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Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Redundant and unnecessary.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The movie follows the book beautifully, with the requisite changes to make it fit ( I do not agree with them all). Jones' performance, especially during the first half of this long movie is sharp and refreshing. If one had any doubts about Jill Saint John's acting ability, this early role would easily dispel them ( again, reading the book first is a must). The cinematography holds one's interest, even when the action slows down. This film is not for one who needs blood and sex every other scene, but how such a classic film as this has been largely forgotten is more of a comment on our 21st century culture than on the qualities of this gem. Be prepared for a thoughtful study and adaptation of Fitzgerald's work, not immediate gratification ( although Jones and saint John do provide sufficient eye candy, as should Jason Robards for the ladies ) .

**spoiler alert**This movie does not have the greatest reputation in the world. I'd read that Jennifer Jones was too old to play Nicole, that she overacts, that she has no chemistry with Jason Robards, that it was too long, etc.Well don't believe it!It DID take me several attempts to watch the whole thing, but that nothing to do with the movie, that had to do with something else. WhenI finally saw the whole thing all the way through, I enjoyed it very much and questioned why it does not have more admirers.It explores many themes, thoughtfully and without exploitation. Should a doctor romance his patient? When does the patient stop being a patient, exactly, and start being a person? Nicole meets Dick in a sanitarium. She's there for a variety of reasons, none of which sister Joan Fontaine really care to discuss. It has something to do with their father. Nicole eventually is released and runs into Dick years later, and they get married. They have a wonderful life and two children but it starts to fall apart. Not because of Nicole's mental state - actually, as it turns out, she becomes the stable one. But a friend of theirs (Tom Ewell, making a fool of himself as a chronic drunk) dies, their daughter almost dies from alcohol poisoning, and Dick is see with an actress (Jill St. John) at a brawl in a café and their picture makes all the front pages.Jennifer Jones is prone to be very mannered. In spite of them she's still a favorite, but here she's really very good, she's not too old to play the part, and her chemistry with Robards is believable. Fontaine doesn't do much but enjoy her own wardrobe. As I mentioned, Ewell is a drunk but his death scene (or, rather, the circumstances surrounding it) are the worse thing in the movie. Jill St. John is first seen as a youngster but she matures as the movie progresses..unfortunately, her acting does not improve. At over 2 1/2 hours, its an investment, but worth your time. Now I want to watch it again. 8/10.

When this was released I managed to see most films first-run, except the ones clearly aimed at my age group. (Such a snob, n'est-ce pas?!?) So, being a fan of both Jennifer and Joan, I went to a Los Angeles-area theater with top-notch projection and sound. Back then Twentieth-Century Fox rarely stinted on sending companies to the actual locales of the stories being filmed, so this one has plenty of its share of gorgeous shots set in Switzerland and elsewhere on the Continent, as I recall.But, as other comments herein attest, the rest is somewhat of a disappointment. Henry King, the director, seemed to encourage Jennifer Jones in some of her less-attractive mannerisms which somehow were not so apt as a rendition of her character's mental distress. Jason Robards, Jr. was never much of a success as a romantic lead, in my opinion. And Joan Fontaine was assigned the rather thankless role of a rich "bitch." All in all it's a prime example of how the studio "system" was growing out of touch with an ever-younger movie audience. Nevertheless for those of us who have always appreciated luxurious eye candy, it was a fairly tasty treat.

David O Selznick was not having much luck with the films he produced from about 1957 onwards.Jennifer Jones, his wife, had just had another flop 5 years before with her previous film, "A Farewell To Arms"(1957), based on the Ernest Hemingway book.Hemingway never approved of the screenplays and filmed results of his work and F Scott Fitzgerald fares no better here with the film of his book, "Tender Is The Night".Maybe with Henry King as director Selznick hoped for better.King had had a hit with Jones in, "Love Is A Many Spendid Thing (1955), but was now rather old and out of touch with modern film direction techniques, especially sophisticated, European genres that were breaking new ground with modern audiences.The story, such as it is, involves the central character, Nicole who is in a psychiatric ward in Zurich, Switzerland in the 1920's.Her doctor, (Dick Diver) played by Jason Robards Jnr. almost cures her so she can leave the clinic.In the process he becomes emotionally involved with her (unprofessional) and a cynic would say it was because Nicole comes from a very wealthy American family where money is no object.He marries Nicole but in the process loses his career drive being seduced by the easy money for which he no longer has to work.Joan Fontaine plays Nicole's elder sister, Baby Warren and ultimately controls the purse strings.To get back his self esteem Dick Diver finally leaves his idle wife and child and returns Stateside to redicover his life's values.The rest of the film justs drifts, showing rich people doing nothing in particular.I felt the film failed mainly because you do not have sympathy for any of the central characters and because the plot line is very sparse.I would have thought Selznick would have learnt his lesson after the previous debacle, mentioned above.