Goodbye Again (1961)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

Françoise Sagan (novel)
Samuel A. Taylor (screenplay)

Release Date:

September 1961 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

This is how love is...and always will be...

Plot:

In this adaptation of Francoise Sagan's best selling novel, Paula is a beautiful, 40-year old, highly successful businesswoman...

Plot Keywords:

Older Woman Younger Man | Jealousy | Promiscuity | Betrayal | May December Romance

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ingrid Bergman	...	Paula Tessier
Yves Montand	...	Roger Demarest
Anthony Perkins	...	Philip Van der Besh
Jessie Royce Landis	...	Mrs. Van der Besh
Pierre Dux	...	Maître Fleury
Jocelyn Lane	...	First Maisie (as Jackie Lane)
Jean Clarke	...	Second Maisie
Michèle Mercier	...	Third Maisie
Uta Taeger	...	Gaby
André Randall	...	M. Steiner
Peter Bull	...	Client
Alison Leggatt	...	Alice
David Horne	...	Queen's Counsel
Lee Patrick	...	Madame Fleury
Colin Mann	...	Assistant Lawyer

Also Known As:

Aimez-vous Brahms? (France)
Time on Her Hands (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Studios de Boulogne-Billancourt/SFP - 2 rue de Silly, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company:

Argus Film

Imagine a Perkins-Free World

Came in on this 30 minutes late yesterday, with no adolescent experience from yesteryear to back reference, I found it amazingly sappy, and inexplicably magnetic. I couldn't believe I would watch the rest, but did! Perhaps it's Paris, perhaps it's Bergman's effortless magnetism. It's not that she's so lovely or desirable--it's that she's so honest.

An actress of this much grace is worthy of something more useful than the milksop of Anthony Perkins as Philip. Sure, he's supposed to be dense, naive and a mama's-boy. And at this point in time Perkins was being worked as a leading man he never became. For good reason. There's no substantive distinction between this role and his role in Psycho. Opaque. His smile/smirk frozen, false and inscrutable. In initial courting he really does come off more oppressive and menacing than lovelorn. The "light switch" scene: I'm not sure if he's going to kiss her or kill her.

Oh, if only they had cast a believable actor. The scenes where he stops going to work have no veracity at all. He is a wooden marionette. Montand does his Montand thing but it's direct and simple anyway. No significant hopeful would have taken the second role of dumpee, but if Philip had been played by a young Redford-type this movie could have been much more.

I've loved that Brahms piece for years so it was amazing to hear it singled out with such fury as a plot element, and the continual thematic variations in the background. A bit heavy- handed but appreciated.

Many of the last few scenes are just delicious. The "viewed-from across the floor" scene during Philips resignation celebration was completely believable, despite it's melodrama. And that hang-dog look that Bergman gets--who could guess she could wear that kabuki mask believably!?

The real gems are all in the last 15 minutes. The ending itself is stunningly modern for the tone of this movie. Honest and direct and unflinching. I had heard of the make-up removal scene before but it was beautiful to watch.