People Will Talk

People Will Talk
by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

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DVD Reviews of People Will Talk

DVD Review: a dramatic misfire, but worth seeing
Summary: 3 Stars

"Talk" -- and I deliberately selected "Talk" rather than "People" as the shorthand -- was Joseph Mankiewicz's follow-up to "All About Eve." He'd no doubt had this project on the burner, and "Eve"'s huge success gave him the clout to get it produced.

The story (from a German play) must have looked nice on paper -- an idealistic doctor keeps an out-of-wedlock pregnant woman from committing suicide, while successfully defending himself from unjust charges of medical impropriety -- but it doesn't play well on film. Not in Mankiewicz's adaptation, anyway.

Mankiewicz is more interested in being clever than humane, and in a story about what it means to be humane, he fails to make a sincere connection with the characters' inner lives. Even when the characters are forced to confront their situations, Mankiewicz's penchant for witty dialog overrides believable dramatic interaction. Issues are resolved in a "verbal Band-Aid" fashion, merely by the application of clever words.

"Talk" seems more a reflection of Mankiewicz's personality than anything else. The characters are spokespeople for his views rather than fleshed-out human beings. When Shunderson says he's reached the point where music is just about the only thing he enjoys, you suspect you're hearing Mankiewicz himself. (At the age of 57 -- and, like Mankiewicz, a Brahms freak -- I know what he means.)

The principal performances are ineffective. Dr. Praetorius -- who has a history he doesn't want made public -- must have appealed to Cary Grant, who was similarly hounded by rumors about his private life. But his doctor is more charming than deep. There is rarely the sense of "gravitas" you would expect from a person so concerned about the welfare of others. He comes perilously close to expressing a light, almost patronizing attitude towards the problems of human existence. You do, however, get to see the unique "Grant sidle" in the barn scene.

Jeanne Crain's performance is terrible. She's not only miscast -- there's no chemistry whatever between her and Grant -- but the script requires her to be both intellectually strong _and_ vulnerable enough to attempt suicide, while possessing the mental agility and wit to win a verbal fight with Dr. Elwell (Hume Cronyn). Even Bette or Kate would have had trouble handling all that. Poor Jeanne isn't remotely up to it. *

But the supporting players are a delight. Hume Cronyn is at his peak, playing the weaselly Dr. Elwell as a flawed human being, rather than a caricatured villain. Then there's Walter Slezak as a self-absorbed physicist, and marvelous Margaret Hamilton as Dr. Praetorius's ex-housekeeper. She's typecast, but brings far more to the role than you'd expect.

"Talk" is more than a half-century old, and shows it in many ways. The thought that an unmarried pregnant woman would even _consider_ suicide seems alien, even to someone (like myself) born before the film was made. The Code-enforced treatment of attempted suicide is delicate (we don't see Crain lying on the floor, only the people gathered around her), while Mankiewicz's reference to abortion -- without actually saying the word -- is a model of brilliant writing any would-be screenwriter should study.

So, with all this nay-saying, is "Talk" worth a look? Yes. Mankiewicz's dialog is always fun to hear. (His 1983 biography is titled "Pictures will Talk.") And the story _does_ have much to say about professional integrity and respect for other people's private decisions. It also presents the older view that medicine is not about treating symptoms, but treating people -- "Helping sick people get well," as Dr. Praetorius puts it. In an era when motion pictures are rarely "about" _anything_, it's a pleasure to watch a film that -- though it does so in a pompous, even self-righteous manner -- is not embarrassed to say something worth hearing.

The DVD (which I purchased 12/09/03) is sharp, finely detailed, with excellent contrast, but a lot of film grain (or is it coding artifacts?) visible in many scenes.

* The fault is at least partly Mankiewicz's. There is a lot to be said for Hitchcock's approach of letting the actors find their own way.

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