Dear Heart
1964 US
Dir:Delbart Mann
Stars:Glen Ford, Geraldine Page, Angela Lansbury,
Barbara Nichols
Left:Geraldine Page, Right:Glen Ford
I have a weakness for this type of movies to such an extent that once I watched this movie two times in a day.
Even though there is no special element in this romance movie, softhearted and lighttouched handling of the whole
affair is, nevertheless, quite sensitive without ever veering into emotional outburst that I think is the usual
consequence of this sort of stories. I presume the director Delbart Mann had quite a delicate instinct for the
balance only attainable by cleverly avoiding excessive sentimentality and craftily poising overall emotional gradation
in the middle range that could be also easily seen from his other earlier masterpieces such as "Marty"(1955)
and "Separate Tables"(1958). I, as a Japanese, are always fascinated with this sort of emotional handlings
whenever given by none-Japanese artists, because traditionally Japanese have been very good at this kind of emotional
controls. Of course, I feel I have to emphasize the fact that this movie's delicacy is also considerably strengthened
by the delicate performances of Geraldine Page. I certainly miss this kind of delicate treatment in recent movies.
Finally, I would like to add this; Henry Mancini's elegant music is certainly a great asset for this movie's entertainment
value.
