About Mrs. Leslie
Directed by Daniel Mann
Written by Ketti Frings and Hal Kanter from a novel by Viña Delmar
1954/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing/Amazon Prime
[box] The perfect love affair is one which is conducted entirely by post. — George Bernard Shaw [/box]
In which we find out just how many different melodramas can be stuffed into one movie …
Mrs. Vivien Leslie (Shirley Booth) runs a boarding house. Her lodgers include: parents with a daughter dying in the hospital; a young alcoholic who is wrestling with family drama including a sister who married a much-older millionaire; and an aspiring actress who is one rejection away from financial ruin. Mrs. Leslie also has to entertain the spoiled teenage daughter of a friend for the night.
Amid all this angst, Mrs. Leslie reflects back on her long-past relationship with the love of her life, George Leslie (Robert Ryan). She meets him in the 30’s while she is singing in a saloon. He swiftly decides he likes her and asks her to take a break from her job and accompany him on a six-week vacation in California. She agrees, losing her job in the process. One of the main things George likes about Viv is that she asks very few questions, even when the servants all address her as Mrs. Leslie. The vacation is a bliss-filled series of fishing trips and other outdoor activities. They agree to meet next year.
Vivien lives for these vacations. This goes on for several years past the inevitable day when she finds out who Mr. Leslie is for the rest of the year. Vivien’s story flashback is interspersed with the resolution of the tenants’ various dramas. With Henry Morgan as an agent and Ellen Corby as the teenager’s clueless mother.
I like both Shirley Booth and Robert Ryan and liked them in this film, though Ryan was perhaps more bland than I like to see him. Other than that, the story was too manipulative and predictable for my taste.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izXoWSaj24Y
Clip – first meeting
