Themes: Mothers and Daughters, Woman In Jeopardy, Blackmail
Main Cast: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O'Neill, Shepperd Strudwick
Release Year: 1949
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
Plot
A blend of melodrama and film noir, The Reckless Moment stars Joan Bennett as Lucia Harper, a suburban housewife whose husband is away on business. Her daughter, Bea (Geraldine Brooks), an aspiring artist, has fallen for Ted Darby (Shepperd Strudwick), a shady older man from Los Angeles who claims to be an ex-art dealer. One night, after a secret rendezvous in the Harpers' boathouse that turns into an argument, Bea accidentally kills Darby. When Lucia discovers his body in the morning, she panics and dumps it in the lagoon instead of contacting the police, who would surely charge her daughter with murder. Her problems only increase when a suave Irish gangster named Donnelly (James Mason) shows up with a package of love letters from Bea to Darby, and blackmail on his mind. With her husband out of town, Lucia has no choice but to give in to his demands, and brings him along on a desperate quest to raise the money that takes them from bank to loan office to pawn shop. Along the way, Donnelly seems to develop sympathy -- even affection -- for her. When his boss shows up to pressure him into finishing the job, Donnelly's surprising decision sets up the film's startling climax. The Reckless Moment was remade in 2001 by Scott McGehee and David Seigel as The Deep End. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
Review
Like Mildred Pierce and other noir melodramas, The Reckless Moment taps into the disenchantment lurking beneath the surface of the traditional American family. Director Max Ophuls does this by centering the film's blackmail plot on the relationship between Lucia Harper and Donnelly the blackmailer. Donnelly's appearance represents the intrusion of the outside world, with all its danger and uncertainty, into Lucia's sheltered life, and forces her into a kind of double existence. Ophuls, known for his deep-focus compositions and flowing camera movements, often emphasizes her dilemma visually. In one memorable scene, Lucia negotiates with Donnelly while the family is seen through a window in the background, sitting down to dinner, unaware of her troubles. The film's most remarkable moments occur while Donnelly accompanies her on her travels in search of money. The more time they spend together, the closer they become. (He even worries about her smoking, and at one point buys her a cigarette holder to stem her nicotine intake.) There is certainly an element of attraction in Donnelly's growing sympathy, but Ophuls also makes clear that his concern arises from pity for this repressed, increasingly neurotic housewife who is nearly helpless without her husband around to protect her. Ophuls' films are often centered on female characters who either suffer at the hands of men or challenge traditional female roles. In The Reckless Moment, he turns what could have been a standard suspense yarn into a proto-feminist critique of the postwar American social code. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
David Blair - David Harper; Roy Roberts - Nagle; Frances Williams - Sybil; Jessie Arnold - Old Lady; Peter Brocco - Bartender; Paul E. Burns - Desk Clerk; John Butler - Pawnbroker; Kathryn Card - Mrs. Loring; Claire Carleton - Blonde; Boyd Davis - Tall Man; Karl (Killer) Davis - Wrestler; Everett Glass - Drug Clerk; Buddy Gorman - Magazine Clerk; Harry Harvey - Post Office Clerk; Virginia Hunter - Girl; Bobby Hyatt - Mud; Dan Jackson - Drummer; Charles Jordan - Man; Kenneth Kendall - Man; Norman Leavitt - Second Postal Clerk; Mike Mahoney - Policeman; Charles Marsh - Newsman; Louis Mason - Mike; Pat O'Malley - Bank Guard; Joseph Palmas - Card Player; Dorothy Phillips - Woman; John Roy - Man; Cosmo Sardo; William Schallert - Lieutenant; Ann Shoemaker - Mrs. Feller; Billy Snyder - Gambler; Jack Baker - Man; Ed Pine - Man; Glenn Thompson - Policeman; Gail Bonney - Woman; George Dockstader - Man; Sue Moore - Woman; Byron Poindexter - Man; Joe Recht - Newsboy; Pat Barton - Receptionist; Al Bayne; Holger Bendixen; John Monaghan - Policeman; Barry Regan; Charles Evans - Bank Official; Robert Gordon
Credit
Cary O'Dell - Art Director, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Earl Bellamy - First Assistant Director, Max Ophüls - Director, Gene Havlick - Editor, Hans Salter - Composer (Music Score), Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Newt Jones - Makeup, Burnett Guffey - Cinematographer, Walter Wanger - Producer, Cary O'Dell - Set Designer, Frank A. Tuttle - Set Designer, Mel Dinelli - Screenwriter, Robert W. Soderberg - Screenwriter, Henry Garson - Screenwriter, Robert Kent - Screenwriter, Elizabeth Sanxay Holding - Short Story Author
California housewife Lucia Harper (Joan Bennett) attempts to cover up what she believes (erroneously) to be her daughter's (Geraldine Brooks) accidental murder of an undesirable ex-lover (Shepperd Strudwick). Martin Donnelly (James Mason), a clean-shaven smooth-talker involved in organized crime, discovers the truth and tries to blackmail the family. Complications arise when he realizes his true feelings for Lucia. This was Mason's third U.S. film, after having appeared for director Ophüls in Caught, then Madame Bovary.
Bosley Crowther's New York Times 1949 review praised the actors but noted,
"But it isn't all right with this picture. Although it is rather well staged, with credible location settings in Balboa and Los Angeles, it is a feeble and listless drama with a shamelessly callous attitude. The heroine gets away with folly, but we don't think this picture will."[1]
