Develiker terrible... so disappointed.

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Richard Chatten What a disappointment! Suzanne Pleshette playing a nymphomaniac sounds like fun, but to judge from the end result John O'Hara's 1949 novel has been so bowdlerised its hard to understand why they bothered to film it in the first place, other than the fact that 'Butterfield 8' had just been such a hit; but it's even less explicit than that. The word "slut" is liberally sprinkled throughout the film, but although we're told that there are plenty of others we actually see very little sign that there have really been that many lovers - and even less love; and it seems to be the men who always hit on her first. She actually seems to be suffering from the much more common female problem of not being able to say 'No' to jerks rather than clinical nymphomania. If only nasty Ben Gazzara had left her alone, and if Peter Graves' wife hadn't been such a belligerent lush, life would have continued to be peachy for the lovely Ms Pleshette and she would have lived happily ever after with hubby Bradford Dillman, her lovely child and her Oscar nominated wardrobe.As is often the case with material like this the most interesting characters are the women, and there are entertaining cameos by Brett Somers and Bethel Leslie as two vengeful harpies; the former as the disapproving mother of Pleshette's first real squeeze, Mark Goddard (best remembered as Don West in 'Lost in Space'), and the latter as Graves' jealous wife whose drama queen antics end up bringing the whole edifice crashing down.

blanche-2 Suzanne Pleshette has "A Rage to Live" in this 1965 potboiler also starring Bradford Dillman, Ben Gazzara, Linden Chiles, Carmen Matthews, Bethel Leslie and Peter Graves. The film is an adaptation of a John O'Hara novel, and I understand from people who have read the book that it's not a very good one.Pleshette plays Grace Caldwell, a young woman who feels validated and loved only when she's having sex. After an incident with a boy in her home town, Grace's mother (Matthews) suffers a heart attack. The two take a vacation, where Grace takes up with a waiter. While she's with him one night, her mother has a fatal heart attack and dies. Eventually Grace meets Sidney Caldwell (Dillman). They fall in love, and Grace confesses her misdeeds to him; he wants to marry her. They have a son, and for three years, all is well. Then construction worker Roger Bannon arrives to work on the Caldwell property and admits to Grace that he's always wanted her. The two have an affair, which Grace ends, only to have Roger beat up a hooker and call her Grace and talk about what a slut she is before he's killed in a car accident. Sidney finds out and wants to end the marriage; she talks him into giving her one more chance. Then she's publicly accused of having an affair with an old friend (Graves) by his wife (Leslie), which isn't true.The end of this film is not very satisfying. We are led to believe that Grace is finished. She probably is - after that public humiliation, it's doubtful Sidney will want to continue the marriage. However, certainly he is assured by the Graves character that nothing went on between him and Grace. So in the end, Grace is doomed because of something she didn't do.Suzanne Pleshette hit Hollywood about ten years too late - she would have had a chance to become a major star before the studios dissolved. She was beautiful with a gorgeous figure, a sexy voice and one other attribute - she was a wonderful, honest actress. Her big career would be in television, and it was a good one, but nothing like she could have had. Here she rises above some overblown material to give a strong, sympathetic performance. The rest of the cast is good. Bethel Leslie as the alcoholic Amy Hollister has some good scenes as Peter Graves' insecure and unreasonable wife. Ben Gazzara does a fine job with an off-the-wall, obsessive character.In the book, Sidney dies before he can divorce Grace, and Grace moves away. I suppose having her cry in the middle of the road was more effective. "A Rage to Live" is good to see for Pleshette and for the way an explicit subject matter was handled in the '50s. With a lesser actress in the lead, it might have seemed very campy.

crittahg I thought that "A Rage To Live" was a fine -yet tragic- portrayal of a nymphomaniac (Suzanne Pleshette) struggling to find personal identity outside of the bedroom, auto backseat, etc. Also, the meaning & outer realms of "love" and how it factors into a one-sided, non-monogamous marriage. Ben Gazzara's character is very dark; a hard-working Irishman who desires material wealth as well as the flesh. There are several story lines that branch from Pleshette's infidelities, one of which brings a psychologically tragic aspect to the film. A feminist approach to this film might suggest that all of the other women in the film were overly (yet appropriately for the times) supportive of their husbands alone, living or deceased. Pleshette's character felt the need to find her true self with the help of emotional love, given to her for the first time by her husband. She constantly admits to having a "problem that she is embarrassed about", however she seeks no real counsel or help. Pleshette almost appears too aware of her faults yet acts baffled when she is caught. Her character is too assuming of others' forgiveness, using the age-old "I said I was sorry" routine almost every time. The "encounters" are subtle and portrayed very tactfully as well, I suppose because it was still the 1960's; I would hate for this film to be remade because I'm sure that some of the scenes would have overblown sexual situations.

Scotwon Grace Caldwell differs from the usual "bad girl" in that she's not trading sex for money, social advancement, etc. Nor is she detached from a "normal" life of home and family. Rather she is an intelligent wife & mother who has a fling on the side just because she's horny, in the manner expected of men. A good film with strong performances by Suzanne Pleshette as Grace & Ben Gazarra as her lover.