A somewhat icky soap opera about a young girl (Joan Fontaine) who's in love with a family friend (Charles Boyer) and waits around for him to realize he's in love with her too before she drops dead of one of those mysterious things people dropped dead from in melodramas from the 1940s.
If "The Constant Nymph" isn't super icky, it's only because Fontaine is obviously way too old to be playing the age she does (I could never figure out just how old she's supposed to be, but not out of her teens when the movie starts) and because she does such a bad job of playing that age that her character comes across as more mentally deranged than immature. In the film's first few minutes, there's a brief moment where her character leans over in pain and clutches her side, and from there you know it's only a matter of time before she kicks the bucket. Waiting around for that to happen is a bit of a dull affair, but the film is nice to look at and has Charles Coburn to offer, and he's always a welcome presence. I suppose fans of either Boyer or Fontaine will find more to like about this film than I did, but I've never been crazy about either one of them.
Fontaine received her third and final Oscar nomination for Best Actress for this movie.
Grade: B
If "The Constant Nymph" isn't super icky, it's only because Fontaine is obviously way too old to be playing the age she does (I could never figure out just how old she's supposed to be, but not out of her teens when the movie starts) and because she does such a bad job of playing that age that her character comes across as more mentally deranged than immature. In the film's first few minutes, there's a brief moment where her character leans over in pain and clutches her side, and from there you know it's only a matter of time before she kicks the bucket. Waiting around for that to happen is a bit of a dull affair, but the film is nice to look at and has Charles Coburn to offer, and he's always a welcome presence. I suppose fans of either Boyer or Fontaine will find more to like about this film than I did, but I've never been crazy about either one of them.
Fontaine received her third and final Oscar nomination for Best Actress for this movie.
Grade: B