To Have and to Hold

Another early Hammer film watched for the "House of Hammer" Podcast was this, 1951 . . . Melodrama? It's described as a melodrama in the summary, though I'd say that gives it more credit that it warrants.

Brian (Patrick Barr) has married into a formally wealthy family that has fallen on less opulent times. His business dealings have made the family profitable again, much to the chagrin of his brother and sister-in-law Robert (Harry Fine) and Roberta (Ellen Pollock). Though the relationship is generally positive, his wife June (Avis Scott) has been having an affair. Brian is seriously injured in a fall from a horse, and told he will soon die from paralysis which is worsening. Rather than burden his wife, he decides to keep if from her, and be increasingly mean, to push her into the arms of her lover Max (Robert Ayres).

My problem with this one was that it started and, I felt, did a reasonable job of introducing its characters and the central idea - but then, from there, the film never really kicked on. It's essentially all the first act of a more traditional three act structure. The premise is explained but then nothing happens to hinder Brian's plan - even the arrival of Max's daughter doesn't so much as put even the smallest bump in the road. Robert and Roberta should be the antagonists, I suppose - but it's hard to see exactly where they should sit as opposition.

Once I reached it's abrupt, and unsatisfying, ending I couldn't help but feel that this was all a little pointless and that I'd wasted my time. There's nothing especially wrong with the performances, cinematography or scene setting, but it's all in service of a story I didn't do enough to make me care about it.