Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

mark.waltz There's a certain type of woman who becomes instantly territorial when she joins a family, and any other woman better watch their step, even if it's a longtime friend or employee. This family saga starts in the early 1900's when Ingrid Bergman arrives as the new nanny and makes an instant impression on Warner Baxter, Fay Way and the four young boys who are instantly crazy about her. She's loyal, loving and gains their trust quickly. But happiness is only fleeting, and soon the widowed Baxter finds himself alone and in financial difficulties. The years go by and when the first world war begins, one of the boys returns with a wife (Susan Hayward) who is charming on the surface but calculating and self serving, seducing another brother out of boredom and making it clear to Bergman that she finds her presence in the household questionable. A dying relative (Helen Westley) sees right through Hayward and warns Bergman about her. Keeping secrets but remaining loyal, Bergman becomes like a dormant volcano,  holding everything as she gets more and more disgusted with the amoral and destructive Hayward. She even takes steps to protect her simply to prevent the family from completely falling apart.With young megastar Ingrid Bergman at the pinnacle of her youth and success, she was joined by a superstar yet to come, Susan Hayward, as evil here as Bergman is noble. Even though her smiles, you can feel the wheels of Hayward's calculating brain turning, and the signs of an acting powerhouse being born. Where Bergman is subtle, Hayward is explosive, yet there is truth in both of their performances, which makes Hayward all the scarier. "My duty is to protect the family", Bergman declares, and you know it's only a matter of time before Hayward is exposed. The men here are fairly non-descript, stunned by their own stupidity in trusting a pretty, innocent looking face. Baxter is authoritative, but barely reacts when he believes that Bergman and one of the sons (Richard Denning) have been involved, even though as one of the sons points out to him, he's been in love with Bergman for a long time.As the tragic wife, Fay Wray makes the most of her few scenes as she comes to totally confide in Bergman, treating her more like a sister than an employee. Her final scene is worthy of a box of Kleenex. But as the blood boils between Bergman and Hayward, you will be longing for a huge slap (or more) as Hayward's schemes come to light. She's a modern day Messalina, closer to the character Sheila White played in "I Claudius" than the version that Hayward played in "Demetrius and the Gladiators". I just wish that Baxter had been more strong and convincing, making him the one weak link in an otherwise enjoyable melodrama.

talisencrw This was a good early melodrama--the first of Ratoff's films I have seen (at least to my knowledge) and American films starring Ingrid Bergman, one of my favourite actresses (three earlier Swedish films she's in, that I found in an inexpensive boxed set by Kino Lorber, is delightful). This boasted a strong supporting cast too, as Bergman's Emilie does everything she can to provide support for the family she loves working for so dearly.It was short and sweet, and is good value for the cinephile if you like the 30's-and-40's style of filmmaking, and enjoy melodramas. Other fine directors who are great at this style are John Stahl, Douglas Sirk, and, more recently, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Todd Haynes.At this stage of her career, Bergman isn't as fun to watch, at least for me, as similar actresses of her era, such as Bette Davis, Greta Garbo or Joan Crawford. I prefer Bergman's work after she risked everything to marry Roberto Rossellini. I believe the great difficulties she had to endure gave her a much deeper palette of possible behaviours for her to choose from. I significantly feel that if a thespian can survive trauma, it's the best thing in the world for their craft. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger--and I would definitely posit it makes one a much better actor as well.

kenjha A rich family hires a governess to look after its four sons, and she stays with the family even after the sons are grown. The plot is simple but silly; it would have played better as a comedy. It's not clear why the sons need a governess after becoming young adults. This was Bergman's first American film, and she is fine as the French (not Swedish!) governess. Baxter as the father and Denning as one of the sons are also OK. Hayword, on the other hand, is a riot in an over-the-top performance as the wife of one of the sons who's not only a gold digger, but also a nymphomaniac. She greets her in-laws by kissing them on the mouth, as Ingrid looks on in horror.

DKosty123 Saw this film ran in the wee hours on TCM. Several problems with the film were apparent from what I saw. First, the adults did not age when the children did for 10 years. Several parts of the film had continuity problems & for some reason the actor who played the youngest son looked like the oldest when the 10 years passed. The copy I saw was missing about 20 minutes or so, at least a huge gap with black screen appeared. It is too bad, because even though the script left something to be desired, Bergman & Russell both did fine in the film in their roles. It is a shame the large chunk is missing, but what is here is watchable.I just wish it was all intact. The script makes little sense in that Bergman's character is sent away when the kids are small but then brought back to take care of them when they are adults? Some of the time lines don't make sense either. There is a stock market crash that resembles 1929 but the kids grow up to fight in World War 1. All the acting by the support folks in this film is fine. Just wonder what was in the 20 gap of film I could not see as it was missing.