Close to My Heart

Gene Tierney and Ray Milland make a very good couple in this adoption melodrama bringing up all the controversies and problems of adoption, which gives the audience a refreshing portion of afterthought concerning the attitude to small children and their upbringing at large. According to the adoption rules, the adopting parents must not pry into the story of the child's parents, which Ray Milland as a father candidate can't resist doing, as he is a columnist and is used to finding out about people. This risks the entire adoption procedure and puts Gene Tierney at great pains, since she so earnestly wants the child and already has grown to love it. It's a great script, there are several problematic adoption films like this, and they all present labyrinths of problems, hardships and ordeals and make the adopting parents go through great pains to reach anywhere, but usually they all end happy - as they are usually made in Hollywood. The question is what it really looks like in reality. Is it right to search for the truth if it is bound to cause problems and pains? That's a very difficult question, but at least it's never wrong.