From the Terrace

Starring:Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Myrna Loy, Ina Balin, Leon Ames, Elizabeth Allen, Barbara Eden, George Grizzard, Patrick O'Neal, Felix Aylmer, Raymond Greenleaf, Malcolm Atterbury, Raymond Bailey, Ted de Corsia, Howard Caine, Kathryn Givney, Marie Blake, Dorothy Adams, Joe Forte, Cecil Elliott
Director: Mark Robson
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

From the Terrace is one of Paul Newman's lesser-known films, but it's a worthy showcase for the actor's developing screen persona. Like Butterfield 8, this is a slick, prestigious adaptation of a John O'Hara novel, about loose morals and forbidden love among the wealthy elite. Director Mark Robson lacks the mastery of melodrama that Douglas Sirk would've brought to this material, but he's still on target with O'Hara's tale of a prodigal son (Newman) who rejects his late father's steel mill in favor of big-business conquest, only to find his trophy wife (superbly played by Newman's off-screen wife, Joanne Woodward) straying into the arms of her former fiancé, while he falls in love with a socialite (Ina Balin) with whom he's much more compatible. A well-tuned drama of marital discord and unchecked ambition, From the Terrace was sharply adapted by Ernest Lehman between the triumphs of North by Northwest and West Side Story, and Newman's brooding performance gave him a solid boost to his iconic role in the 1961 classic The Hustler. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Paul Newman portrays a young man whose struggle for success threatens his personal happiness, in this well-scripted screen version of John O'Hara's best-selling novel. Having never known his father's love or respect, Alfred Eaton (Newman) sets out to prove himself in the business world. Marrying the "right" woman (Joanne Woodward), he works unceasingly, but is ultimately confronted with crises and choices that force him to rethink his priorities. Co-starring Myrna Loy as Alfred's alcoholic mother, Leon Ames as his embittered father, and Ina Balin as the woman who might bring him genuine happiness, From The Terrace is an absorbing tale of ambition, power and love fueled by sharp dialogue, complex characterizations and keen insight into the human heart.

Customer Reviews:

Good Stuff!.......2007-05-07

Though I'm sure this was Quite racy in its day, the ideas and ideals expressed are just as relative to today's world and people. What priorties do we set in our own lives? Who suffers from our failures? And are we prepared to accept the consequences of our actions and desicions?

Good stuff!

Gift for Grandma.......2007-03-30

My grandmother mentioned that she loves this film. Of course, I had to find it for her. She called me as soon as she received it and said she was watching it that very moment and she couldn't thank me enough.

Striff.......2007-01-19

From The Terrace is excellant. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are always great together, but Ina Balin is sexy and very much in love with Paul. Joanne really plays the spoiled wife at her very best, and Paul drops everything for Ina. A good story, will keep you interested from the first glance. (I am a romantic!) This movie was a gift to a friend, she thanked me highly!!

From the Terrace.......2007-01-12

My favorite movie, Paul Newman at his best, Joanne Woodward a steely ice maiden.

Despite your best efforts, you often become your parents.......2007-01-12

I didn't see what other reviewers apparently saw in this film. I did not see the moral of the film so much concerning the price of success as it being that despite your best efforts, you are often doomed to become your parents. At the beginning of the film, Alfred returns home after the second World War to renounce his father because he has, in Alfred's opinion, ignored his mother while strictly attending to business to the point where his mother has become an adulterous lush. Ten or fifteen years later, Alfred has ignored his own wife while climbing the corporate ladder until his own lonely wife has become an adulterous lush. The only crime of his father's he does not commit is to produce offspring that can be dragged into the mess his life has become. One person with a more warped moral code than either Alfred or Mary seems to be Alfred's boss. While eating lunch he casually informs Alfred of Mary's affair with an old flame. When Alfred reacts by saying that he intends to divorce Mary, his boss warns him against such an action. To Alfred's boss, Mary's behavior isn't a moral failing or a cry for attention - it is an unforgivable breach of etiquette. Overall, the main characters in this film lack redeeming characteristics to the point where the movie almost becomes a film noir soap opera. There are still solid performances by both Newman and Woodward, and it is still worth seeing 47 years after it was made. After all, the idle rich and the mistakes they keep making over and over have not changed that much after nearly half a century.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

In the Line of Fire

Simple Life 2: Road Trip

Brainy Baby: French (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Amadeus - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Jean Renoir