Some Call It Loving (1973)

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Truly an awful movie in every sense of the word. The story had no meaning beyond some high school type vapid comments. And the best one word description would be pretentious. In fact they even quoted Hamlet's Polonius but, in the incorrect context. But I can forgive all of that. I have a fondness for weird, experimental films. But, the one thing I can't forgive is boredom. The characters move at the speed of a glacier. They walk to one room then back for no reason. "Just get bloody on with it" I hollered at the screen. Boring boring boring. And don't figure you can throw in one line from my beloved Hamlet and figure that makes you 'artistic'!Skip this slow placed clunker and go watch eraserhead .

Wealthy, but jaded and disillusioned jazz musician Robert Troy (a solid and subdued performance by Zalman King) purchases pure and guileless sleeping beauty Jennifer (sweetly played with charming wide-eyed naiveté by Tisa Farrow) from a carnival sideshow. However, Robert's attempts to shape Jennifer into the ideal girl of his dreams don't work out quite as planned.Writer/director James B. Harris relates the unusual and absorbing story at a deliberate pace, offers a compelling and provocative cinematic meditation on the fine line between fantasy and reality as well as the impossibility of preserving innocence for perpetuity, comes up with several inspired moments of beguiling whimsy (for example, a dance set piece involving two women dressed up in nun's habits), and does an expert job of crafting a strangely haunting dreamlike atmosphere. The fine acting from the able cast keeps this picture on track: Carol White excels as Troy's sly and scheming distaff companion Scarlett, Richard Pryor contributes a touching turn as Troy's drug-addled struggling artist best friend Jeff, Logan Ramsey has a colorful bit as a seedy carnival doctor, and Brandy Herrod burns up the screen as a foxy nude cheerleader. Mario Tosi's sumptuous cinematography and Richard Hazard's gracefully elegiac score further enhance this movie's singular melancholy mood. Recommended viewing for aficionados of original and esoteric way out of the mainstream fare.

This is a magical film with intriguing iconography, engaging narrative, and solid performances. Carol White is splendid. Tisa Farrow also performs well. James Harris directs with great control and vision.Some commentators find the film bizarre; however, I do not find it weird. Instead, the film is mysterious with the haunting Nate King Cole song framing the narrative. I found myself opening to new ways of thinking about what being a human being is.The dialogue is formal, however. It sounds like a bad translation from Swedish and thus sounds pretentious, but it not pretentious, just a tad wooden. And that makes the film, in a way, seem more formal than realistic.

For those who would trash this film as so much convoluted garbage--Freudian or otherwise--I have only these words: The Very Thought of You. The scene in which this song is included is the only thing which makes this film worth watching. Of course, the inclusion of the song, good as it is, cannot save this film from the trash heap. The concept is imaginative enough. The story concerns what appears prima facie to be a familiar theme, but which incorporates the kind of surrealistic realism that was characteristic of John Collier. His characters are dreamers with noble ideals and high expectations. Only to find that the real thing, once encountered, is nowhere near what they had imagined. Another story by Collier in this same mold, by the bye, is "The Chaser," which did become a Twilight Zone episode.The well-read viewer will probably be able to overlook the bizarre elements which clutter this film for just a moment and appreciate its sublime theme. In the end, however, the bizarre elements drown out any attempt at profundity. The viewer, like the characters in the film, is left feeling vaguely disillusioned, if not outright cheated.The song deserves mention immediately because I believe that the sentimental romanticism of The Very Thought of You expresses very well the intention of the film's director. As envisioned by him, the song lingers in memory. Unfortunately, the director's intention is out of step with the writer Collier's original intention and it shows. The whole production is out of sync with its purpose. This is not a good film. I'd give it one and a half stars, and that's for the song.