"The Hasty Heart" is one of the most effective tearjerkers I know of. In a way, I guess, it could be called manipulative: Having a character we know from the start to be terminally ill is pretty much a sure thing. But this movie earns all its tears.
Richard Todd gives a superb performance as the Scottish soldier who is afraid of intimacy. Why he didn't win an Academy Award is a mystery. His performance is as brave as he and the other characters in the movie are portrayed as being.
Patricia Neal, too, is excellent. She is a great favorite of mine but that's irrelevant: had she never made another movie, her Sister Parker would be a knockout in American movie history. (Thankfully, she did make many more.) The supporting cast is superb. However, I don't care for Ronald Reagan in his important role. This has nothing to do with politics and he often could be very good. But he doesn't seem to me to fit in with the ensemble -- and this is very much an ensemble piece.
Pat O'Brien would have been much better, but he was too old. William Holden would have been right too, but he was too young.
Several things in the movie are outdated. The slight condescension toward the black character, Blossom, was of its time. It makes one cringe a little now. It's also sort of funny to see so many people in a hospital unit smoking cigarettes. Thankfully, that's behind us too, at least as a way for sick people to feel better.
Vincent Sherman's directing is possibly his best. And he was a fine director. The story is simple, direct, and heartbreaking. And Todd is a marvel -- truly a marvel.
Richard Todd gives a superb performance as the Scottish soldier who is afraid of intimacy. Why he didn't win an Academy Award is a mystery. His performance is as brave as he and the other characters in the movie are portrayed as being.
Patricia Neal, too, is excellent. She is a great favorite of mine but that's irrelevant: had she never made another movie, her Sister Parker would be a knockout in American movie history. (Thankfully, she did make many more.) The supporting cast is superb. However, I don't care for Ronald Reagan in his important role. This has nothing to do with politics and he often could be very good. But he doesn't seem to me to fit in with the ensemble -- and this is very much an ensemble piece.
Pat O'Brien would have been much better, but he was too old. William Holden would have been right too, but he was too young.
Several things in the movie are outdated. The slight condescension toward the black character, Blossom, was of its time. It makes one cringe a little now. It's also sort of funny to see so many people in a hospital unit smoking cigarettes. Thankfully, that's behind us too, at least as a way for sick people to feel better.
Vincent Sherman's directing is possibly his best. And he was a fine director. The story is simple, direct, and heartbreaking. And Todd is a marvel -- truly a marvel.