Complete credited cast: | |||
Jack Lemmon | ... | Joe Clay | |
Lee Remick | ... | Kirsten Arnesen Clay | |
Charles Bickford | ... | Ellis Arnesen | |
Jack Klugman | ... | Jim Hungerford | |
Alan Hewitt | ... | Rad Leland | |
Tom Palmer | ... | Ballefoy | |
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Debbie Megowan | ... | Debbie Clay |
Maxine Stuart | ... | Dottie | |
Jack Albertson | ... | Trayner |
Joe Clay is a top-notch public-relations man. Anything a client wants, Joe can arrange, from dancing girls to an article in a prominent magazine. But part of the job is drinking, and Joe's ability to consume alcohol seems boundless. When he meets the very pretty Kirsten Arnesen, she prefers chocolate to alcohol; Joe's solution is Brandy Alexander, which is made up of brandy and crème de cacao. Joe and Kirsten eventually marry, but their love can't prevent the downward spiral brought on by alcohol. They try desperately to break the habit but continually relapse until only one of them manages to break free. Written by garykmcd
I always saw this movie more as a love story than one of a couple trapped in alcoholism. Joe and Kirsten had that chemistry that drew them to each other through good times and bad, and I have never seen another film that depicted enduring love like this one. I can still recall the characters' honest, plaintive statements to each other and how they reminded me of how it feels when you're with someone who truly fulfills you. Joe to Kirsten on their first date: "Short story? Boy meets girl...beautiful girl, nice, the only kind of girl a guy should bother about...."
Kirsten to Joe, desperately trying to hold on to what they have after her infidelities: "I never gave anything out of myself to them....love is the only thing that stops you from being lonely, and I didn't have that..."
Joe to the AA counselor, who warns him about what alcohol can do to a marital relationship: "You don't understand, there's no trouble between us....we're in love..."
Joe, in the depths of alcoholism, tremors, shaking..."I have to find my wife....I love her...I love her..."
This movie is sad and somewhat draining to watch, but also does provide useful insight into the insidious disease of alcohol addiction, along with being a very moving, romantic drama of two people haunted by troubled childhoods, struggling to keep the sincere commitment they have to each other alive.