HotToastyRag I wonder if Paul Newman ever got tired of playing "Paul Newman". It seems like he's always cast in the same role: rebellious but still seeking approval, parents don't like him, bad boy, a ladies' man, and a bit of an unlikable edge. However, unlike other Paul Newman movies where this type of character actually captures the audience's attention, From the Terrace is lousy.Paul Newman comes from an unrespectable family, but he wants to make something of himself. He wants to become a member of high society, so he can see the view "from the terrace". In his quest, he pursues high-class Joanne Woodward. In his overwhelming ambition, he works too much and leaves his wife alone too often. She turns to alcohol and humiliates him by having an affair. But why are we supposed to be surprised? When he met her, she was engaged to someone else. She cheated on her fiancé and left him for Paul Newman. Once a floozy, always a floozy! The plot is disjointed and boring, and despite Hollywood's repeated casting of Joanne Woodward in sexy roles, her aura reeked like she didn't know where the bedroom was, not like she spent all her time there. The costars were married by the time they made this movie, but if you really want to see their chemistry, you have nine other films to choose from.The only good scene in this movie is in the beginning. Paul Newman returns home from the war and witnesses an argument between his parents, drunken floozy Myrna Loy and stern Leon Ames. Go ahead and watch the first twenty minutes of the movie, then do yourself a favor and turn it off.

robert-temple-1 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.

rowmorg Joanne Woodward steals this lengthy movie. Cast as an unthinking bourgeoise daughter with no ambition other than comfortable marriage, she lands the handsome Alfred Eaton instead of her current love, a psychiatric doctor. But she's soon back in bed with him after being ignored for several years by the success-obsessed Eaton.Woodward is pretty and witty in this role, and beautifully dressed. Sadly, she is cast as the "bad guy" because she goes to bed with her ex-lover, although she tries all the time to get Eaton into bed with her. Finally, she tries a reconciliation, secretly knowing that Eaton is to be named a partner at his bank in her presence next day. But Eaton throws a testy scene, walks out and drives off to join his young love in Mountain City, somewhere in Nevada, and make a completely different life. Poor Joanne is left shouting "Alfred" after his taxi, a pathetic role for this actress who injected the only sense of fun and adventure into this ponderous yard. No way did I reject her: I felt sorry for her!

emmaeus Newman meets Woodward at a party and is summarily rebuffed. The very next scene shows them canoodling on a sailboat. I actually stopped the DVD, thinking it had been manufactured with a dropped or mis-ordered scene. But no...the editors apparently decided it was unimportant for us to know how the two eventually got together. (See the discussion board for similar comments on this flaw.) I was shocked, considering this is an adaptation by the talented Ernest Lehmann. I made a conscious decision to not even finish watching the film. If you're interested in experiencing some of that Woodward/Newman magic, may I suggest "The Long, Hot Summer." Or with Newman in a director's role, the under-appreciated "Rachel, Rachel" which features Woodward in an outstanding performance,