Academy Awards, USA 1957
| Nominee Oscar | Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Helen Rose |
MGM
Directed by Henry Koster
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)
Robert Taylor is the vice president of a New York mining company. His overbearing and demanding boss Burl Ives sends him to London to close a deal where he intends a hostile take over of the unsuspecting company. Taylor reluctantly agrees, since he is being groomed to take over the company and marry the bosses' niece. In London, he can't go through with the deal when the other executives trust him at his word. In the meantime, he falls in love with a local musician, a refugee from Austria. Her fiery personality clashes with his calm one, but she eventually succumbs to his lavish gifts and persistence. They get engaged but he has to go back to New York. His boss is incensed at the failed deal and refuses to sign a letter necessary to get her a visa. He manipulates Taylor into either resigning or being fired at the next board meeting. However, Taylor has a strong ally in another board member and the tables are turned. Ives is cast against type and is great as the relentless boss without a conscience. Taylor is steady as always. The story is a bit dated today, but still an entertaining study of the corrupting influence of power, and the healing power of love.
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