This film, based upon a best-selling novel of the period by John O'Hara, is a savage attack on the materialistic imperatives of American society. Paul Newman stars as the young heir to a steel mill in Pennsylvania who does not want to take on the running of Daddy's business, but wants to shape his own independent life. So far so good. But it turns out that what he really wants is to get richer than Daddy. Big mistake. He falls for a wholly materialistic and self-centred beauty played by Joanne Woodward (as most people know, Newman's wife in real life, if there is any real life outside movies, that is). There is the usual struggle against the horrified parents, who are richer than Newman's father because they are part of 'the Dupont set' in Delaware. Newman's sperm accomplish what his charm could not, and persuade the parents of Woodward that as she is pregnant, they had better accept 'a poor boy', i.e. someone who is only moderately rich, as a son-in-law after all. So stratified is the American social hierarchy! John O'Hara knew what he was talking about, being from Pennsylvania, when he told his popular tales of what goes on there, and in neighbouring Delaware. The marriage falls apart and Woodward is serially unfaithful but Newman puts up with it in return for earning a partnership in a large financial firm which will make him richer than Daddy at last. He meets the archetypal good girl, played sympathetically by Ina Balin (an actress who was later to die prematurely at 52),but he even turns his back on her and on True Love for money. Can he save his soul? Can he say no to money and yes to love? Can he redeem himself? I dare not tell. But this is a very effective melodrama, excellently directed by Mark Robson, and well worth watching. And oh yes I almost did not mention that Newman's mother, a hopeless alcoholic, is magnificently played by Myrna Loy, and although she only appears in the early part of the film, it is worth seeing just for her alone. This is a good 'un.

First of all, until I'd seen "From the Terrace" I'd never heard of John O'Hara, let alone read any of his novels. So, as a totally unbiased observer, I was unsure what to think of the movie by the end. The first 20-30 minutes made it seem as though the movie was about rich people being nasty to each other. Once the main story became apparent, it still seemed as though there was no truly redeeming character anywhere in the movie. I could understand that the marriage was a loveless one and so of course the characters were going to do what they did, but it still seemed hard to justify any of it.

If the movie was intended as an indictment of the unbridled pursuit of wealth and prestige, then in my opinion it succeeded in that regard. Otherwise, the movie seemed off-putting. Not a bad movie by any stretch, but I would've liked to see a redeeming character. Still, I did like what he did in the board meeting at the end. I sure would've done the same.

The star of this film is the acting. In particular, Myrna Loy did a great job as a lonely alcoholic and Paul Newman and the rest also were in excellent form. For the performances alone, this is a film worth seeing. And in general, it's a very interesting story but there are some inconsistencies that make this film good but definitely not great. One problem is that Newman in the first 40 minutes of the film is so different from the character he later becomes--so much so that it looks like the writers changed their mind about the script but didn't bother re-doing the first portion. While having Newman essentially re-create his mother and father's relationship is brilliant, the steps getting to it just weren't hashed out well--it was like a fairy or witch cast a spell on him since the change just came out of nowhere. Also, late in the film after Newman single-handedly destroyed his marriage and alienated his loving wife from him, the movie then takes a rather sanctimonious course. Newman is now behaving like a crusader for right and basically blames his originally long-suffering wife for half of their marital woes! This wasn't what had happened in the film--it was almost all Newman and ending it that way just didn't make sense. And implying that Newman suddenly and miraculously changed just seemed unreal--after all, he'd just spent years being a distant workaholic and now he was giving it all up?! If the movie had shown him either NEVER change or vow to change but make his second marriage mirror the first, then this would have been a much more realistic and satisfying film. As it is, it's decent but not an essential film by any stretch.