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25 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Surprisingly superb performances, 28 July 1999

Author: anonymous from New York, USA

I accidentally came across this movie on a classic movie channel and decided to watch. I have never considered Bing Crosby or Grace Kelly to be academy award winning actors, and I knew little of William Holden's acting abilities. I was both surprised and moved to tears in watching the compelling performances of these actors. I forgot that they were the "stars" and only saw them as the desperate individuals that they portrayed. I also realized that scripts like those no longer appear in contemporary films. Each word chosen for it's precision, poignancy and heart. Also surprising is how well the disease of alcoholism was understood even at that time, although there are sadly still many in society today who lack that level of sophistication to fully comprehend the agonizing aspects of alcoholism both to the individual addict and his family. Brilliantly performed by all! Thank you.

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26 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Incredible Highs., 30 July 2004

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Bing Crosby's career reached its dramatic heights in The Country Girl. In fact the trio of Crosby, Grace Kelly, and William Holden all hit incredible highs with this one. Clifford Odets's play was a good backstage drama without any great political statement that characterized his earlier work

It would be another three years before Bing Crosby would do a film without singing at all. But for those who've never seen the Odets play, the story is one without any music. Crosby's role on Broadway was originated by Paul Kelly. When Paramount bought the screen rights they had Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin write the songs that Crosby sings in The Country Girl. Curiously enough none of them, good that they were, became any kind of hit for Bing. Also this was Ira Gershwin's last score for either the stage of screen.

It's fitting that Grace Kelly won her Oscar for this part. Uta Hagen who played Georgie Elgin on Broadway won a Tony for her performance. Kelly was up against some stiff competition that year and upset the betting favorite Judy Garland for A Star Is Born. Other nominees included Dorothy Dandridge for Carmen Jones, Jane Wyman for Magnificent Obsession and Audrey Hepburn for Sabrina. I suppose it was the fact that Kelly was cast against type in her portrayal. Usually playing chic blonde princesses, she's almost dowdy looking in this film.

Crosby plumbed some dramatic depths also and was nominated for Frank Elgin. However after three successive years of being nominated and not winning, Marlon Brando was not going to be denied in 1954. The rest of that field included Humphrey Bogart for The Caine Mutiny, James Mason for A Star Is Born and Dan O'Herlihy for Robinson Crusoe. Not a shabby field there either and Crosby's personal best came up against Brando's consolation for not winning for Streetcar Named Desire. Oscar politics at its finest.

Bill Holden's part of Bernie Dodd was originated on Broadway by Steven Hill who today's audiences know as DA Adam Schiff from Law and Order. After years of playing what he called "Smiling Jim" roles, his acting took on some bite with Sunset Boulevard. He's a cynical man here also, but there was an additional edge here. One of the plot elements was alcoholic Crosby knowing about Holden's bad marriage and using that knowledge to blame his bad behavior on Kelly. Holden was in the midst of a bad marriage himself, the only one he ever had. Marked by bitterness, recriminations, and mutual infidelities, he and Brenda Marshall stayed married for over 20 years for the sake of their children. When Holden's Bernie Dodd talks about his former wife there's an edge that I'm sure came from personal experience.

The only other role of any size is that of producer Phil Cook and it's played Anthony Ross. Another plot element is Holden's championing Crosby going head to head a few times with Ross who never really wanted him in his show. One of Ross's condition to using Crosby is that he given a contract with a two weeks notice clause and not a run of the play contract. Ross gets hoisted on his own petard for that one. Sadly this was Ross's last film, he died the following year.

The Country Girl is mature and intelligent and avoids the usual Hollywood clichés concerning show business stories. Even if you're not a fan of any or all of its three stars, this can be enjoyed on its artistic merits.

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24 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
Slow start but becomes fascinating, 19 October 2002
Author: Dennis Littrell (dalittrell@yahoo.com) from SoCal

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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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Clifford Odets' famous play is brought to the screen, 16 January 2008

Author: blanche-2 from United States

Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and William Holden star in "The Country Girl," a 1954 film written and directed by George Seaton, based on the play by Clifford Odets. Crosby plays Frank Elgin, a former Broadway star who hit the skids after the death of his son ten years earlier. Kelly is his wife, Georgie, and Holden is Bernie Dodd, the director of a musical that he has determined will be Frank's comeback. I think it was asking a lot of any performer, no matter how great, to make this Oklahoma rip-off a hit, but Dodd thinks Frank is his man. Dodd takes an immediate dislike to Georgie, who reminds him of his ex-wife. He believes that Frank's dependence on her and helplessness was encouraged by her. Little does he know, Frank puts on a happy face, but in reality, he's lying to Dodd about his true relationship with Georgie and the reason for his fall from grace.

