I understood it was gorgeous to look at; my problem was the film that went along with that look.
Ah, with those gorgeous faded colors that only Deluxe could provide! I first saw this as a child in '58 with colors intact (somewhat over my head, but I liked Peck and Kerr); then at MoMA (gasp!); finally this TT release with colors once again the way they should be. Anyway, I still like Peck and Kerr.
I also like Peck and Kerr, as well as Leon Shamory, but this may be Henry Kings' most lugubrious Cinemascope production, which makes Michael Snow's WAVELENGTH seem filled with excitement and drama by comparison. So yes, I might have bought it to look at the beautiful lighting and production design, but just one scene of the two of them sighing and glancing God knows where though anywhere but at each other, I would have hit the stop button and filed it for another time when I was in the mood for pure visual craft, and I already have too many of those discs to begin with, and very little space.
When the film first came out, it received harsh critical notices and its reputation has never recovered, so you are not alone with that opinion. I love melodrama, personality clashes, throbbing emotions, libidos on overdrive and all that, so this film is right up my street! Also it's interesting to see Philip Ober playing a fairly likable character for a change and to see Herbert Rudley, repeating for Henry King after The Bravados, telling F. Scott Fitzgerald that his talent did not lie in writing for movies. I accept that others will not share my enthusiasm for this film, but I enjoy it enormously.
I wasn't dissing THIS EARTH IS MINE, which I like a lot, merely commenting on the faded print which I saw at MOMA in the 70's which was especially shocking as the film that I saw prior to that was I'D CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN which looked so amazing that it may have seemed batter than it actually was.
Two days ago Screen Archives still had 50 in stock.
