Following his 1946 Oscar for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES and 1947 Tony for YEARS AGO on B’way*, Fredric March returned to Hollywood not in triumph, but via two mid-list prestige items at Universal that did him no favors. ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST, Lillian Hellman’s so-so LITTLE FOXES prequel, then this issue-oriented job with same director Michael Gordon and repeat co-stars Edmond O’Brien and March’s wife Florence Eldridge in her juiciest film role. It’s one of those ginned-up controversy films that takes bows for turning ‘daring’ ideas into hash; Stanley Kramer style. March is a no-nonsense judge who gets his comeuppance when a death sentence knocks on his door. Not for him, but for the wife: inoperable brain tumor. (Hollywood still shy about naming these things, but it might as well be ‘Prognosis Negative,’ as it was for Bette Davis in DARK VICTORY/’39.) Complicating matters is March’s battle with ‘progressive’ lawyer O’Brien, all but engaged to headstrong daughter Geraldine Brooks. Will suffering & empathy change our judge for the better . . . or lead him to mercy killing. (Odds are, the film’s working title wasn’t ACT OF MURDER, but ACT OF MERCY.) True to form, a truncated third act sees prospective son-in-law defending him in court. Credit Gordon with three or four well run set pieces, especially a smooth montage of medical tests in Stanley Ridges’ office. But soft landings at every curve avoid any difficult conclusions.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: As mentioned, ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST/’48 https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/12/another-part-of-forest-1948.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *March lost this role to Spenser Tracy in George Cukor’s superb film adaptation of Ruth Gordon’s YEARS AGO, retitled THE ACTRESS/’53.
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