Llanto del corazón

This is an odd, somewhat offbeat film, best appreciated if you're in the mood for a satisfying guilty pleasure. It helps to have a certain taste for this sort of thing - an atmospheric adult melodrama of the kind they don't make anymore. The plot meanders and the suspense falls flat, but there's enough going on to keep the viewer interested. Susan Hayward looks beautiful and though she has a tendency to overact in many of her movies, here she's a bit more subdued while still maintaining her tough-as-nails persona. Peter Finch brings his reliably commanding presence to his role. Diane Cilento looks great and gets to act crazy. The ending tries to be a clever twist but is rather ludicrous, just like the rest of the film. Overall "I Thank a Fool" provides a pleasant diversion.

When I go two-thirds of the way through a mystery film and can't figure out where a film is going, I wonder if it's just me, or if there's not a logical progression of a plot line. In this case, since I had read a bit about the film in advance, my confusion was because that logical progression of a plot line was missing. What the heck does the title mean? Also not logical. And then, in the last 15 minutes, everything is pulled together...just a little too easily and slickly. Having said all that, there were two positives -- great scenery in Ireland, and the typical feisty performance of Susan Hayward. Peter Finch was very good, also. Fortunately, I can enjoy a bad film when Susan Hayward is in it. Otherwise, I'd be disappointed that I spent two hours on this film.

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 ****

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.

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.