Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

writers_reign Most of the creative kudos in this effort belong to Martin Gabel totally unknown to the general public at the time he made this, his sole outing as a director; four years later he appeared as an actor in a remake of the German classic 'M' and went on to act in films on a fairly regular basis without really becoming a household name. In this insipid adaptation of Henry James' The Aspern Papers he is stuck with a wooden leading man with about as much gravitas as a lemon soufflé, a 'character' actress of the first rank who is totally unrecognizable, and a Venice that had to be conjured up on a studio Sound Stage. Despite this Gabel is able to convey 'atmosphere' by the bucketload and hold the attention of the audience by sheer technique. On a good day Susan Hayward was one of the finest actresses of her generation and here she had a good day switching switching effortlessly from the uptight sexless apinster to a vibrant young girl bursting with passion and madly in love. True, there are a couple of sub-plots that run out of gas and peter out but over all it is an offbeat entry well worth watching.

SnoopyStyle New York publisher Lewis Venable (Robert Cummings) travels to Venice to acquire the lost love letters of poet Jeffrey Ashton. He rents a room from Ashton's former lover elderly Juliana Bordereau (Agnes Moorehead) and her niece Tina (Susan Hayward). They need money. One night, he finds the normally hard Tina with her hair loose and playing the piano. She seems to think that she's Juliana in love with Ashton. She doesn't remember the next morning. Juliana reveals that Tina sometimes loses herself believing Juliana as the hated maid Rosa.Robert Cummings is rather stiff and he is exceeded by Susan Hayward's stoneface acting. When her character changes, she becomes the embodiment of melodramatic romantic acting. This kind of acting make it impossible to develop chemistry for the two leads. There is some atmospherics but there is little tension. Everybody is so mannered.

Rainey Dawn 'The Lost Moment' is worth watching - not too bad of a film. It's a romantic-drama (with a bit of a mystery and with a dash of thriller). I was hoping for a bit more with the ending I guess because I was left with a disappointed feeling at the end of the film.Lewis Venable (Robert Cummings) is a publisher and he is after the love letters of an early-19th-century poet, Jeffrey Ashton, to his beloved Juliana Borderau (Agnes Moorehead). Lewis pretends to be a writer and rents a room from Juliana Borderau in hopes to gain the love letters. Juliana has a niece named Tina Bordereau (Susan Hayward). Tina has a split-personality: her real self, Tina, and that of her aunt Juliana. Tina thinks she is her aunt Juliana from time to time. Lewis finds himself in a mystery surround Juliana, Tina, and the love letters of Jeffrey Ashton. I enjoyed the film - I was just disappointed with the ending because we never got a real explanation about Tina - an explanation for the split in her personality. 7/10

BeautyLiesInTheI Actor Martin Gabel's first (and only) directorial effort is rich with atmosphere and Gothic artiness. Based loosely on the Henry James novel, "The Aspern Papers," the film follows the efforts of an ambitious publisher, Lewis Venable (Robert Cummings) to locate the lost love letters of an 18th century poet named Jeffrey Ashton. He believes the letters to be in the possession of Ashton's aged former lover, Juliana Bordereau(Agnes Moorehead).Under the pretense of being a writer in search of inspiration, he manages to rent a room in the ghostly Bordereau home in Venice, much to the dislike of a mysterious young woman (Susan Hayward) who is said to be Juliana's niece, Tina. Things become complicated when, one night, he is drawn by strange music to the opposite side of the house. There, he finds Tina at the piano. She believes she is Juliana and that Lewis is her lover, Jeffrey Ashton, taking the film in a somewhat otherworldly direction.Those who make a habit of reading between the lines may suggest that Cummings' protagonist has opened an esoteric door to the past as he enters the room, finding what is perhaps a young Juliana in a dream-like state.It's easy to say that Susan Hayward is excellent in this film, if for no other reason than the fact that her beauty is astounding. In addition, the camera angles and lighting pay immense flattery. Though, in fairness, her performance is more than adequate and the stark contrast between the character's two personalities is quite real.Also worth a mention is Agnes Moorehead's eerie portrayal of the century-old lady of the house who never sleeps, and Daniele Amfitheatrof's moody, yet seemly musical score."The Lost Moment" deserves more than just a look.