Desire Me

1947
6| 1h31m| NR| en
Details

A war widow falls in love with the man who informed her of her husband's death.

Director

Producted By

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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Reviews

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Dotbankey A lot of fun.
Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
pamina716 I just finished viewing "Desire Me" (bad title, I admit), which I began with a bit of trepidation--so off-putting was its reputation as an MGM stinker--but I found myself drawn into its unique realm mainly by the compelling performances of G. Garson and R. Hart. Sadly, R. Mitchum, one of my favorite actors of all time, had little on screen time in which to create a character of depth. Perhaps the filmmakers didn't realize that they had (unintentionally?) created a fine piece of magic realism--the almost mythic setting in a remote and traditionally mystical part of France (the realm of Breton-Arthurian legend and the arcane spiritual 4th dimension of the Celts), land of fog and mists. There are the "singing pool" that Garson shows to Hart, the doppelganger figures of Hart and Mitchum, a deeply troubled Garson's brave navigation of the rough emotional waters between these two men, the superbly photographed climax in deep fog in which one could scarcely distinguish between Mitchum and Hart. The only jarring note was the badly read voice-over introducing a saccharine tone into the concluding moments of the film. I think this is a must-see for anyone claiming to be a knowledgeable fan of 1940s films.
blanche-2 "Desire Me" from 1947 was a troubled film, with everyone hating everyone else, and George Cukor having his name removed from the credits. If only some of that passion had been on the screen, we might have a movie to talk about.As it is, "Desire Me" is the old story of a French woman, Marise (Greer Garson) who doesn't know if her husband, last heard of in a work camp, is dead or alive. A friend of his, Jean (Richard Hart) comes to see her. Her husband Paul (Robert Mitchum) was his friend at the camp, and talked about Marise incessantly. Jean knows all about her, and he was kept alive by Paul's stories. He felt he just had to meet her. He breaks the news to her that Paul is dead. Yeah, and guess what.First of all, you can see this plot coming a mile away. Secondly, though we hear about this great love that Paul and Marise have, we don't see any of it in flashbacks, just their wedding. Third, Jean is such an obvious phony, determined to push his way into her house and life, that it's ridiculous.The name Richard Hart didn't conjure up much for me, and after seeing him in this, I know why. Sadly he died four years later, at the age of 35, which is awful. I would say he was completely misdirected in this. The character of Jean (my opinion only) should have been warm, sincere, helpful, without a hint of pushiness so that he can inculcate himself into Marise's life. Robert Mitchum ultimately doesn't have much to do. He spent most of his time eating sandwiches with onion and Roquefort when he had scenes with Greer Garson, whom he thought was stuck-up. Cukor and Garson fought, and Cukor left the film.For all that, the film is quite atmospheric, with enough dry ice creating fog that you almost couldn't see anyone.Greer Garson is good given the material.If you're a fan of hers, watch this film; if not, skip it.
Hot 888 Mama So says Marise Aubert (Greer Garson), with a wistfulness that tacitly acknowledges she's still thousands of men short in this department, compared to Helen of Troy. Since the death in question takes place during an extended scene in a coastal fog which would do Sherlock Holmes or Jack the Ripper proud, DESIRE ME clearly is a lesser entry in the film noir sweepstakes. The framing device involves Marise chit-chatting with her medical doctor in a bunch of neo-Freudian mumbo jumbo. The best way to describe the true nature of her malaise is that she wanted to have her cake, and eat it too (and with the effects of weed already ravaging Robert Mitchum's visage as her war-lost-and-found-again husband Paul Aubert, it is no wonder she would hanker for the younger, more handsome Jean Renaud (played convincingly by Richard Hart). The only problem with Jean is that he's a transparent sociopath, only a tad less squirrelly than Norman Bates. Greer's Marise truly is stuck between a rock and a hard place (as Greer herself was during filming, thanks to a rogue Pacific wave).
dbdumonteil Why didn't they transpose the action to the USA? That said,George Cukor's vision of Britanny is not this false:this is a place in France where religion plays a prominent part and Maryse feeling guilt and attending the Pardons ceremony make sense ;besides ,one of the supporting characters is a priest ,Maryse 's confidant (and confessor).He preaches a fatalistic moral,claiming that anyway Renaud was born a loser and it was meant to be ! "Desire me " is a story with an atmosphere of mystery ;in Cukor's filmography,it's close to "gaslight" "keeper of the flame" (a character who is not what he seems to be,just like in "desire")or " a woman's face ".And ,as Britanny is a French region the culture of which is full of legends ,it's not a bad choice after all;Paul is a male Rebecca whose presence can be felt everywhere ,on the shadow of a wall,in a tune played on the piano (it's an old French classic called "Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir" = you who pass by without seeing me),or in the boathouse .The ball ,on the other hand ,features music which doesn't sound Breton folk at all,in spite of the costumes.Like this?try these..." Les Louves" Luis Saslavsky "Carrefour" (Bernard,1938) remade as "Le Retour De Martin Guerre" (Vigne ,1983) remade as "Sommersby" (Amiel,1992)