Aside from the occasionally ridiculous dialogue, the claustrophobic sets, and Mitchum's stone face, this is a very pretty B/W experience. The Dance sequence is especially nice. Unfortunately, the male/female dynamic is horribly dated. This was intended to be the meeting of 50s conservatism with 60s licentiousness. And although that dynamic still exists in our society, the attitudes that drove these characters are long gone.
The bare story is about two people who need to have other people depend on them. The power in the relationship shifts back and forth between the two characters, never actually being equal. This is an interesting idea, and there are some interesting passages. The script is peppered with some nice exchanges and some really weird "huh?" moments. However, as is most important for a closed-room movie of this type, the two leads don't really have much chemistry. You never get the sense that they believe the words they're speaking.
The bare story is about two people who need to have other people depend on them. The power in the relationship shifts back and forth between the two characters, never actually being equal. This is an interesting idea, and there are some interesting passages. The script is peppered with some nice exchanges and some really weird "huh?" moments. However, as is most important for a closed-room movie of this type, the two leads don't really have much chemistry. You never get the sense that they believe the words they're speaking.