THE LOST MOMENT (1947)

Famous author Jeffrey Ashton disappeared mysteriously back in 1843. Many years later, American publisher Lewis Venable (Robert Cummings) hears from poet Charles Russell that Ashton's lover Juliana may still be alive, albeit over 100 years old, and may be in possession of infamous love letters from Ashton that have been long sought by publishers. Lewis goes to Venice and contacts Charles who puts him in touch with Juliana (Agnes Moorehead). Very old and feeble, but in need of money, she agrees to let Lewis, who is posing as a writer, rent a room at her villa. The old woman's grand-niece and caretaker Tina (Susan Hayward) is not happy about the situation, and the family priest, a sort of unofficial caretaker from afar, tells Lewis that the two women live in a fragile balance. As Lewis tries to soften both Juliana and Tina up as he searches for the letters, life in the decaying villa takes on a Gothic aura, what with mysterious piano music, a wandering cat, a blackmail attempt by Charles, and the startling discovery that Tina has a split personality: at night, the uptight Tina literally lets her hair down and takes on the earthier persona of the young Juliana, and begins flirting with Lewis, thinking that he is Jeffrey Ashton. When Lewis talks to the priest about this, the priest suggests that if Tina could find love with someone in real life, she might be cured of her disorder. Could Lewis, who is in the house under false pretenses, be that person? What will he do if he does indeed find the love letters? And can he figure out what happened to Ashton?

This is a very loose adaptation of Henry James' novella The Aspern Papers. The basic situation is the same but the movie is much more melodramatic, especially at the end. The best things about this movie are the elaborate sets and the Gothic atmosphere, conjuring up, on occasion, movies like GASLIGHT and REBECCA. The script, as melodramatic as it gets, is fine, but the performances could be better. Cummings is a lightweight who can get by in comedy but not much else (the exception is THE BLACK BOOK) and he's not really convincing here; he mistakes passivity for subtlety and more or less sleepwalks through the movie until the end. Agnes Moorehead is present in only a handful of scenes, mostly shot from behind (perhaps because the filmmakers didn't trust her old-age make-up, she's only seen clearly in a couple of shots) so she is not used to her full potential. Hayward (pictured with Cummings) is OK, but she has only two modes: severe and repressed (as Tina) or wild and sexy (as her alter ego), so the part doesn't feel fully inhabited. John Archer is good as Charles Russell, as is Eduardo Ciannelli as the priest, but neither has terribly much to do. This is the only movie directed by Martin Gabel, better known (if at all nowadays) as a Broadway producer and a panelist on TV's What’s My Line, along with his famous wife Arlene Francis. For all its actorly problems, it's a very watchable movie. I'd certainly watch another movie by Gabel. [Blu-Ray]