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Lonelyhearts (1958)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
6/24
6/24:
When the former MGM head honcho Dore Schary's name appeared as the adapted screenwriter of Lonelyhearts, I raised my
eye brow quizzically.
At first, I was put off by the pompous, meandering dialogue, but as the show went on, it started to get better. Similarly, I thought
the same of Montgomery Clift, but he did turn in the best performance of his career since
From Here to Eternity. The same goes for Robert Ryan when it comes to all time while
I can see why Maureen Stapleton received an Oscar nomination. I'm surprised to see Myrna Loy looking so unglamorously old.
The downbeat theme is along the lines of Tennessee Williams' and Carson McCullers' works. It's about people who have
been soundly defeated by life. As an idealistic, Montgomery Clift is the perfect choice for taking it all in while the ever-cynic
Robert Ryan just can't resist putting down anyone as often as possible. Everybody in the newspaper room laughs off the
desperate pleas for help. If these letters are for real, then some of the people who wrote them are serious need of professional
help, not advice from some Lonelyhearts columnist who has no business of being involved in such matters.
If anything, the biggest mistake is not giving the film a sad ending just like how it happened in
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Dore Schary would later regret this move.
Ironically, there were several turned-down chances for Montgomery Clift's character to drink when in real life he was a chronic
alcoholic which started to escalate more after his automobile accident two years before that completely altered his face as
painfully shown on screen.
All in all, if you don't mind sad movies, Lonelyhearts is a fine choice.