RodrigAndrisan

Ingrid Bergman at 55, is still a very beautiful and desirable woman. As Anthony Quinn, one of the giants of world cinema and one of my favorite actors, also thinks. I liked Anthony Quinn in all his films, even the less good ones. I especially liked him in LA STRADA, ZORBA THE GREEK, THE 25TH HOUR, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. I didn't like Ingrid Bergman in INDISCREET (read my review), but she is extraordinary in films like NOTORIOUS and ARCH OF TRIUMPH. Here, in A WALK IN THE SPRING RAIN, she does a decent, not great, role as a woman who is a grandmother and falls in love with a married man, not at all handsome, who is Anthony Quinn. The story is banal, the film is rather static, except for the scene when Anthony Quinn, with just one punch, kills his own son. Fritz Weaver is dull and, I am convinced, that is how it was supposed to be. Virginia Gregg stands out as the neglected wife of Anthony Quinn. I am convinced that with other actors in the roles played by Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, the film would have had no charm. Only their unique personalities give value to this film and make it worth watching. Ten stars only because I love Bergman and Quinn in other films. Miscast or not, I think that both Quinn and Bergman tried to be as natural, believable and convincing as possible. Who did it better? Obviously Bergman, but Quinn is also believable, despite the character's pure American name from Tennessee, the actor being a mixture of Mexican and something else mysterious.

Cary Grant is not one of my favorite actors, just like Robert De Niro and many others, he plays himself in all his movies. That doesn't mean that the movies are bad. For example, this NOTORIOUS, is a very good movie. And it's the movie in which I like Cary Grant the most, because of the role he plays. But there are also some questionable aspects. Staying with Cary Grant, it is not at all clear how he, an American agent, ended up among Alicia Huberman's (Ingrid Bergman) guests in her house at the beginning of the film. It would have been natural for Devlin, Cary Grant's character, and Alicia to meet anywhere else, so by chance. Then, Alicia falls in love with Devlin much too quickly. Maybe some women are like her? Anyway, Ingrid Bergman, at 31, looks 21, and is so beautiful that there are no words to describe her. As for her acting talent, she is absolutely overwhelming, a being from a completely different world, unique, gorgeous, super charming, super delicious, you can't help but fall in love with her, she simply shines like a human sun. Despite the above and the fact that 99% of the scenes take place indoors, which makes it a bit static, the film is captivating. If Ingrid Bergman hadn't been in it, it would have been super boring. The other actors are all exceptional, especially Madame Konstantin (Leopoldine Konstantin), who does a great job as Alexander Sebastian's (Claude Rains) mother. There would be a problem here too, it is striking that Madame Konstantin, only 3 years older than Claude Rains, and Claude Rains looking very old, both of them do not give the impression of mother and son at all. Either Hitchcock should have chosen a much younger actor, or another very, very old actress. Hitchcock probably really liked Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains in CASABLANCA, and wanted to have them both together in his film. Another extraordinary presence is the actor Ivan Triesault. The coolest scene in the movie: when Ingrid Bergman kisses Cary Grant while he's on the phone. The less cool scene: when Alicia/Ingrid gets married too quickly and totally against her feelings to Sebastian/Rains, and the fact that she asks permission from the American secret agents, and, at their suggestion, accepts the marriage, seems childish if not downright stupid to me. Ten stars just for Ingrid Bergman's work and unique charm!

Two beautiful ugly ones, or two ugly beautiful ones, a perfect couple on the screen. Neither Belmondo nor Jeanne Moreau were beauties, they had an immense personal charm that made them likeable. Plus a great talent in expressing with terrible ease what thousands of other actors struggle in vain to express. Both, Moreau and Belmondo, did not even need words, they could convey enormously just by their presence, just by a look. Two geniuses of cinematography who delighted my childhood in particular and my adult life, I saw almost all their films, only this "Moderato Cantabile" was missing because, made in 1960, I was too young, I was less than 2 years old at the time and I don't even know if it was in the cinemas in Bucharest. I found it on YouTube now in March 2025 and watched it with great interest, although I was very tired, with many hours of sleep minus. A very delicate film that is worth seeing. However, knowing the extremely low intellectual level of today, it will only be of interest to those who know who Moreau and Belmondo were.