Another Time, Another Place (1958)

Super-mega spoiler coming up! Don't say I didn't warn you! While some might have been surprised by a romance between Sean Connery and Lana Turner due to the difference in their ages, I am sure most Brits actually were more surprised by hearing the Scottish Connery saying he was from Cornwall--in the very southeast corner of Britain. The accents are so very different, I could just imagine the Brits watching the film getting a bit peeved--though at the time, most Americans wouldn't have noticed.The film is set in the latter portion of WWII. The first few minutes are great--very tense and I felt myself on edge as a man disarmed an unexploded V-2 rocket! Turner and Connery are there because they are war correspondents and it seems they have fallen deeply in love...or at least Turner has. In their scenes together, you can detect a hint of apprehension in Connery. So, when he later divulges that he is married, the audience isn't terribly surprised--but Turner is crushed. But, after thinking about it, she shows she is also a person without character--and STILL wants to marry Connery (I would have preferred her kicking him in the crotch--but that didn't happen). Then, after he agrees to ask for a divorce, he's unexpectedly killed in a plane crash.Now if you were in Turner's situation, what would you do? Yes, you'd go off to Cornwall to see where Connery lived--and even see his wife and son incognito. This is all a bit creepy and weird--and against her doctor's advice. When she arrives, she is befriended by Connery's widow (Glynnis Johns)--a nice lady who you can't help but like. However, as Turner has some weird sort of Hollywood ailment following Connery's death, she wanders outside of Johns' home later and faints! She clearly isn't do well and so she is invited to stay with Johns for several days. Talk about awkward! When Turner's boss and ex-boyfriend (Barry Sullivan) learns where she is and what she's doing, he's upset and rushes to Cornwall to retrieve her. After all, he reasons that sooner or later the wife is going to learn the truth if Turner stays much longer. Oddly, however, Connery's old assistant (Terence Longdon--who wants Turner to leave ASAP) turns out to be the one who convinces Johns that perhaps Connery was cheating on her. That's because whenever she mentions her dead husband, the assistant looks away and changes the subject--and she suspects something was amiss. What will come of all this? See the film.While it's hard to believe the plot, hard to like Turner (she is so selfish and a bit goofy) and the music a bit overdone, the film is an interesting soap opera. And, it ended very well. In other words, I enjoyed it even though I know it was a rather flawed film. In fact, Turner made quite a few flawed soaps during this era--and yet they were mostly very enjoyable.

Lana Turner, her star appearing to be descending, meets Sean Connery, a star on the rise in this film that takes place in WWII England. He's a BBC commentator and she's a journalist, who's on assignment. They meet obviously and fall in love. Just when she's about to propose to him, he tells her he's married. Even though he tells her he loves her, he can't leave his wife and Brian, his son. But, at the last minute of parting, he says he'll find a way. But, upon separation, his plane crashes and he dies, which puts Lana into a tailspin and she goes in a hospital for a rest. After weeks there, she has it in her mind to see where he grew up and lived. Once there in Cornwall, she sees a young boy playing, whose mother, played by Glynis Johns, calls to him by the name of Brian to come in.If you like actresses Glynis Johns and Lana Turner and are curious to see a real young Sean Connery, then this should be pretty entertaining for you. Granted, this isn't your usual movie with a guy-meets-girl, guy-loves-girl, guy-loses-girl, and guy-wins-girl-back plot. Instead it tries to be more, and to some degree it works as a mature look at love and loss. The ending may seem a bit pat and manipulated, but I have always liked it and always felt it to be a very therapeutic movie, as they try to deal with their losses together, in the quiet, picturesque English village. (And, Lana had never looked more beautiful in black and white.)Lana's next movie, "Imitation of Life," would really bring her career back on top, and it would be only 8 more years until her last great role of "Madame X." So her years of being a box office draw would be on the decline in a relatively short time, despite the really big movies she had yet to make. But Sean Connery was just now coming out on his own. To take notice of his performances in his early years, watch "Another Time, Another Place," a movie not just about our earthly love, but about meeting those we loved and lost, in another time and another place.

Sean Connery and Lana Turner are journalists who fall in love, in this enjoyable war time melodrama. Connery plays Mark Trevors, a radio reporter for the BBC and Turner plays Sara Scott, posted in London working for an American newspaper. Their relationship, which is never fully developed, has a sting in the tail. The second half of the story takes place in Cornwall, and although filmed in black and white, the scenery is still alluring. Turner, who gets most of the screen time, gives a decent performance and Connery, who at the time was relatively unknown, demonstrates the charisma which makes him a potent screen presence.

I found myself 'fast-forwarding' thru the last half hour. The script missed some great chances at early character development, which left the 'talent' struggling to pull this movie together. Their characters lacked depth and motivation in the later going, and the 96 minutes seemed much longer.