Something to Live For

This 1952 film stars Joan Fontaine as Jenny Carey, a no-longer-fresh young actress sabotaging her career through drink, and Ray Milland as Alan Miller, an advertising copywriter and recovering alcoholic who reaches out to her when he answers a call from Alcoholics Anonymous to help out a problem drinker. The attraction between them is palpable, and it looks like the beginning of a possible romance, until Alan returns home to his wife and children. A mature, adult film, Something to Live For admirably ambitious; as a drama, however, it is also unsatisfying and awkward, a rare misfire from director George Stevens, who helmed this modest, intimate work right after his masterpiece, A Place in the Sun. The performances are superb (including Teresa Wright as Edna, the spouse who senses something between her husband and Jenny), and many of the scenes bristle with tension, anxiety, and guilt; but the screenplay feels incomplete, the shots are often awkward and off balance, and the use of lap dissolves to suggest the two lovers thinking of one another while apart blurs the passage of time—until it's hard to fathom just what exactly is happening. Although lacking a strong story to help illuminate the characters' journey through hard decisions, the film merits points for dealing with large themes, making it a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)