The Country Girl (1954)

Despite Bing Crosby's reputation as an abusive father, he showed that he could be an excellent actor in this movie. Acting AGAINST type, he plays an alcoholic actor in an excellent understated manner with none of the histrionics that some of those movies from that era had. The writer of this movie needs to be applauded. He wrote a play, obviously from reality. Was it CLiff Odets?

William Holden played himself, but this time with great lines. Grace Kelly shows some talent I didn't know she had....more than just a pretty face. Truly amazing. The Academy Awards were deserved indeed.

Buy this one for the ages. Spare yourself the junk at the box office these days.

Fmovies: Stage director William Holden fights with his producer over casting alcoholic-on-the-mend singer Bing Crosby as the lead in their newest musical production; Crosby's wife Grace Kelly, a no-nonsense type who dresses glumly, appears to be Crosby's rock but may in fact be what's crippling him. Peculiar melodrama is absorbing and interesting, well-paced and literate, but is also show-offy and fairly shallow. Everyone is unnaturally tense and forlorn, and the spirit of the piece is held back to showcase all the angst. Kelly won a Best Actress Oscar, and although her acting is solid, it's a clichéd part (one waits for her to make that visible transformation, and it happens right on cue; though to credit the filmmakers, a big fuss isn't made of it). Crosby was an odd choice for the role of the former star on the comeback trail; his style of acting is resolutely old-fashioned and, although he does good work, he looks so much older than Holden and Kelly--and his general style is older still--his performance sequences seem distinctly out-of-touch (even for 1954). Holden is the acting stand-out (he was the only one of the three leads not Oscar-nominated), and his innate grit and conflict are something the viewer can get a grip on; Holden immediately connects with the audience because he is completely focused and seems to bring this mannered material back down to earth (he makes it mean something). The plot functions are square and uptight, and the musical production within the film looks pretty hoary, but the drama and human interaction is still worthwhile on a soap opera level. **1/2 from ****

1954 was a banner year for the three stars of The Country Girl, as Grace Kelly, who would win an Oscar for her performance in this film, also appeared in the highly successful Rear Window and Dial M For Murder, both for Alfred Hitchcock, as well as the grim war drama The Bridges At Toko-Ri, which also features William Holden. In The Country Girl, Holden gets third billing despite his having just won an Oscar himself, for Stalag 17, and who was at around the same time could be seen in Sabrina and Executive Suite. Top-billed Bing Crosby was soon to be seen in the smash musical White Christmas. As to the movie itself, it is adapted from a Clifford Odets play about an alcoholic actor (changed to a singer to accommodate Mr. Crosby), and his over-reliance on his wife, whom he tells anyone who will listen is the cause of his drinking, when in fact she is looking after him. The movie is an interesting study of alcoholism and its effect on human relationships, as the lying and deceit that it engenders ruins all attempts at honesty, however small, as it compels people to become actors in a drama over which they have no control. There is an added dimension to this aspect of the story, as the setting is theatrical, and the people in it theatre-wise.

The Country Girl lacks the brilliance of The Lost Weekend; and while it actually probes more deeply into the psyche of an alcoholic than the earlier film does, it's much more static, and visually it's unexciting. For a man steeped in the theatre and theatrical lore, Odets is surprisingly weak with the show biz shoptalk, yet proves himself once more a master dramatist with the psychology. I like the way it's made clear that Frank Elgin was on a downward slide before his young son died, as the boy's tragic death is his "official" reason for drinking. His use of charm, as much as drink, to quell his anxiety, is also nicely suggested, as Elgin is a man who cannot stand rejection of any kind, however small the issue. In this regard he is the worst kind of seducer, compelling others to accept him on terms he cannot himself accept, then trying to live up to their expectations despite the fact that he never really believed his own PR in the first place. He then lets everyone done, forcing them to feel as badly as he does, and meanwhile, the show must go on, and where's Frank? Oh, he's in his dressing room drinking some cough syrup. You see, he has a bad cold...

As Elgin, Crosby is splendid, playing without vanity a man snowed under by his own self-pity. He is especially good at turning on his charm at the wrong moments (i.e. when he's lying or hiding something). As his wife, Grace Kelly is altogether too young and attractive for the part, and doesn't seem at all like the country girl she's supposed to be. She was a beautiful woman, with perfect features, but her acting here seems barely professional. Holden is more fiery than usual as the short-tempered director, and for my money walks off with the show. Crosby's part may be meatier, but his character is pitiful and difficult to respect, while Holden is like a brick, holding the others and the movie together by sheer charisma. He's also essentially the audience's point man in the film, learning as he goes along; and we learn with him.

A fine movie, dated only in its particulars. It's very fifties in tone, and at times seems somewhat underpopulated, and yet even Miss Kelly's miscasting can't ruin it.

The Country Girl fmovies. BING CROSBY gives his all to the role of a washed up actor fixated on guilt (and the bottle) while GRACE KELLY and WILLIAM HOLDEN give even finer performances as the two people who quarrel over how to reform his guzzling ways.

The weakness here is not the script. It's the dull musical numbers assigned to Crosby, who carries them off in the usual amiable Crosby manner, before he reverts to character as Frank Elgin. Nevertheless, when he's down and out, he gives a very painfully convincing portrait of a weak alcoholic man who shifts all of the blame to his wife. I suspect Clifford Odets may have based his portrait of this weak man on actor Frank Fay (once married to Barbara Stanwyck), whose career was destroyed by alcoholism and who depended on breezy charm for his appeal.

There are some really searing scenes between Kelly and Holden, fireworks that never seem less than realistic as a result of two completely realized characters that come to life in a well-written script. Holden is particularly fine in a difficult, demanding role that forces him to gradually shift his sympathy as he realizes who the real culprit is. His performance is the strongest of the three stars.

Grace Kelly subdues her aristocratic ways (and her prissy affected manners and voice) to play a woman who knows what the truth is behind her husband's weakness. She looks as forlorn and beaten as the script requires, always completely in touch with her character's moods and feelings. There are little nuances all along that show what a fine actress she could be under superb direction and given some brilliant dialog.

Fascinating as a portrait of theater people, but a letdown whenever it strays into the producing of a show that looks to be as feeble as any amateur production could be with hopes of becoming Broadway bound.

Neverthelss, a gritty, searing, truthful drama that is well worth watching for the performances alone.

Strong film version of Clifford Odets' play about an over-the-hill alcoholic singer (Bing Crosby) whose attempts at a comeback in a big Broadway musical seem to be thwarted by his long-suffering and unhappy wife (Grace Kelly), despite the assistance of a well-meaning director (William Holden). The drama is at times melodramatic (director George Seaton tends to push Kelly a little over the top) but it's still pretty potent today (and a lot more effective than the television version done in 1982 with Faye Dunaway). The film's best asset is Holden's fiery performance as the director-his energy keeps the drama pulsing. Some audience members might enjoy the laugh they get from seeing Hollywood try to make Grace Kelly look plain by throwing her behind a pair of thick glasses and a woolly sweater.

I couldn't get into the beginning at first, watching Bing Crosby audition for the part. But once he had finished the film grabbed my attention and held on to it. I was impressed with the writing, portraying the character's subtle changes to make life more gratifying despite tragedy and loss. I loved the ending, seeing how devoted his wife really is. I'll recommend this film. I gave it a vote of 9, and out of a grade from A+ to F I give it an B+.