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Another Time, Another Place
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| Year: |
1958
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Director: |
Lewis Allen
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| Stars: |
Lana Turner, Barry Sullivan, Glynis Johns, Sean Connery, Terence Longdon, Sid James, Martin Stephens, Doris Hare, Julian Somers, John Le Mesurier, Cameron Hall, Jane Welsh, Robin Bailey, Bill Fraser
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| Genre: |
Drama, Romance |
| Rating: |
  4 (from 1 vote) |
| Review: |
The year is 1945 and the place is London, still under attack from the forces of Nazism as rockets are fired at it from Germany, although not all of them explode. One such as this, which a bomb disposal expert is attending to as the BBC radio reporter Mark Trevor (Sean Connery) relates to the listening millions what is going on. Then a car pulls up and an American reporter gets out: she is Sara Scott (Lana Turner), and is planning to cover the event as well, although Mark warns her away. The rain begins to fall, and they retire to discuss the matter in the car, but when they are alone they fall into each others arms - they're having an affair...
By the fifties star Lana Turner was well into her phase of glossy soap opera movies, and Another Time, Another Place was no exception, except it had the novelty of being a British production for Americans, so she was surrounded by UK talent as she suffered her way through yet another troubled romance. And not only on the screen, either, as she was involved with the torrid affair with gangster Johnny Stompanato who would, around the time the film was rushed into release, be dead at the hands of Lana's teenage daughter and the resulting criminal case made sensational headlines around the world.
If it's possible for a star to cash in on something like this, then Lana went for it as her next films would be suspiciously looking as if they were echoing her real life turmoil, complete with daughter troubles and the odd murder hindering her characters' paths. Not so in this one, however, as the plot took the form of a tragic love affair that Sara has difficulty getting over, as for a start she discovers that Mark has been keeping a secret from her. Well, she shouldn't have blabbed that she was already engaged to her editor, Carter Reynolds (Barry Sullivan), back in the United States, but Mark admits to her that he has a wife already - and a young son as well. Sara doesn't take this well, but finds she is too much in love to let him go.
Naturally, to see Sir Sean in this kind of gooey romance is amusing for the wrong reasons, and his seemingly endless smooching scenes with Lana only add to the foolishness. If she's not chainsmoking, she's kissing and cuddling with her co-star, which is meant to underline how much passion she feels for her fellow reporter, but actually grows laughable by its relentless repetition. Connery did receive an "introducing" credit for his pains, but it's no surprise that this is far from the film he will be remembered for, as not only is it hard to take in the manner it was intended, he doesn't really last too long in it. Yes, no sooner have they kissed (again) and made up, but Mark heads off to Italy to cover the German losses and is killed in a plane crash.
Still, at least we had the novelty of seeing Sean share a scene with another cinema icon, Sid James, before he left the film. But Mark has not left Sara's affections, and she decides to recover from her loss by visiting her deceased lover's home village, hoots mon, you can almost smell the heather as she takes a trip to the bonnie braes of, erm, Cornwall (hey, who knew with that accent?). Once there, she tracks down Mark's wife and son and after an attack of the vapours when Mrs Trevor (Glynis Johns performing above and beyond the call of duty) meets her outside the cottage she is welcomed in and stays with her for the next few days. If this were being made today, it would be the cue for a terrifying psychological thriller, but here it's up to the audience alone to ponder how morbid Sara is as she keeps reminding her new friend of the man they both have lost, except the missus doesn't know what stake she had in this. Camp movie lovers have embraced the oeuvre of Turner in the years since, and with efforts like these it's no wonder. Music by Douglas Gamley.
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| Reviewer: |
Graeme Clark
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