Goodbye, My Fancy (1951)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

disgusting, overrated, pointless

Beautiful, moving film.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I can't describe the disappointment at the ending in this film. It was like a punch in the gut.I don't agree that Ms. Crawford was miscast in this. I think she did an admirable job. My main problem is the story that we get weaves to an ending that's just...stupid...i dunno...I can't think of anything else to match how I feel.The basic outline is a congresswoman gets an invite to get an honorary degree at her old college that she was expelled from. She's happy to accept but at the same time, an old boyfriend from the war turns up 5 years later as if he's still in her life. She obviously hasn't thought a thing about him but he just happens to be a Life magazine photographer and will be at the College to photograph the story.Well, she accepts the honorary degree because the love of her life is the school president. Before they give her a degree they want to show a film of a speech she made but one of the main trustees of the college doesn't like it and wants it not to be shown. In the meantime she and the president decide to get married. She soon finds out that he's like all college presidents in that...he bows to the alumni pressure on things as they decide they want the film to not be shown. She doesn't like this because she sees that he's weak. By and by the old boyfriend keeps throwing jibes at her any time he can to break up her idea of him. She decides not to marry the president and get back together with the annoying guy who won't take no for an answer.This film was basically a backdrop for the communist witch hunt times. It was hot off the presses at the time this film was made. It's not a hidden plot in the film, it's disguised a bit as "free speech in education" but to me the whole film hinged on the 3 leads and their personal issues...and she chooses the annoying guy who has nuthin but ill will in mind. How does this make women look? She chooses the guy that keeps harassing her? The president makes an error in not letting the speech be heard...but then decides to go ahead with it and she says...nah...but they remain friends. Gimme a break.It comes down to Crawfords character showed no interest in the guy she ends up with throughout the entire film. There's no lead-in anywhere to show he would be the one she walks away with. This wasn't a bad film at all really. I just can't recommend a film with a really dumb ending like this. Total disappointment.

Miscast, highly-contrived screen-adaptation of Fay Kanin's play about a U.S. Congresswoman and her devoted secretary going back to the same all-girl college the fiery female politician was expelled from twenty years ago. Seems the President of Administration wants to give her an honorary degree, however the Board of Trustees are concerned over the Congresswoman's 'radical' political views--and are as yet unaware of the President and the Congresswoman's scandalous past together! In the lead, Joan Crawford anxiously strides up and down like a woman possessed; the role doesn't require it, and the star's angst is as misplaced here as is Frank Lovejoy's crass portrayal of a combat-photographer from LIFE who used to date Crawford and now wants her back. Joan dabs at her eyes and shoos away male suitors, yet we never know what she's doing to cause so much emotional turmoil (this Congresswoman is all business, no fun). Eve Arden (dry as ever) and Robert Young (with overstated gray streaks in his hair) come off best, but Lurene Tuttle plays to the rafters as Joan's former roommate whose husband just happens to be the most vocal objector on the Board. The young woman who now occupies Crawford's old dorm-room happens to be Young's daughter, who tells the Congresswoman after a chat, "I grew up a little today, thanks to you." A stilted nosegay, designed for blue-hair audiences of another era. ** from ****

OK so this isn't Mildred Pierce, but it's not horrible either. Typical 1950's melodrama about a congresswomen (Crawford) who ends up caught between two men and fighting fascist censorship at the same time. Tame by today's standards I'm glad to see that Joan was not scared to throw some mud in the eye of the evil McCarthy witch hunt. (in real life Joan did testify at the McCarthy hearings and basically told them to go to hell, but in a nice way only Joan could pull off). Don't write this movie off, it is now available on DVD through Movies Unlimited as is Joan's last picture for Warners "This Women Is Dangerous". If your a Joan fan these are musts for your collection.

What plays on the surface as a "romantic triangle" film carries a strong anti-McCarthyism message. Robert Young is the once-idealistic President of an exclusive Women's College who years earlier had trysted with Joan Crawford, a Congresswoman who has made a film depicting aspects of injustice. Crawford wants to reunite with Young and have the film played during Graduation Weekend. The school's trustees don't want the film shown, thinking it too "dangerous" for their students to see. The characters' arguments about democratic values play well with a modern audience, and both the political and the romantic aspects of the plot unfold in an engrossing and entertaining manner.