The very strong script is brilliantly acted by its three stars, and for each actor, it was probably their best role. Crosby is not only terrific, but he's a revelation as the alcoholic, weak Frank; Holden pulls out all the stops as the uptight Bernie Dodd; and Kelly is excellent as Georgie. There is still much controversy about whether or not she should have won the Oscar over Judy Garland in "A Star is Born," but anyone who has studied the Oscars knows one thing - whether Kelly deserved the award or not, every time a beautiful woman dresses down and makes herself look plain, she wins an Oscar - Elizabeth Taylor, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron - the list is endless. It's sure fire. Personally, I think Kelly is great in this, and they should have done without the glasses - the fact that she and Frank were too poor for her to afford nice clothes or hair dye would have been enough. Beauty is beauty, and you can't hide it behind a pair of glasses. And what was wrong with Frank being married to a beautiful woman? In one flashback, we're allowed to see her as she was. I'll go out on a limb and say that as much as I loved Judy in "A Star is Born," Georgie Elgin was a real stretch for Kelly.

Beautifully directed by Seaton, "The Country Girl" has a real feel of the theater, of internal fights between producer and director, of dressing rooms and hotels on the road.

An excellent movie all around.

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12 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Extraordinary performance make this a must-see!, 25 July 1999
Author: George D. Bales (electricartist@erols.com) from Northeat USA

It has long been assumed that, had the music been eliminated from "The Country Girl" and, in the process, taking emphasis off Bing Crosby's singing and more on his acting, he would have certainly beaten Marlon Brando for the Oscar of 1954. Crosby is extraordinary in this film, playing an alcoholic, washed-up actor/singer with few if any redeemable qualities. William Holden, as the director of a new Broadway musical, insists that Bing be cast in the lead role, even though he is painfully aware of the actor's history. Grace Kelly is Bing's misunderstood wife. While all three performances are first rate, it is Crosby who stands so far above the others, especially considering Hollywood's idea of realism in 1954. Kelly, on the other hand, who DID win an Oscar as best actress, seems workmanlike but not of that acting calibur. Miss Kelly was such a glamorous "star" that simply putting her in a frumpy housedress does not a plain and ordinary housewife make! Her last scene, in which she appears in a very elegant evening gown (but with glasses to downplay her beauty) is completely unconvincing. But, taken as a whole, "The Country Girl" is great video viewing!

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Bing Crosby's best., 3 March 1999

Author: Film Dog from Shawnee, KS

Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, & William Holden all give what I consider to be their best performances. Crosby plays a neurotic drunk, and is just unbelievable. Or should I say is quite believable. I didn't know he could act, but can he ever. Grace Kelly is his frumpy wife. Not her usual type-cast character, either. Even though it's pretty much a forgotten film, a must-see for classic movie fans.

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13 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Fake high art..., 1 January 2006

Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

Stage director William Holden fights with his producer over casting alcoholic-on-the-mend singer Bing Crosby as the lead in their newest musical production; Crosby's wife Grace Kelly, a no-nonsense type who dresses glumly, appears to be Crosby's rock but may in fact be what's crippling him. Peculiar melodrama is absorbing and interesting, well-paced and literate, but is also show-offy and fairly shallow. Everyone is unnaturally tense and forlorn, and the spirit of the piece is held back to showcase all the angst. Kelly won a Best Actress Oscar, and although her acting is solid, it's a clichéd part (one waits for her to make that visible transformation, and it happens right on cue; though to credit the filmmakers, a big fuss isn't made of it). Crosby was an odd choice for the role of the former star on the comeback trail; his style of acting is resolutely old-fashioned and, although he does good work, he looks so much older than Holden and Kelly--and his general style is older still--his performance sequences seem distinctly out-of-touch (even for 1954). Holden is the acting stand-out (he was the only one of the three leads not Oscar-nominated), and his innate grit and conflict are something the viewer can get a grip on; Holden immediately connects with the audience because he is completely focused and seems to bring this mannered material back down to earth (he makes it mean something). The plot functions are square and uptight, and the musical production within the film looks pretty hoary, but the drama and human interaction is still worthwhile on a soap opera level. **1/2 from ****

