In the ranking of American playwrights Clifford Odets is usually placed in the second tier behind Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Lillian Hellman and Tennessee Williams. His output was something less than theirs and his two best-known plays, Waiting for Lefty and The Country Girl, never quite reached the artistic pinnacle of say, Miller's Death of a Salesman or Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire. Nonetheless as a movie The Country Girl is a brilliant piece of work thanks in part to a fine adaptation by director and screenwriter George Seaton (Oscar for best screen adaptation, 1954) and sterling performances by Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and William Holden. Seeing this for the first time I was almost as much impressed by Holden, who played a part very much in keeping with his character and with other parts he has played, as I was by Kelly and Crosby who both did 180 degree turns in type-casting.

Grace Kelly won an Oscar as the faithful, strong-willed, bitter, dowdy co-dependent wife of crooner Crosby who played a whimpering, guilt-ridden alcoholic. You have to see Grace Kelly in the bags-under-her-eyes make-up and spinster get-ups to believe it. She looks at least ten years older than her 25 years with a sour puss of a face and an attitude to match. I think she won best actress (over Judy Garland in A Star Is Born) partly because her appearance was so stunningly...different. (While I'm musing, I wonder if this was the film of hers that was banned in Monaco.) It would seem to be the height of creative casting to put her into such a role, yet she is excellent, wonderful to watch as always, her timing exquisite, her expression indelible, and her sense of character perfect. When she says to Holden, "You kissed me--don't let that give you any ideas," and then when we see her face after he leaves, loving it, we believe her both times.

Bing Crosby too is a sight to behold in what must have been his finest 104 minutes as a dramatic actor. He too played way out of character and yet one had the sense that he knew the character well. He was absolutely pathetic as the spineless one. (In real life Der Bingo was reportedly a stern task master at home--ask his kids.) Clearly director Seaton should be given some of the credit for these fine performances. When your stars perform so well, it's clear you've done something right.

The production suffers--inevitably, I suppose--from the weakness of the play within the play. Crosby is to be the star of a Broadway musical called "The Land Around Us." (What we see of the musical assures us it's no Oklahoma!) He's a little too old and stationary for the part, but of course he sings beautifully. (Painful was the excruciatingly slow audition scene opening the movie with Crosby singing and walking through a thoroughly boring number.) Holden is the director and he is taking a chance on Crosby partly because he believes in him and partly because he has nobody else. Naturally if Crosby returns to the bottle, everything will fall apart.

What about the nature of alcoholism as depicted by Odets? Knowing what we now know of the disease, how accurate was his delineation? I think he got it surprising right except for the implied cause. Crosby's character goes downhill after the accidental death of his son, which he blames on himself. Odets reflects the belief, only finally dispelled in recent decades, that alcoholism was indicative of a character flaw, as he has Crosby say he used his son's death as an excuse to drink. Today we know that alcoholism is a disease, a chemical imbalance. Yet Odets knew this practical truth (from the words he puts into the mouth of William Holden's character): an alcoholic stops drinking when he dies or when he gives it up himself. It is interesting to note that as a play The Country Girl appeared in 1950, the same year as William Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba, which also dealt with alcoholism. The intuitive understanding of alcoholism by these two great playwrights might be compared with the present scientific understanding. (See for example, Milam, Dr. James R. and Katherine Ketcham. Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism [1981] or Ketcham, Katherine, et al. Beyond the Influence: Understanding and Defeating Alcoholism [2000].)

Here's a curiosity: the duet song (best number in the movie; Crosby sang it with Jacqueline Fontaine) has the lyric "What you learn is you haven't learned a thing," which is what the alcoholic learns everyday.

And here's a familiar line, cribbed from somewhere in the long ago: Fontaine asks Crosby aren't you so-and-so, and he replies, "I used to be."

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The main thing that one will notice about "The Country Girl" is the unusual roles given to Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. His Frank is a depressed alcoholic, her Georgie is the unglamorous wife (well, unglamorous by Grace Kelly's standards). And then there's William Holden's Bernie. He's the director of a musical production, convinced that Georgie is the reason for Frank's alcoholism, and intent on making her life a living hell.

It was rare for a movie back then to focus on misogyny. I found the scenes in which Bernie berates Georgie to be the most effective in the movie. They were certainly intense. The musical scenes were corny, but the rest of the movie made up for those. As to the question of whether Grace Kelly's performance merited an Oscar win over Judy Garland's performance in "A Star Is Born", I actually found this to be the more important movie; it focuses on a more serious issue.

So, it's not the greatest movie ever made but I still recommend it. Just remember that Crosby's and Kelly's roles are not like what we're used to.

This film is about a down-and-out performer (Bing Crosby) who has sunk into alcoholism and self-pity. However, out of the blue, he's received a huge break--to star in a Broadway show! Can the guy hold it together and rise to the occasion or will be return to the bottle and despair?! Although this idea is interesting, what is truly original is what happens with Crosby--how he copes with all this responsibility. Again and again, he manages to make it appear as if his wife (Grace Kelly) is a domineering woman who is trying to push him to fall on his face--when actually she is doing the opposite. She tries to help him from falling and, behind her back, he manipulates things so that the producer (William Holden) thinks SHE is the problem. Like many alcoholics, he has a great need to appear confident and capable AND to make excuses for when he does hit the bottle once again--'it's all her fault' is his excuse waiting to happen! Eventually, Crosby's manipulations result in Holden confronting Kelly for her supposedly undermining Crosby! He wants her to leave and return home so that Crosby will supposedly be free from distractions and her wicked clutches! Simply put, he's an alcoholic--a manipulative and insincere drunk. Now when I saw the film as a kid, I thought Kelly was a nice and innocent woman who meant well. Now, however, I see that by sticking with him, Kelly plays an enabler--a well-intentioned one but an enabler nevertheless. This, too, is interesting--creating a nice portrait of a drunk AND his partner.

The film is original and cleverly written--plus it's one of the better films about addiction from this era. Grace Kelly received the Oscar for Best Actress for this performance. I used to think this was unmerited, though in seeing the film again I see what an exceptional job she did. Plus 1955 was a particularly weak year and she was better than the competition. Crosby was also nominated for an Oscar but considering Brando's performance in "On the Waterfront", it's not surprising he lost--though this is perhaps Crosby's greatest acting of his long career. Now this does not mean the film was perfect or problem-free. I cannot understand the casting as Kelly just seemed too young and glamorous (even when they gave her a very subdued makeup job)--I would have picked someone older considering Kelly was 51 and Kelly was 25! Although the part was to have been played by someone younger--perhaps in her mid-30s or older would have worked better. Otherwise, though, it's a very good film nevertheless. The other problem was the inexplicable relationship that sprang up between Holden and Kelly near the end....where the heck did THAT come from?!?! (yes, I know I ended this sentence with a preposition...deal with it. After 9600+ reviews I think I am entitled to one dangling preposition.)