NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

ShangLuda Admirable film.

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Foxpup82-79-884183 This was an okay romance...not a great one by any means. The main characters were such selfish and cowardly people, it was hard to like them. They thought of no one but themselves! It was obvious the tourist board of Italy had a big hand in the funding of this movie, as the first half is mostly the main characters gadding about various tourist locales, complete with educational narration. The movie is also peppered with stereotypes of Italians, depicted as loud, fat, and annoying ( except for the children, who are merely loud and annoying). There is an especially awful scene where some Italian children sing off key for what seems like an eternity.It's not all bad - the story is somewhat interesting, and the supporting characters you can feel some sympathy for their situation. It's worth watching, but not as a thriller, just a "pass the time" romance.

kenjha An unhappily married industrialist and a pianist engage in a passionate romance after they are presumed dead in a plane crash. It gets off to a slow start, with the early scenes feeling more like a travelogue than a drama, as the lovers take a tour of Italy. However, things start to get interesting about half way through as the plot thickens. Fontaine and Cotten are charming as the lovers who find a second chance for happiness. A young and pretty Tandy plays Cotten's long-suffering wife. Given all that has transpired, the ending seems contrived and unsatisfying, perhaps restricted by the censorship in effect at the time. Rachmaninov's second piano concerto is effectively used as Fontaine's signature piece.

MartinHafer I can see by the reviews that most folks seem to have liked this film. Well, you can see me as an old fashioned and moralistic guy, but I strongly DISLIKED the movie because I felt the main characters were just selfish jerks and the picture seemed to make excuses for bad behavior. The film begins in Italy. A man on business (Joseph Cotton) and a woman (Joan Fontaine) going to see a friend meet after the first leg of an airplane trip. Instead of waiting at the airport for their connecting flight, they take off together to see the countryside...and they hit it off very well. When they return to the airport, they see that their plane has already left. Soon, they get word that the plane has crashed and they are assumed to be dead. They decide that instead of telling everyone they are alive, they decide to use this opportunity to start new lives. After all, Cotten has been in a loveless marriage and he's sick of the corporate life. They settle down in a small Italian town and live an ideal life...that is, until his family learns, accidentally, that he is alive. To see what's next, see the film yourself....if you'd like.While I could sympathize with Cotten wanting to make a new start, he just seemed very cowardly doing what he did. And, the film also seemed to highly romanticize and endorse this sort of behavior. So, while the film is slickly made and the acting is quite good, I just couldn't get it out of my mind that the pair were just selfish...and far from the sort of folks I'd want to see in a romance. Yes, call me moralistic, but this just seemed wrong and it hurt my enjoyment of the film. For a similar sort of theme, "Avanti" also wholeheartedly endorses hanging about in Italy and living the adulterous dream. Again, I find this less than romantic.Now if you don't mind the sort of relationship that the film portrays, the film still is quite flawed. It strongly stretched the limits of believability, as the plot was, to put it mildly, quite far-fetched. Also, the film really didn't seem to know where and when to end and just went on and on AFTER the denouement AND the ending really made little sense. There are better ways to spend your time than watching this disappointing film.

anthonyrwaldman This is one of my very favourite films. It is about two people who are approaching early middle age having a chance at real unconditional love - and taking that chance. The casting is so wonderful and the setting is just beautiful. Although, it is an American film it has the ambiance of the post war realism of a an Italian film (Never Take No For An Answer also has this realism). The film is romantic and yet it is unsentimental. Both Joseph Cotton and Joan Fontaine are so very convincing as the lovers. On visits to Italy my wife and I have visited most of the films location. When there I just cant stop myself from singing September Song.