Green Dolphin Street (1947)What a perfect cast for a heavy drama. Even as the MGM lion roars, the orchestra announces deep doom. Lana Turner is a sultry and often ambiguous leading woman. Van Heflin is that great star who doesn't steal all the women. And then Donna Reed of course must be the "good" woman. It all adds up. The one weak link, if we have to start there, is the director, Victor Seville, a product of the routine British film industry of the 1930s, competent but stiff, especially for 1947.Green Dolphin Street, the street, is fictional, though meant to be set in New Zealand. Hence the British coattails. The famous song, "On Green Dophin Street," comes from the movie, and led to a famous Miles Davis and Bill Evans versions, which outstrip the movie. The movie is the only case, as far as I know, that joins the two actors who played legendary characters; the Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan) and Santa Claus (Edmund Gwenn, from "Miracle on 34th Street"). Morgan, in particular, plays the same sort of charmed character as the famous wizard—or more accurately the charlatan in the wagon at the start of that 1939 MGM movie.I say all this to point out the limitations of the this post-war oddity. The previous roles of the actors intrude on their performances here. (Even the appearance of Gladys Cooper made me think more of "The Bishop's Wife" than this movie. Maybe it's me.) Blame Seville, I think. Mostly there is an attempt to be "epic" and create a huge, sweeping drama that seems limited and invented for the screen. Everything is fine, but fine is just what it is. Oh, the disasters make it exciting, and the acting is rather nice. You won't be disappointed as long as you keep your perspective in handcuffs.So what works best? Actually, Van Heflin is terrific, playing a role a bit more exaggerated than he usually goes for—a pirate, of sorts (a sailor and stowaway). And when you get to the huge plot twist (halfway through) you might even laugh. It's so tragic and improbable—purely the product of a writer's imagination—you have to at least sit up and say, oh dear! (That 1947-speak for NFW!) Anway, it does spice things up, and so the partying takes on a certain desperation, at least in the background. Anyway, there are the special effects, which won an Oscar, and the generally high level of production, an MGM style very visible. But even if it was truly popular on its release, I think it's too dated now to make much of a dent on most us in the 21st Century. Watch warily.

This is 141 minutes of time wasted in my life that I cannot get back! It surprises me that it is ONLY 141 minutes long because it felt like 4 HOURS to me! It is also a waste of great talent. How many MORE disasters could strike in ONE movie? The odds of such things are incredible! You'd have better odds of winning the lottery! Murder? Dissertion? Drunkenness? Not to mention an earthquake, tidal wave, and an uprising by the "natives!" WOW! It has more plot twists than Lombard Street! A great cast is swallowed up by a monstrous plot. Since I first saw it, I have warned people away from this lugubrious mediocrity forever! MY humble opinion... don't waste your time, because you will never get it back and you will feel cheated.

Lana Turner, playing 'bad sister' to Donna Reed's 'wholesome sister' in 19th century New Zealand, looks great in her period costumes but gives yet another of her plastic performances permeated with frantic unease. She and sibling Reed are both vying for the new man in town, with romantic complications sending the sisters on wildly divergent paths. Adapted from Elizabeth Goudge's novel "Green Dolphin Country", the film has some memorable set-pieces: a fabulous earthquake (undermined, unfortunately, with campy hysterics), a ferocious tidal wave, and a haunting, beautiful moment in which Reed scales a steep tunnel on the inside of a mountain and is taken in by the nuns. Relative balderdash is nonetheless an entertaining piece of work; pure Hollywood, though a first-rate example. Director Victor Saville shows a great deal of style, and the time and place of the story are vividly captured. **1/2 from ****

As the cliché goes, the book is so much better than the movie.That having been said, it's a great story, and the film acting is excellent according to the standards of the 1940s.I've wondered why such a bland actor was cast in the lead. He's supposed to be a weak character, but surely MGM had roster of highly skilled actors who could convincingly PLAY weak.Unfortunately, some of those lines in the script are just unactable. Despite the talent on screen, they make you want to gag.Nevertheless, there's some dynamic drama, and those special effects are spectacular, even today.The evocative, romantic theme music was made into a song, "On Green Dolphin Street," which has become one the most frequently played tunes in the jazz repertoire.