Bluebell Alcock
Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Hayden Kane
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Kien Navarro
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Frances Chung
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
jarrodmcdonald-1
MGM producers have taken a routine gangster picture and repackaged it as a melodrama. In this case, they have churned out a more emotional remake of the studio's earlier hit A Free Soul. This time, instead of Clark Gable, suave Fernando Lamas plays a notorious criminal on trial for running an illegal gambling outfit. His lawyer, played by William Powell in the role that earned Lionel Barrymore an Oscar, manages to help him escape prosecution. Soon, Lamas' character is involved with Powell's daughter (Elizabeth Taylor taking over the part originated by Norma Shearer). To be expected, the lawyer disapproves of the relationship between the unsavory client and his daughter. Feeling he must prevent an impending marriage, he decides to turn the gangster over to the feds. It is all fairly entertaining, but one has to ask why MGM did not just re-release the original, since it is much better and this is not a Technicolor upgrade. Perhaps it is because the studio that has everything can do what it wants?
jjnxn-1
This is tripe dressed up in fancy clothes. A loose remake of "A Free Soul" this silly melodrama is a painless time waster and not much else. What was once a racy provocative drama has become an empty potboiler.True it does have Elizabeth Taylor at the peak of her beauty and that's always worth seeing. Additionally she is a much more relaxed and natural actress than Norma Shearer ever was. But she is handed a part that has been diluted from the original which is true of the entire picture. William Powell, a welcome presence as always, isn't given the flashy part that Lionel Barrymore won an Oscar for in the original just a disapproving father without any real bite. No wonder he left MGM after this if this is the best they had to offer.The real problem is the casting of Fernando Lamas in the old Clark Gable role, with Gable and his animal magnetism you could understand Norma's desire and willingness to stray with him. With Lamas, attractive though he may be, there is none of that and he comes across as a cheap hood made good and an oily one at that and Liz's headstrong determination to be with him makes her seem a foolish, spoiled nitwit.For fans of the stars, and of course this being an MGM film they are beautiful dressed and the surrounding sumptuous, it's worth one watch but that will be more than enough.
fox_pol1
First off, I love this movie. My favorite movie of all time is National Velvet (also starring Madame Taylor) and I tend to like all her movies. I think what I really love about the movie though is the fashion in it. One thing I have been trying to find for quite some time now is a picture of her in the white gown when they go out on a Saturday night. That gown, (if I ever find a picture of it) is what my wedding dress will be made to resemble. It is absolutely enchanting. If you know where a picture is, please let me know :) I still try all the time to find one. It is truly a wonderful movie though, and it has those cheesy kisses that would hurt in real life ;)
Sheila_Beers
Obviously, this is one movie people either love or hate -- there is no in-between. I loved the movie because Elizabeth Taylor's character must choose between (1) her attachment to her boyfriend and (2) the moral obligation to do the right thing. In other roles Taylor portrayed young women who defied their fathers in regard to relatively minor issues; in this role, the character defies her father to follow a potentially deadly path.Fernando Lamas (the late father of Lorenzo Lamas) does an excellent portrayal of the charming Latin lover; however, the character has a dark side involved with the criminal element.In the end, the female lead (portrayed by Taylor) must make a choice between (1) the good she sees in her boyfriend and (2) her obligation to justice.