Two Loves

Sylvia Constance Ashton-Warner (who died in 1984, 23 years after this movie was made) in large part actually lived this story herself: she taught in mostly-Maori schools where inspectors and rules were somewhat lax and thus she had latitude to innovate.

Both in NZ and North America and elsewhere she came to be regarded as brilliant. To quote from an American review of the book: "Sylvia Aston-Warner was a brilliant teacher and her innovative approach to teaching Maori children is as valid today as it was when it was first demonstrated in 1965. I used this system of teaching early reading. Not only in my Kindergarten and First Grade classrooms but also with my children and grandchildren. It is particularly useful for children who do not immediately respond to other methods of teaching reading such as totally phonetic or whole language approaches. It can easily be included as a quick and easy supplement to any reading program. This is a particularly valid approach to underprivileged and resource-deprived classrooms."

The movie's resemblance to the real NZ and its people and their looks and accents is almost non-existent, as other reviews have rightly decried. One big tell is the lurid colors: NZ is closer to the sun especially in summer than the northern hemisphere ever is, and the intense sunlight is somewhat white and bleaching, so lurid is a rarity.

A pity the film had to be made on a Hollywood backlot and the NZ look and main theme of the book was somewhat trampled on; Sylvia Constance Ashton-Warner deserved better. Nine stars to maybe encourage a teacher or two to make a beeline for her much superior books.

American schoolteacher on the North Island of New Zealand--unmarried and, indeed, untouched by any man--smokes and takes a nip of brandy once in awhile but cannot escape her Puritan attitudes towards sexual relations. Two men take a fancy to her: a reckless stud with suicidal tendencies and an older school district inspector estranged from his wife and children. Mercurial adaptation of Sylvia Ashton-Warner's novel "Spinster" features some very odd color schemes (from the emerald green landscapes to Shirley MacLaine's house of many colors), not to mention a peculiarly artificial schoolhouse filled with very emotional children. The melodrama on hand eventually proves too much for MacLaine, who dithers about eccentrically but is still unable to come up with an interesting characterization (this mainly the fault of screenwriter Ben Maddow, who treats virginity as an incurable disorder, physical as well as psychological). However, the material is just odd or offbeat enough to keep one watching, and the men (Laurence Harvey and Jack Hawkins) are both very good. ** from ****

Okay...I'll admit it right up front. I did not finish "Two Loves". While I have a very high tolerance for bad films, the dialog and characters in this one were so bad I simply couldn't take it after a while. And, overall, I can't think of much I liked about "Two Loves".

The story is set in New Zealand and that could have been very interesting, as I've been there a few times and love the country and cultures. But here's a serious problem...the film obviously was NOT filmed in the country. Sure, you see a lot of neat Maori style carvings and decorations, but the extras area bout as Maori as Mantan Moreland or Keye Luke! Most appear Filipino and some are black Americans....and just don't look a bit like the Maori people. And, in many ways, these 'Maori' are portrayed almost as children...and the good teacher, a white savior of sorts. Now I am NOT the most politically correct person...but this even bothered me. And, don't even get me started about the horrid dialog and the character way overplayed by Laurence Harvey...uggh!!

The bottom line is that you'll learn nothing productive about the Maori and the romance is just stilted, weird and, well, horribly written. The film is probably Laurence Harvey's worst...and it's not exactly one of Shirley MacLaine's best, either. It's a tedious film...and woefully inadequate in showing the Maori as anything other than cartoon characters.

It is interesting to note that this movie, purportedly set in New Zealand, has no one speaking with a New Zealand accent. It is also interesting that the "natives" ( Maori) are all Mexican or Japanese. This film is condescending, inane drivel. What were the likes of Jack Hawkins, Laurence Harvey and Shirley McLain thinking?

Anna Vorontosov (Shirley MacLaine) is an American teacher in a rural New Zealand community with mostly Maoris students. The new senior inspector William Abercrombie (Jack Hawkins) threatens her work. She has a relationship with self-destructive fellow teacher Paul Lathrope (Laurence Harvey).

This is supposedly Maoris culture. I wonder if this could have been a small New Zealand indie. I imagine getting into some real culture and some epic New Zealand landscape. The studio insisted on a star and got MacLaine. I don't like her character. I don't see her teaching technique as that great. I want to like the kids but I don't really know them. Shirley MacLaine has done better. She does some overwrought acting in an overly overwrought scene. It's bad writing. I certainly don't see any chemistry between her and Laurence Harvey who is playing a horrible drunk. It's dreary. The story meanders around without much tension.