What if something happens to the pilot?
Frank Lovejoy as the San Francisco police lieutenant is the only character who talks sense. He knows his way around a homicide, and he recognizes the danger Day may be in, even if there's little that law enforcement can do at the time. When the situation escalates, he's the voice of reason, knowing the consequences that certain behavior may have in delicate scenarios involving dangerous psychopaths. He does everything he can, takes every precaution, although his efforts are sometimes foiled by rotten timing.
Stone's script aims for a certain deglamorized, Murphy's Law realism. It highlights the real-world frustrations one might face in extraordinary circumstances. Nothing is neat and tidy; nothing is easy. Police are bound by laws, for instance, and can't open a murder case on the whim of some woman with no evidence to prove it. A wounded man may not be noticed by the one person who could help him. The telephone operator may be the only resource available for piecing together key information in a time of desperate urgency. Sometimes phone calls are put on hold. Sometimes the elevator takes too long. Sometimes people take the stairs. Sometimes the sociopath has a gun. The characters are not written as cinema heroes; they are everyday people bound, more or less, by real-world constraints, who must be resourceful.
Like the detective's reasoned response to the threat of danger, the final flight emergency is interesting in its apparent real-world detail. Flight instruments and radar and landing protocols are touched upon in a way that is fascinating to those who don't know much about flying planes. Again, it adds to that sense of practical realism, telling a Hollywood-sized tale grounded in the nuts and bolts of everyday life.
But the torturous suspense sequences, where every little thing goes wrong and the maniac villain keeps coming and coming, wear on the nerves and only add to the awfulness of the first part of the movie, which by the end feels a lifetime away. Louis Jourdan is instantly detestable and completely devoid of any sympathetic qualities or charisma. Barry Sullivan does an admirable job as a sort of white knight. Lovejoy is solid as Lt. Pringle. Day's character is under considerable emotional strain, but remains courageous against a stacked deck. Ultimately, JULIE is a dire film played straight by its cast, resulting in a marathon trudge through eye-roll-inducing scenes. (Don't try to land an airplane with your eyes closed.) Luckily Doris Day appeared in other dramatic and suspenseful films, so viewers can skip this one.