Tender is the Night

Erratic adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic
A psychiatrist (Jason Robards) in a Swiss clinic on the verge of a brilliant career falls in love with one of his patients, an heiress (Jennifer Jones) with schizophrenic tendencies. Against his better judgement, he marries her and it proves his undoing. Directed by Henry King and based on the celebrated novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the film only glosses over the complexities and layers of Fitzgerald's work. Actually, if there had been no Fitzgerald's TENDER IS THE NIGHT, the film might have been more impressive. To the film's credit, it doesn't shy away from the incest theme which may have seemed too provocative for 1962 audiences. Indeed, the film is quite frank including a sequence of a father taking his gay son to Robards' psychiatrist to be "cured" of his homosexuality. The fragile Nicole seems like the role Jennifer Jones was born to play, so it's a pity that it happened about 15 years too late. Jones looks smashing in her 1920s garb and bobbed hair but she's clearly a matron...

Glossy CinemaScope reduced to a 4:3 stream.
F. Scott Fitzgerald isn't the best basis for a glossy 50's CinemaScope soap opera, but that doesn't mean you won't get a trashy melodrama that is definitely worth the wallow. Jennifer Jones and Jason Robards almost play themselves here, and the location work is impressive. The sassy and uber sexy Jill St. John is a plum asset, and there is a moody Bernard Herrmann score that's better than the picture. Hardly a waste of time, but sadly, this streaming version is a worthless 4:3, pan-and-scan version, albeit with fine DeLuxe color and the original 4-track stereo mix.

Don't Buy This DVD-R
This wonderful film has an old transfer - it is Panned and Scanned with a 4:3 aspect ratio.
It is outrageous for Fox Archives to publish this movie without a good widescreen transfer.
Contrast this release with Warner Bros. Archives: I have dozens of their titles, all correctly
transferred.

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