If someone had to judge Paul Newman's career prospect and future acting abilities, he would not have great expectations. The film is silly and the acting is generally weak to bad. Joan Collins steals all the scenes she is in and this might tell you something, my friend. Newman, in this film, acts as if acting is something he is trying out for the first time. His wife Joanne Woodward is a bit better but suffers from an ugly wig and bad directing. Jack Carson has to overact almost every scene and it is hard to believe that Newman and he just had great moments in "Cat on a hot tin roof."
Of course, the script is a mess. It is a typical film of a director who was well known for comedy but who had the best part of his live behind him and no feel for modern film making or modern themes. Leo McCarey never was an innovator and at this point in his career he was working like in the 20ies and 30ies.
Every actor has a cardboard character and therefore you don't really care for any of them. The story is so silly that at any point you would expect the keystone cops just passing through (and stealing that scene too). When ever the movie reached a moment when the screenwriter seemed not to know how to handle, we get a fade to black. This film is full of such fade to black moments and by the time you become grateful for them because you fear what nonsense might have been thrown at you instead! They should have put a big fade to black over the whole film.
Of course, the script is a mess. It is a typical film of a director who was well known for comedy but who had the best part of his live behind him and no feel for modern film making or modern themes. Leo McCarey never was an innovator and at this point in his career he was working like in the 20ies and 30ies.
Every actor has a cardboard character and therefore you don't really care for any of them. The story is so silly that at any point you would expect the keystone cops just passing through (and stealing that scene too). When ever the movie reached a moment when the screenwriter seemed not to know how to handle, we get a fade to black. This film is full of such fade to black moments and by the time you become grateful for them because you fear what nonsense might have been thrown at you instead! They should have put a big fade to black over the whole film.