Lonelyhearts (1958)

“I enjoy seeing youth betray their promises. It lights up all the numbers on my pinball machine.” – William Shrike

Number of Times Seen – 1 (27 May 2019)

Brief Synopsis – An aspiring reporter is given the job of writing an ‘advice column’ for a local newspaper and must fight with his conscience on how to properly responds to the many letters he receives.

My Take on it – This is an interesting idea that is able to show how the world of the 1950’s perceived the ideas of love and relationships.

They do a great job looking at the complicated ways that people lived their lives during these times.

They needed to also deal with the added hurdle that was posed by the censors of the day who wouldn’t allow them to be explicit about the various kinds of issues dealt with here.

They needed to use lots of code words and euphemisms in order to try and get across some of the issues discussed here.

The cast of this film is great and Lawrence Harvey once again shows how talented an actor he was.

The dialogue in this film is lots of fun to listen to, but Robert Ryan’s diatribe about how reporting is similar to the Ten Commandments is spectacular to listen to.

Maureen Stapleton was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in this film as a lonely housewife trying to deal with a dead end marriage by writing to an advice column.

Bottom Line – Very interesting idea that shows how things were perceived in the 50’s with regard to love and relationships. This film does a great job looking at the complicated ways that people lived their lives and the added hurdle of presenting issues that the censors wouldn’t allow for at the time says a lot for things here. The cast is great and Harvey once again shines in the lead. The movie has some great conversations throughout but the best one is Ryan’s diatribe comparing reporting the news and the Ten Commandments. Stapleton was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in this film as a lonely housewife seeking help from an advice column. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Ironically, one of Montgomery Clift’s first lines in the film was about how he’s allergic to alcohol. The reality was the exact opposite. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)