Customer Reviews

The Country Girl

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Years ago, Frank Elgin (Bing Crosby) was a successful singer and actor, but a tragedy turned him in to an alcoholic loser and his wife, Georgie (Grace Kelly), into a bitter shrew. A young Broadway director (William Holden) wants Frank to star in his new show, but Frank's drinking and his uncooperative wife may spell disaster.

This stark and touching drama has both Bing and Grace playing against type and they're both wonderful. Bing plays the weak has-been with utter sincerity and Grace drabs it up to play the nagging wife. She won Best Actress and he was nominated for Best Actor. The two reunited two years later in "High Society," playing carefree socialites, showing their versatility. William Holden is excellent as the demanding director who pulls a good performance out of Frank and shakes up the angry Georgie.

The script draws on the themes of guilt, alcoholism, and redemption and the black and white photography emphasizes Frank and Georgie's misery. It's a very good and thought-provoking film. 4.5 stars.

"The Country Girl" is one of the finest films in Paramount's illustrious catalogue of library titles; a poignantly tragic love story with a show biz background, it stars Bing Crosby in a decided departure from his usual light-hearted form. Crosby is Frank Elgin, a one time musical comedy legend now barely holding it together between drinks and his guilt-ridden angst over a dark secret. Georgie (Grace Kelly) is Frank's emotionally prostrated wife and the only ray of hope in his life. Bernie Dodd (William Holden, is the parasitic director of a new Broadway play that affords Frank his last chance at the big time. Believing that Georgie is the cause of Frank's loneliness Bernie deliberately keeps her at bay, the net result; a burgeoning and not so unlikely romance brewing between the two.

Though outstanding in the pivotal role of Georgie, Grace Kelly's lacks what Judy Garland gave Esther Bloggett in 1954's A Star is Born or Gloria Swanson's maniacal rampages in Sunset Blvd. - these latter two nominated opposite Kelly for Best Actress at the Oscars. Ultimately Kelly walked off with the little gold bald guy which, in retrospect, was an error in judgment.

Based on the play by immanent playwright, Clifford Odet and with a brilliant underscoring from Harold Arlen and Victor Young, this classic, directed by George Seaton is a profoundly stirring cinematic drama.

Lots to be happy about with the video quality on this disc. Presented in full-screen, much of the film exhibits a sharp B&W image with a nicely balanced gray scale and deep, solid blacks. Contrast levels are bang on and film grain is minimal for a generally smooth image. This discs single failing is in the amount of dust and scratches visible. While some scenes are relatively clean others are riddle in blemishes that generally distract. The audio is Mono but very nicely preserved. There are no extra features on this disc.

Good movie; great performances! Grace Kelly won the Oscar and she was up against Judy Garland ("A Star Is Born") AND Audrey Hepburn ("Sabrina") - amazing. Bing didn't win, but he was up against Marlon Brando (who won), Humphrey Bogard AND James Mason - quite a line up! Anyway, I was shocked at the excellence of Bing's acting - a tribute to the director.

An inocuous title for a truly remarkable film. Bing gives us a complete departure from his jocular "Road " films and encapsulates the real meaning of an Oscar performance in his tragic portrayal of a struggling alcoholic actor. Grace is the personification of the long suffering wife, yearning to be free of the emotional tribulations of devistating loss - of love, of spirit, of child. Although Grace Kelly is the only actor to win an Oscar nod in this film, it remains a study for students of the arts in its depths of emotion across the character board. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys truly well made films.

This film with Bing Crosby, William Holden, and Grace Kelly is wonderful. It's entertaining,romantic and also very sad. It has the main ingredients, that make a great film. It's well worth seeing. Bing Crosby plays Grace's husband who suffer's from alcholism and a infatuation develops between her and Hilden, but she goes back to her husband and loves him and is determined to tryo to help him.

Grace Kelly is beautiful and glamerous in it, and her costumes are really lovely, even though they are plainer and more simpler they look great on her.

William Holden plays a director who wants to bring a has-been back to the stage, since the roll requires someone who can sing and act, and a washed-up Bing Crosby seems to fit the bill. Plagued by alcoholism and insecurities, Crosby seems like an unwise choice to most, but Holden sticks by him. Conflict arises between Holden and Crosby's suffering wife, Grace Kelly, mostly because Crosby has set them up for it, rather than admitting his weaknesses. Crosby is miles away from the kind of roles we expect to see him in, delivering an excellent performance that shows the talent he had. A dowdy (for most of the film, anyways) Kelly is very strong here, scoring in a big way in a role that is also miles away from what we would expect of her. Although not the most exciting film I've seen, and I do wish that more had been done to show the rehearsals and other aspects of making a Broadway show, the conflicts that develop between the triangle of main characters are very well written and acted. It once again proves that there is no replacing strong characters and writing. They elevate a movie like this one.

In the ranking of American playwrights Clifford Odets is usually placed in the second tier behind Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Lillian Hellman and Tennessee Williams. His output was something less than theirs and his two best-known plays, Waiting for Lefty and The Country Girl, never quite reached the artistic pinnacle of say, Miller's Death of a Salesman or Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire. Nonetheless as a movie The Country Girl is a brilliant piece of work thanks in part to a fine adaptation by director and screenwriter George Seaton (Oscar for best screen adaptation, 1954) and sterling performances by Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and William Holden. Seeing this for the first time I was almost as much impressed by Holden, who played a part very much in keeping with his character and with other parts he has played, as I was by Kelly and Crosby who both did 180 degree turns in type-casting.

