Discussion of "The Reckless Moment"
Details
Max Ophuls, a renowned German director who only made four films in the United States, directed The Reckless Moment (1949). It starred Joan Bennett and James Mason. It was only Mason’s third American film. The film is based on The Blank Wall (1947), a novel written by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. The cinematography was by Burnett Guffey who won Academy Awards for From Here to Eternity (1953) and Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
The plot involves Lucia Harper (Bennett) who is trying to keep Ted Darby (Shepperd Strudwick) a low-life criminal from seeing her teenage daughter Bea (Geraldine Brooks). He tells Lucia that he’s willing to stop seeing Bea for a price. Lucia is confident that when she tells her daughter Darby’s true feelings the relationship will come to an end. This is film noir so no situation gets resolved that easily. Without giving anything away, let’s just say things go horribly wrong, exposing Lucia’s daughter and family to some pretty despicable characters.
To learn more about the film, click on the link to my blog post below.
https://classicmovieman.blogspot.com/2022/07/joan-bennett-and-james-mason-in.html
To watch the movie on YouTube, click on the link below.
Discussion of "The Reckless Moment"