Touches You

Boring

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of films so predictable than, except the actors, nothing could become interesting. the problem is not exactly the story or the vision of director or the cliches but the impression to discover, more and more, not the inspired choices. Henry Fonda is far to be credible as playboy/ rich man/ jealous husband . the story is for him a huge ice field in which each step is a fall. Barbara Stanwyck has great efforts for build a convincing character. but dr. Helen Hunt is just a sort of weather vane. Roger Clark looks for the right tone for his Vandemer. but the character is like a puzzle with too many lost peaces. the virtue ? it is a perfect film for the viewer who needs a refuge against blockbusters of the new milennium, familiar actors, easy stories and who real has low expectations.

Remarkably obscure comedy considering it stars Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck at their peaks. Even if it doesn't measure up to The Lady Eve or The Mad Miss Manton this is still a cute little comedy. Starts out charmingly with Henry at his sheepish befuddled best and Missy her usual take charge dame. It does flounder around about in the middle with Fonda acting like a stupid buffoon but comes back together at the end. While the two leads can carry a picture both on their own and together without breaking a sweat fortunately they don't have to here. They are ably abetted by Edgar Buchanan's folksy reliability, Ralph Peters as trusty butler Joseph and the under appreciated Ruth Donnelly as Dr. Stanwyck's wryly observing nurse. Both leads are at the peak of their attractiveness as well with Barbara looking particular beautiful with loose flowing hair and a smart wardrobe. Difficult to find but worth checking out if you can.

Feminists might get upset by this movie that insinuates that once a career woman gets hitched, she should give up her job to take care of her husband. That's the situation for doctor Barbara Stanwyck who marries an idle playboy (Henry Fonda) after taking care of him while he's recuperating from influenza. It's not as simple as that; Fonda isn't insisting that she close her practice and spend every waking moment with him, but jealously attacks all of her male patients he is sure are making advances towards her. 90 percent of the movie follows this plot until he finds something to do which causes another problem for them.In a year where Stanwyck was really busy, three out of four films have become classics. One of them had to be a disappointment, and this is it, albeit a minor one. She was a sexy gold-digger (opposite Fonda) in "The Lady Eve", a sequined wearing gangster's moll nightclub entertainer in "Ball of Fire", and a hard-as-nails reporter in "Meet John Doe". Those films all have outstanding screenplays, something this one lacks. The comedy moments are infrequent, although when Fonda tries to disguise himself by wearing tree branches, wife Stanwyck makes an order, "and get rid of those antlers!" Hot after "The Grapes of Wrath", Fonda's whiny, cry-baby character is one of his weaker performances, but it is not his fault; His character simply isn't believable. Stanwyck here is gorgeous and filled with perfect comic timing. It's not difficult to understand why every available bachelor in town would want her medical services.In the supporting cast are many familiar faces; Gravely voiced Edgar Buchannan as the gardener; lip-smacking Fritz Feld as the nosy innkeeper (whom Stanwyck refers to as Mr. Moto for his nosy inquiries); nasal voiced Maude Eburne as the cook; and Ruth Donnelly as Stanwyck's nurse/secretary who could deliver the best wisecracks in her sleep.SPOILER BELOW: What basically frustrated me besides Fonda was the attitude that a rich man can't go out and get a job because he might take the bread out of somebody else's mouth. Democratic ideals or communist? Certainly not the values of a free society. Ironically one of the actors in this scene is Larry Parks who was later accused of being a communist. Towards the end when Stanwyck decides to give up her practice and Fonda disappears after being fired from a job he's taken, the film switches gears into a political statement it never fully deals with. The ending the film does come up with seems rather rushed which lessens the impact of the message.

YOU BELONG TO ME (1941) is a example of the 'ScrewBall Comedy' which started in the mid 1930s and ended postwar (WWII). Some of these films maintained their status. Others have earned undeserved praise when originally were critical and box office flops. Like BRINGING UP BABY (1938) or MR. & MRS. SMITH (1941). Then there is this one which value just keeps sinking.Why can be rooted in the screenplay/story. It strains credibility from the get go, betraying a superior cast. BARBARA STANWYCK is married to millionaire HENRY FONDA who is insanely jealous. He would be content to sit back with his million$ and love her, she wishes to maintain her profession as a Doctor. She wants him to become in what her eyes is a useful member of society. This conflict is supposed to amuse us. It cannot be salvaged by either the principals or the supporting cast.The faults in this scenario can clearly be laid at the feet of DALTON TRUMBO. HENRY FONDAs' character is written in such broad strokes that any viewer has a instant dislike for him. BARBARA STANWYCK just has nothing to do but react to each idiotic situation of jealousy. TRUMBO must have been spending to much time outside the studio being a "useful idiot" then being on the job. COLUMBIA obviously did not get their moneys worth from him, maybe ROBERT RISKIN should taken over.