Desire Me (1947)

Excellent but underrated film

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

As nobody desires this post war melodrama, especially the four uncredited directors, it landed with a loud thud near the top of MGM's most notorious disasters. By 1947, Greer Garson was the top leading lady at MGM of dramatic parts, more popular than glamour girl Lana Turner, much more well liked than the eccentric Katharine Hepburn, and the only actress in Hollywood outside of Bette Davis to seemingly be nominated for an Oscar almost every year. For the former Mrs. Miniver and Madame Curie, all it seems that she needed to do was get a script, memorize her part, and gold would strike. Unfortunately, she had flopped with "Adventure", and this, her first film after that, signaled that pairing her with anybody other than Walter Pidgeon, was probably not a good idea. Garson for this film got two leading men, Quickly rising up the ranks after years of minor parts and sudden success, brooding Robert Mitchum was cast as one of her two leading men here, and the forgotten Richard Hart was cast in the other major male role. What ends up happening here is a screenplay so messed up that upon the initial screening, I'm surprised that Louis B. himself didn't order the film shelved, simply to save face for the obvious fiasco that it is. Too moody and weird, this film has a structure that can only be described as an art house film that just didn't work. It's a post war story about the turmoil that supposed widow Garson goes through when her husband's pal (Hart) shows up to help Garson deal with her grief. Brief flashbacks to Garson marrying Mitchum follow to add confusing twists in the mix. The set direction and photography take over as the stars, but all that remains is an attractive 90 minute bore that seems to take itself too seriously as a piece of art.While there are a ton of extras in overstuffed crowd scene's, there's only the three actors credited in the opening that ends with producer credit rather than director credit. Several writers are also listed, as is the original novelist, so if the issue is the credited scriptwriter than the director, why did they not settle on at least one. The harsh roaring waves seem to be a metaphor for the crashdown of the film. Worse is the fact that you never really get to care about the lead males, and Garson overplays the nobility, making her saintlike, especially in the over the top musical moments in church where the choir is going way overboard to sound heavenly.

"Desire Me" is a mess of a film. No director wanted to take credit for it. And the stars have absolutely no chemistry.But this is supposed to be a love story about undeniable passions between a widow who steadfastly grieves her husband and a man who claims to have known him when he was alive. Unfortunately, the script makes him feel more like a bully than a lover. Greer Garson plays the object of his attentions. She is no prize herself. Her motivations are muddy, her outlook morose, and she seems to (willingly) be a victim of the gossipmongers of the town--including the local cleric--who presume to judge her. Watching "Desire Me" is drudgery. None of the characters are very likable. And the payoff for watching the film is a final sequence that lacks the intended suspense, then concludes with an emotionally inappropriate ending, leaving the viewer with a feeling of betrayal.None of the major players or the directors felt pride after making this film. And it shows.

Thomas Muther's earlier review here hits the issues with this film right on the head. So I won't recount all of the things he brings up, but just add a bit.I think the issue that bothered me most about the film is that in the early scenes it is just "creepy". Even the title rubbed me the wrong way! "Desire Me"...it gets the film off to such a bad start. And then this man from the POW camp shows up and tries to take the place of Garson's supposedly dead husband. Goosebumps...and not the kind you want to have. Of course you have a pretty good idea where this is going -- that Garson's husband (played by Robert Mitchum) isn't dead at all. Fortunately, as the film progresses it gets less creepy, and more the story of a man who is desperate. The supposedly dead husband doesn't show up until the final third of the film, so if you're a Mitchum fan, you may feel disappointed. A problem with the film is the setting -- France; it probably would have worked better had the setting been England, which would have worked just as well and made more sense. The climax, where the two men are stalking each other in the fog is almost Hitchcockian, and very well done.The performances here are quite good. Garson seems more Garson as the film progresses, and that helps, and her acting while telling Mitchum what's happened is as good as it gets in acting. Richard Hart -- the intruder -- is an actor you're not likely to know. He died of a heart attack at age 35, so his film career is short...but he is fairly good here after the creepy phase of the story. I liked Robert Mitchum's performance here -- short though it is -- because he doesn't seem so much like Robert Mitchum...in other words, he acted the part. The only supporting actor that has a very significant role here is George Zucco as the local priest. Even though you may not know the name, he will be a familiar and prolific British character actor, and he plays his role well.So this is a film you have to stick with for a while, but if you do you will be rewarded. This scene -- Garson's second flop in a row -- was a decline from which her career never quite recovered. But I still think of her as one of Hollywood's finest actresses.

Its structure is intense. The way it's edited kept me always on the tip of my toes. I was biting my nails through half of it, and feeling a nervous guilt in the pit of my stomach through the other half. This movie has it all, from one of the best escape scenes ever, to a whole spectrum of emotional truths. I found myself switching my opinions many times about the characters and what actions they should take. All the way through the ending, I was proud for the people who lent their efforts to make this movie. The acting and cinematography are unbeatable. I repeat, unbeatable! It might not be air-tight in plot details, but it gets a certain sense of cinematic perfection across that can also be found in other 1947 movies like "Out of the Past" and "Black Narcissus". I love those movies just as much as this one, if not more, so it's a little baffling how hard people are ragging on it. It seems like the making of the movie was beset by hardship, and left a bad taste in the mouth of a lot of the cast and crew, but I see no reason that it should leave a bad taste in our mouths. It's just too gorgeous a movie to forget about. And any hardship and injury that came of it only makes the cinematic achievement that much more astounding. But ultimately, this movie's greatest achievement is that it surprisingly exudes a maturity that is more common in movies made closer to the present, for example, Mike Leigh's morality-play movies "Vera Drake" (2004) and "Another Year" (2010). It's time "Desire Me" had a re-evaluation, if you ask me.