Never Let Me Go (1953)

Perfect cast and a good story

Great Film overall

The first must-see film of the year.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Usually it doesn't even occur to me when I am watching a movie, but for some reason it really did occur to me that Gene Tierney and (especially) Clark Gable were tooooooooo old for their parts in this movie. Note especially Clark Gable in the bathing suit! That's not to say, however, that the acting isn't good in this film. Gable was darned good here. And, while it may have been a little difficult to see Tierney as a ballerina, it wasn't at all difficult to see her as a Russian. I particularly enjoyed watching Richard Haydn as Gable's friend. Haydn was often relegated to rather silly supporting comedy roles (such as in "Sitting Pretty" or "Money From Home", although you may remember him best as the agent in "The Sound Of Music"). Here he's straight dramatic, and quite good.The drinking scene is quite entertaining (though clichéd), if for no other reason than enjoying watching Gable pretend he can't hold his liquor.The plot is very cold war-ish. Gable -- a reporter -- falls in love with a Russian ballerina shortly after the end of WWII. Gable is forced out of Russia after marrying her, but is determined to rescue her by hook or by crook...or in this case by boat. The most illogical part of the film is him swimming to shore in only his shorts and t-shirt, expecting -- with no clothes -- to get into the auditorium where she is performing, and to somehow sneak her out. Which he does!!! Ah, Hollywood. There are some good moments here, and while it is not Gable at his best overall, he has some very good moments where he seems to have matured as an actor.Very worth watching, though not necessarily one you'll want for your DVD shelf.

For Never Let Me Go Clark Gable has dusted off his American correspondent role from Comrade X. In that very funny comedy, Gable was playing an American newspaperman covering the Soviet Union before World War II. He's back at his correspondent's desk in this film. However here he's deadly in earnest as a man driven by love to get his Russian bride out of the police state.Sadly the film was dated from its release with the prominent use of newsreel footage involving Joseph Stalin. The film was released on May 1, 1953 and Stalin had died in March of 1953. The state was the same, but the personalized red bogeyman that Stalin had become was no longer there. I'm sure that must have lessened the impact for those who saw Never Let Me Go in the theater.During the war Gable meets ballerina Gene Tierney and in the spirit of the wartime alliance they fall in love and get married. But when the shooting war against Hitler stops and the Cold War starts, no one tells them NYET concerning romance. The increasingly cynical tone of Gable's stories make him an undesirable in the Soviet Union, he gets deported and Tierney is left behind. The Soviets don't recognize marriage and romance with the enemy.Clark's not going to take that lying down. With Richard Haydn, another man who married a Russian girl left behind, they hire Bernard Miles who has a seaworthy craft and plan a rescue. It's quite a plan and a last minute hitch should have told any sensible person to try another day. Of course that's not what happens, but it does render the last minute rescue somewhat silly.Tierney and Gable make a sincere of pair of romantic lovers. Even without the personalization of Stalin, the film is an accurate reflection of the times. Russians are a mighty suspicious lot of people, before, during, and after the Soviet Union. Kenneth More has a very nice role as a television broadcaster presumably for the BBC who helps the leads with some coded messages in his broadcasts.Gable was getting a bit old for these kind of romantic daring do roles by 1953 though. It's not one of the top films of his career or in that last decade of that fabled Gable career.

I almost wrote off watching this film because I saw a one star review for it and it involves the ballet, both turn off's for me. However many other reviewers gave it reasonable reviews and it had Clark Gable in post WW2 USSR (notice I did not write Russia, there is a difference). I'm happy I did watch it, although I would have enjoyed it more had I watched it with my wife (we are separated due to work issues), I know she would have liked or loved it. In response to another comment here, some of my favorite Gable movies are from the 50's. He did "Run Silent Run Deep", "Betrayed", and a personal favorite of mine "Soldier Of Fortune". He was a product of the Hollywood machine and couldn't be expected to go too far out of character, that's what people were paying for. Harrison Ford seems to me to be a modern day equivalent, all his acting roles seem similar to each other. To equate Gable to Wayne's film's is OK, Wayne probably actually had more diverse roles if you think about it. I guess neither played a gay role but that was before the time these film's were made. Anyway see this film, it's pretty good, and I like the black and white photography over color, it adds to the third world USSR element. I give it a respectable 8 of 10, more entertaining for me than many other Gable film's I remember. See it with your wife or partner to enjoy it even more as it is really a date movie; elements to please each gender.

An odd film but one that is surprisingly watchable and provides an interesting insight into the early stages of the Cold War. The film conveys the menace of the era and the grim, cold and hate filled place that the Soviet Union always was. Indeed from what we now know, one may even regard the film as being soft on the Communists, as the two Russian women in the film who take western husbands would quite likely have been taken off to labour camps (and 90% likely to have been killed therefore) by Stalin's secret police rather than just denied the chance to leave the country.Some of the acting leaves a little to be desired and Clark Gable particularly seems like he is being forced into a part and a budget that was several sizes too small for him, but nevertheless a worthy and reasonably intelligent effort.The Anglo-American angle in the film is one I always enjoy, it is always good to see the Brits and the Americans getting together!