Loss of Innocence

All three stars are magnificent in this story of a young girl, guardian of her young siblings during a nearly idyllic Summer in France. Kenneth More is devastating as an aging jewel thief. Danielle Darrieux is even better. Romanticas and truth-seekers of all angels will love this film.

Susannah York is amazing in her breakthrough role in this charming adaptation of Rumer Godden's novel, directed with far more sensitivity than you'd have anticipated from Lewis Gilbert. Ravishingly photographed by Freddie Young on summery locations with a typically graceful score by Richard Addinsell and a performance by Kenneth More as a charming crook that makes it only too easy to understand why the ladies love him.

Next to A Man For All Seasons, this is the best-scripted movie it has ever been my pleasure to watch, then read, then watch again. And every performance from the three leads on down is perfect. The photography and direction are also first-rate. The result is a flawlessly told coming-of-age tale exquisitely acted by Susannah York with able assistance by Kenneth More and Danielle Darrieux.

This film is a distant memory of Sunday afternoons in my teens when this film was still played in the UK. How can we get it released on video? The innocence of the girl falling in love with the thief, it was gripping. ten out of ten

Marvelously directed and acted, this tale tugs on my heartstrings as much today as thirty years ago. I last saw it on a PA PBS affiliate five years ago, but it still remains vivid in my mind. Kenneth More is utterly enchanting, and Daniel Darrieux is sadder-but-wiser personified. Susannah York is outstanding in her first role, and the young actors playing her younger siblings also sparkle. Lewis Gilbert is one of my favorite English directors and this film is a good reason why. If anyone had found its availability on tape or DVD, please let me know.

Saw this film in a last-run unspooling at a neighborhood Los Angeles theater and was stunned by the overpowering sensuality of its cinematics. More than four decades later, I can still recall the sun- and moon-drenched humidity of a Midi summer, and the flowering of an adolescent Susannah York in the precincts of a charismatic Kenneth More, at his charming best. That this film is no longer recognized in latterday compendia of film is something beyond my understanding, even in the resumes of both stars. Someone, surely, should resurrect same in the DVD mode, completely "remastered," and I, for one, would cheerfully plunk down my admission fee. This one, and maybe "Reds" as well.