I Thank a Fool

Stripped of her medical credentials after being convicted of manslaughter for the mercy killing of her ailing married lover, Canadian doctor in London serves 18 months behind bars, only to be hired by the prosecutor once she's released. His child-like wife requires a companion after suffering brain damage from a car accident, but the doctor (very slowly) discovers the wife's real problem is mental illness, specifically paranoid schizophrenia. Middling adaptation of Audrey Erskine-Lindop's 1958 novel, ostensibly a good vehicle for star Susan Hayward, though she's rather colorless as the physician who uncovers a house full of secrets. Moderately engrossing melodrama, handsomely produced on-___location in London and Ireland, but saddled with a far-fetched explanation at the finish line. ** from ****

This movie was filmed in Crookhaven, a small fishing village (pop. 38) in West Cork. The village pub, O'Sullivan's Bar, has a large number of stills from the film on its walls. Many of the villagers were employed as extras in the film and some of them still live in the village. The current owner of the bar, Billy O'Sullivan, is pictured in one of the stills with Diane Cilento.

Two of the more competent actors of their era were Peter Finch and Susan Hayward who star in this film shot in the British Isles at MGM's British Studio with some stunning ___location photography.

Academy Award Winner Susan Hayward looking as beautiful as ever inherited this movie after Academy Award Winner Ingrid Bergrman left the project, and Hayward who considered Bergman her favorite actress said"If It's Good Enough For Bergman It is Good Enough For Me". Always professional in her work Susan Hayward was a commanding actress one who dominated every scene Hayward was in. I am not sure I followed the story line of 'I Thank A Fool' and that maybe that Susan Hayward half way during the shoot objected to the Euthanasia theme and the story was a changed, so all of this seems a bit muddled.

This movie is strictly for Susan Hayward fans.

People like me who are Susan Heyward's fans would not miss that."I thank a fool" begins as a melodrama,a genre where Heyward won renown ,but soon becomes a "psychoanalytic " thriller ,in the grand tradition of the forties " Freudian" flicks ("Cat People" "Spellbound" "Gaslight" "secret beyond the door" "dark mirror" "leave her to Heaven" and countless others) with echoes of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" thrown in for good measure.

This does not renew the genre but it is very well acted by the two leads and an excellent supporting cast.The lines are often intriguing ,particularly when Diane Cilento tells Heyward they are both in a prison.The ending is a bit artificial and finally disappointing,compared to those of the movies I mention above,but the movie should appeal to Susan Heyward's fans as well as psychological thrillers buffs.

The premise of I Thank a Fool is very intriguing, so don't be surprised if you rent it on that alone. Add in the cast of Susan Hayward and Peter Finch and you're in for a dramatic treat. Suzy plays a doctor who mercy-kills her boyfriend and gets sent to jail. When she's released, she doesn't know what kind of new life she'll have, since she obviously can't practice medicine anymore. She gets summoned to a large, beautiful estate to interview for a caretaking position. Diane Cilento seems normal enough, but her husband, Peter Finch, says she's not all there. . . Suzy's very reluctant to take the job - because Peter was the prosecutor who sent her to jail in the first place!

This movie really is as exciting as it sounds. I was hoping for a little more romantic tension between the two leads, but it's not that kind of movie. With the exception of the last five minutes, I was riveted and kept wanting to watch more. I'm always forgiving when a movie doesn't end the way I want it to, because you never know what got altered during screenplay revisions, studio insistences, and preview screenings. So, with that in mind, I'll recommend I Thank a Fool for anyone who likes the cast and is in the mood for a drama with a slightly mysterious and thrilling edge to it.