Two for the Road
“Hollywood has never given us a smarter,
more elegant, or more touching movie about
the making, mauling, and mending of a marriage.”
With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, a reverie and revisit to one of my favorite movies of all time dedicated to a valentine I foolishly lost to youth, naivete and fecklessness. The little known and under appreciated Two for the Road with the heart-stoppingly gorgeous Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney who plays her loutish charmer of a husband.
Directed with great style and humor by Stanley Donen, who is best known for “Singin’ In The Rain” it dazzles with a lot of rushing around France in assorted cars, ranging from an antique MG to a Mercedes 300; swimming on beaches near St. Tropez, eating in restaurants hanging high in the hills above Antibes and visiting posh villas. It’s the height of late-60′s glamour.
The performances of Finney and Hepburn may well be the finest of their careers. Finney is tempestuous, goofy, flirtacious, sullen, hurt, warm and happy. Hepburn is a shy gamin, a coquette, a frolic, an adventuress, a recontrite lover, and a loving and bemused wife.
Frederic Raphael was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay and the film’s beautiful score is a masterpiece by Henry Mancini nominated for best original score for a Golden Globe award.
I adore this film. And you’re right about it being little known. Hepburn and Finney at their best and Jaqueline Bissett’s a nice touch.
classic … with a Valentine or without