I had never heard of this film until discovering and watching it a couple of days ago and I wonder why? This film I found to be so current, any mother would have experienced very similar emotions to what Cary experiences in this film, unusual subject matter, not often tackled in film. How many mothers have put their lives on hold, thinking of their children first, what would make the kids happy, whilst putting herself last. I know of couples who have bought large holiday homes at great expense, "for when the kids come to visit" and the kids don't or don't come anywhere near as often as mum and dad for that matter was expecting or hoping! You can't win, you bring your children up to be independent humans and you are devastated when they are! Grown children only want you when they want you, which was perfectly shown in this film. Cary had to experience heartbreak before she released that it was time for her to put herself and her new man first, even over her grown children's needs and selfish wants! When you get to a certain age,you are blatantly aware that time is running out and you had better decide to look after yourself and put yourself first, often for the first time since you were young, or perhaps maybe ever, before your time when you are in charge of decisions for yourself, runs out. I also loved, the casting of these not usually seen together actors. Loved the difference between the two central characters, their love should not have happened, being from different worlds, but it did and it was portrayed beautifully. A special film to me, I will recommend it to my friends and my children and look forward to watching it again.

For those of us who recall suburbia before city people began repopulating it then cities became repopulated with people just relocating from low density rural areas this is a nostalgic memory of what we once lived through. This is life as we no longer live it but have fond memories of the good not the bad parts. Jane Wyman lives in a pampered world of luxury in total widowhood boredom to be awakened by Rock Hudson in fact eight years her junior. He plays a working fella young enough to be her third child more in fact interested in her than are her distant children in fact going through their own angst at social changes they seem unprepared to deal with. A brilliantly photographed and edited memory of what our lives were like when luxury and pampering could still replace personal meaning and satisfaction.

The question here is why can't it be a simple thing, love? It should be; but she is an upper-class widow and he's too young and her own gardener so what will people say. We have here a crushing indictment of the hypocrisy of people, the small-minded dead-ends of social life where our self has to extend over; we can't just be locked in our house falling in love, it has to be aired in the open, nurtured in the approval. So it's no small question the film poses; it's all too easy to condemn the fragile woman who's deathly afraid of opinion, easier said than overcome. But he's too pure; at one point a deer is seen eating out of his hand! The falling in love is never quite fleshed, believable, it just happens so we can skip to the dilemmas about love so the whole foundation is shaky. Her anxiety is palpable, but only her side of the hurt. It's melodrama dished straight, too creamy and simple for me, holding only a habitual power. Scenes roll one into the other like someone stirring his martini. What remains is the translucent gloss and color, the halos of anticipation around the faces, the glassdoors and windows of aired emotion.But you can sense the rejection of complacent formality that is to come. A TV is already at this point seen as a mirror of quashed dreams; Walden is picked up and quoted.

The "may December" movie is more a "Working Class Guy vs Slightly Older Well-off Widow".Jane Wyman was only 8 years older than Rock Hudson, and she looks great in this movie...barely old enough to be mom to her 17 year old girl and college age boy. So what's the REAL obstacle? The contrast is... rich widow with know-it-all college kids versus the creative working class guy.The dialogue and some of the so-called obstacles just a bit corny, but is beautifully lit. Mr. Sirk--the director--was a master of color and scene layout!Young filmmakers can learn from this wonderfully lit and shot film. Note the use of shadows also!!!