January 9, 2023

Despite the quality of the cast here, this is really just a rather lacklustre melodrama centring around the poorly pianist "Karen" (Barbara Stanwyck). She is admitted to a sanitorium high in the Swiss Alps after she is diagnosed with a debilitating illness that is going to require her to rest completely, indefinitely! Despite an attraction to her well-meaning doctor "Stanton" (David Niven) she is determined not to just die of boredom, and soon he… read the rest.

Despite the quality of the cast here, this is really just a rather lacklustre melodrama centring around the poorly pianist "Karen" (Barbara Stanwyck). She is admitted to a sanitorium high in the Swiss Alps after she is diagnosed with a debilitating illness that is going to require her to rest completely, indefinitely! Despite an attraction to her well-meaning doctor "Stanton" (David Niven) she is determined not to just die of boredom, and soon her disobedience leads her to meet with racer "Clermont" (Richard Comte) - a man who is soon keen on her, but oblivious to her health concerns until the doctor realises that his options for her continued survival are limited, and... This is a standard, gentle, love triangle affair with a bit too much dialogue and precious little chemistry between Niven and Stanwyck - all abetted by a real rather downbeat Miklós Rózsa score (peppered with the odd bit of classical piano music that does lift it from time to time). It's also rather slow to get going, and the plot has a rather depressing inevitability to it that doesn't really help engage either. Watchable, but forgettable - sorry.

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