A wonderful discovery, courtesy of Douglas Fairbanks Jr., a forgotten miniature classic from his anthology TV series.
Written by Paul David, the story set at a small Parisian art gallery is a fantasy that delivers its nostalgic message through the simple, touching performances of Bobby Howes and Barbara Mullen, portraying ordinary middle-aged people who finally find escape (and each other) by literally (and fantastically) walking into a landscape painting hanging unloved in the gallery where Howes works as an attendant.
The script clearly establishes how times change and old things, in this case the gallery's no longer in vogue paintings, are abandoned. The wish to escape into the past or one's imagination is infectious.
It's interesting that Mullen was featured opposite James Mason a decade earlier in the fine motion picture "A Place of One's Own" that handled a supernatural theme somewhat similar from a decidedly different point of view. And in both roles Mullen played a character much older than the actress's true age.
Written by Paul David, the story set at a small Parisian art gallery is a fantasy that delivers its nostalgic message through the simple, touching performances of Bobby Howes and Barbara Mullen, portraying ordinary middle-aged people who finally find escape (and each other) by literally (and fantastically) walking into a landscape painting hanging unloved in the gallery where Howes works as an attendant.
The script clearly establishes how times change and old things, in this case the gallery's no longer in vogue paintings, are abandoned. The wish to escape into the past or one's imagination is infectious.
It's interesting that Mullen was featured opposite James Mason a decade earlier in the fine motion picture "A Place of One's Own" that handled a supernatural theme somewhat similar from a decidedly different point of view. And in both roles Mullen played a character much older than the actress's true age.