Hilda Crane

Poor Quality Transfer
My one-star rating has NOTHING to do with performance, scripts, direction, etc. It has to do with the very poor quality of the movie's transfer to dvd. The DVD is not formatted for wide-screen TVs so, this CinemaScope movie has black on the right and left sides of the screen, thus the picture is very small on the TV. You have to blow up the picture thru the TV to increase the picture of the movie and that, of course, distorts the picture quality of the movie. The print of the movie is not good either: colors are washed out and the picture is fuzzy. I have purchased one other DVD from the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archive (MEET ME AFTER THE SHOW) and although this movie is a standard 4x3 screen ratio, I have the same complaint....VERY poor transfer to DVD.

The MOD DVD-R option from Warner Bros, MGM/UA, Columbia/Sony and Universal have been a great way for Classic Film fans to own their favorite classic films on DVD. The movies I've purchased from these Studios offer...

Classic Jean Simmons performance in a Sirk-style '50's drama
The ever-reliable and often underrated Jean Simmons (who never won an Oscar, though was often the most deserving actress of the year in the '50's and early '60's) shines in this multi-layered drama of a complex woman struggling to find meaning and happiness.
Returning to her home town from New York as a successful career woman with two failed marriages (a scandalous talking point in that era), Hilda falls for Russell Burns (Guy Madison), who runs a construction company but is under the thumb of the compellingly monstrous Evelyn Varden as his mother (reprising her Broadway performance). A scene-stealing character actress (see her work in NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and THE BAD SEED), Evelyn has a great scene with Jean Simmons in which the two "face off" in a near-operatic manner over the impending nuptials. Terrific Phillip Dunne dialogue in this pivotal scene makes it the highpoint of an intelligently written screenplay.
Judith Evelyn gives another fine supporting performance as...



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