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
**** Effective relationship drama, 28 March 2001
Author: Bil-3 from Toronto, Ontario

Strong film version of Clifford Odets' play about an over-the-hill alcoholic singer (Bing Crosby) whose attempts at a comeback in a big Broadway musical seem to be thwarted by his long-suffering and unhappy wife (Grace Kelly), despite the assistance of a well-meaning director (William Holden). The drama is at times melodramatic (director George Seaton tends to push Kelly a little over the top) but it's still pretty potent today (and a lot more effective than the television version done in 1982 with Faye Dunaway). The film's best asset is Holden's fiery performance as the director-his energy keeps the drama pulsing. Some audience members might enjoy the laugh they get from seeing Hollywood try to make Grace Kelly look plain by throwing her behind a pair of thick glasses and a woolly sweater.

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15 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
The Drinking Life, 8 October 2002

Author: telegonus from brighton, ma

1954 was a banner year for the three stars of The Country Girl, as Grace Kelly, who would win an Oscar for her performance in this film, also appeared in the highly successful Rear Window and Dial M For Murder, both for Alfred Hitchcock, as well as the grim war drama The Bridges At Toko-Ri, which also features William Holden. In The Country Girl, Holden gets third billing despite his having just won an Oscar himself, for Stalag 17, and who was at around the same time could be seen in Sabrina and Executive Suite. Top-billed Bing Crosby was soon to be seen in the smash musical White Christmas. As to the movie itself, it is adapted from a Clifford Odets play about an alcoholic actor (changed to a singer to accommodate Mr. Crosby), and his over-reliance on his wife, whom he tells anyone who will listen is the cause of his drinking, when in fact she is looking after him. The movie is an interesting study of alcoholism and its effect on human relationships, as the lying and deceit that it engenders ruins all attempts at honesty, however small, as it compels people to become actors in a drama over which they have no control. There is an added dimension to this aspect of the story, as the setting is theatrical, and the people in it theatre-wise.

The Country Girl lacks the brilliance of The Lost Weekend; and while it actually probes more deeply into the psyche of an alcoholic than the earlier film does, it's much more static, and visually it's unexciting. For a man steeped in the theatre and theatrical lore, Odets is surprisingly weak with the show biz shoptalk, yet proves himself once more a master dramatist with the psychology. I like the way it's made clear that Frank Elgin was on a downward slide before his young son died, as the boy's tragic death is his "official" reason for drinking. His use of charm, as much as drink, to quell his anxiety, is also nicely suggested, as Elgin is a man who cannot stand rejection of any kind, however small the issue. In this regard he is the worst kind of seducer, compelling others to accept him on terms he cannot himself accept, then trying to live up to their expectations despite the fact that he never really believed his own PR in the first place. He then lets everyone done, forcing them to feel as badly as he does, and meanwhile, the show must go on, and where's Frank? Oh, he's in his dressing room drinking some cough syrup. You see, he has a bad cold...

As Elgin, Crosby is splendid, playing without vanity a man snowed under by his own self-pity. He is especially good at turning on his charm at the wrong moments (i.e. when he's lying or hiding something). As his wife, Grace Kelly is altogether too young and attractive for the part, and doesn't seem at all like the country girl she's supposed to be. She was a beautiful woman, with perfect features, but her acting here seems barely professional. Holden is more fiery than usual as the short-tempered director, and for my money walks off with the show. Crosby's part may be meatier, but his character is pitiful and difficult to respect, while Holden is like a brick, holding the others and the movie together by sheer charisma. He's also essentially the audience's point man in the film, learning as he goes along; and we learn with him.

A fine movie, dated only in its particulars. It's very fifties in tone, and at times seems somewhat underpopulated, and yet even Miss Kelly's miscasting can't ruin it.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Wonderful movie, 21 February 2000
Author: (louisstucki@hotmail.com) from Switzerland

"The Country Girl" is one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's very touching and it gives a realistic view an alcoholic has to fight with. All actors are excellent, especially Grace Kelly (Why wasn't she first choice for this role?!!) who surely deserved the oscar she received for her performance, proving that she was able to play a tragic character (She was surely right, when she said this was the first time she had the possibility to play a real film character where she wasn't used as a beautiful film decoration as in her other films I've seen). My recommendation: Watch it!!!

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