Desire Me * (1947, Greer Garson, Robert Mitchum, Richard Hart) – Classic Movie Review 7145

Robert Mitchum stars as the presumed dead soldier Paul Aubert, who comes home to Brittany from war service in World War Two to find his battle and German prison camp buddy Jean (Richard Hart, from the Broadway stage) in the arms of his wife, Marise (Greer Garson).

MGM’s 1947 flashback-driven film Desire Me was a troubled production and that shows in a stale, dreary, uninspired romantic melodrama adapted from Leonhard Frank’s play Karl and Anna, already made into a flop silent film. What could have been a sweet and simple story got into a terrible mess. Director Cukor disliked making the picture and eventually disowned it after MGM’s tinkerings and reshot scenes by Mervyn LeRoy, Jack Conway and Victor Saville, and it was released without a director credit for him or anyone else.

A miscast Mitchum is particularly uncomfortable, and he makes a poor double act with Garson, who is not seen at her best either, though the romantic emotional material should be ideal for her.

Greer Garson in Desire Me (1947).

It is often regarded as MGM’s worst film up to that time, and Loew’s Inc chairman Nicholas Schenck soon brought producer Dore Schary back to the studio from RKO to groom him as Louis B Mayer’s replacement.

Also in the cast are Morris Ankrum, George Zucco as Father Donnard, Cecil Humphreys as Dr Leclair, David Hoffman, Stanley Andrews, Earle Hodgins, Edward Keane, Mitchell Lewis, Josephine Victor and Sam Ash.

Florence Bates, Clinton Sundberg and Harry Woods had their scenes deleted.

Desire Me is directed by George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, Jack Conway and Victor Saville (all uncredited), runs 90 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Marguerite Roberts, Zoe Akins and Casey Robinson (adaptation), adapted from Leonhard Frank’s play Karl and Anna, shot in black and white by Joseph Ruttenberg, produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr, scored by Herbert J Stothart, and designed by Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary,

Mitchum often spoke badly of the movie and alleged it took Garson 125 takes to say ‘no’ to the director’s satisfaction, saying this was when he stopped taking Hollywood seriously.

More seriously, during filming, an ocean current carried off Garson and Hart, who almost drowned. The wave swept them along the jagged rocks of the Monterey coast, inflicting bad bruises, cuts and back problems on Garson that required endless surgeries and hospital visits.

An unhappy Robert Montgomery quit the production and was replaced by Richard Hart.

There is no happy ending: the film earned $1,451,000 in North America and $1,125,000 elsewhere for a $2,576,000 worldwide take but, because if its enormous cost, MGM recorded a huge loss of $2,440,000.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7145

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