Grace Kelly won an Oscar as the faithful, strong-willed, bitter, dowdy co-dependent wife of crooner Crosby who played a whimpering, guilt-ridden alcoholic. You have to see Grace Kelly in the bags-under-her-eyes make-up and spinster get-ups to believe it. She looks at least ten years older than her 25 years with a sour puss of a face and an attitude to match. I think she won best actress (over Judy Garland in A Star Is Born) partly because her appearance was so stunningly...different. (While I'm musing, I wonder if this was the film of hers that was banned in Monaco.) It would seem to be the height of creative casting to put her into such a role, yet she is excellent, wonderful to watch as always, her timing exquisite, her expression indelible, and her sense of character perfect. When she says to Holden, "You kissed me--don't let that give you any ideas," and then when we see her face after he leaves, loving it, we believe her both times.

Bing Crosby too is a sight to behold in what must have been his finest 104 minutes as a dramatic actor. He too played way out of character and yet one had the sense that he knew the character well. He was absolutely pathetic as the spineless one. (In real life Der Bingo was reportedly a stern task master at home--ask his kids.) Clearly director Seaton should be given some of the credit for these fine performances. When your stars perform so well, it's clear you've done something right.

The production suffers--inevitably, I suppose--from the weakness of the play within the play. Crosby is to be the star of a Broadway musical called "The Land Around Us." (What we see of the musical assures us it's no Oklahoma!) He's a little too old and stationary for the part, but of course he sings beautifully. (Painful was the excruciatingly slow audition scene opening the movie with Crosby singing and walking through a thoroughly boring number.) Holden is the director and he is taking a chance on Crosby partly because he believes in him and partly because he has nobody else. Naturally if Crosby returns to the bottle, everything will fall apart.

What about the nature of alcoholism as depicted by Odets? Knowing what we now know of the disease, how accurate was his delineation? I think he got it surprising right except for the implied cause. Crosby's character goes downhill after the accidental death of his son, which he blames on himself. Odets reflects the belief, only finally dispelled in recent decades, that alcoholism was indicative of a character flaw, as he has Crosby say he used his son's death as an excuse to drink. Today we know that alcoholism is a disease, a chemical imbalance. Yet Odets knew this practical truth (from the words he puts into the mouth of William Holden's character): an alcoholic stops drinking when he dies or when he gives it up himself. It is interesting to note that as a play The Country Girl appeared in 1950, the same year as William Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba, which also dealt with alcoholism. The intuitive understanding of alcoholism by these two great playwrights might be compared with the present scientific understanding. (See for example, Milam, Dr. James R. and Katherine Ketcham. Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism [1981] or Ketcham, Katherine, et al. Beyond the Influence: Understanding and Defeating Alcoholism [2000].)

Here's a curiosity: the duet song (best number in the movie; Crosby sang it with Jacqueline Fontaine) has the lyric "What you learn is you haven't learned a thing," which is what the alcoholic learns everyday.

And here's a familiar line, cribbed from somewhere in the long ago: Fontaine asks Crosby aren't you so-and-so, and he replies, "I used to be."

Alright, here is my review... I saw this movie when I was much younger, and was not impressed. I didn't see it again untilI had aged a little and it was more appealing to me, but I still was not amazed... Then I found out that Grace Kelly won an Oscar for this, and thought she didn't deserve it. Then I found out she was nominated against Judy Garland and I was furious! But, I won't hold that against the movie. All in all, the movie was good. The script was so intruiging and the sets and costumes etc dazzled me. And I must give credit to the make up people for turning Gorgeous Grace Kelly into a plain(ish) woman... Even though I think Grace didn't deserve the Oscar (I believe Judy Garland did, for "A Star is Born") I still think it is a good movie. I recomend it...

I'm a big Judy Garland, and when I found out she lost out to Grace Kelly for "Country Girl" I was mad, I thought what a rip off. But when I saw Country Girl, I really loved the movie, and I see why she won, (Sorry Judy, I still love you.) But I see why she won. You really have to be a good actress to go from playing a glamourous roles, to playing a bitter, frumpy housewife. She did real good. Bing Crosby did wonderful showing he can do other things besides sing, even though we do love his voice. He adds a little singing in there. I have to say Grace Kelly deserves to win to do that great of acting. It got to show the situations, the good, the bad, and the ugly in just 2 hours, that's what you call a good movie. Bing Crosby and William Holden did wonderful. As for "A Star is Born" Judy did great, but the movie was too long, Country Girl had more trials and tribulations but we understood the movie in just 2 hours. Great stuff, check it out.

Adaptation of CLIFFORD ODETS'S play gives the chance to BING to tries his hand at a dramatic role for a change.Like most adaptations of stage plays at the time,it is stagebound but nevertheless fun to watch.Oscars should have been given to the make-up man who made our beloved GRACIE look older.Like most stories dealing with alcoolism,the man is weak and his wife takes charges of everything.The wife also tends to mother the husband unintentionaly in these situations.BING surprized his long time fans by playing this part that was so far of his ROAD movies with BOB HOPE.My favorite scene in this movie occurs when GRACIE slaps HOLDEN after a dramatic confrontation over her influence on her husband.This is what i call a typical mélodramatic scene in a fifties movie.I think that most people should agree with that statement.