The Country Girl is a surprisingly complicated story with an underlining darkness that I did not expect. This comes from the troubled relationship between Frank and Georgie whose marriage has hit the rocks after their son dies in an accident. Frank, a once famous Broadway star, blames himself for their son's death and has taken to drinking, depression, and an unhealthy reliance on his wife's support. The backdrop to the story involves getting Frank's career back on track as the lead of a new musical, but the heart of matter is in repairing his damaged psyche and relieving Georgie of the immense pressure of holding him together.
Bernie Dodd is the director of a new play and suggests the long forgotten Frank Elgin as the lead. Frank has the reputation as an unreliable drunkard past his prime but Bernie insists that he is the right man for the part. Bernie visits Frank's' home after an audition and is introduced to his wife Georgie, who upon first impression seems too controlling and strong willed for Bernie's taste. Little does he know that she must be this way in order to keep Frank together. The main conflict revolves around Bernie and Georgie's opinion on what is best for Frank and Bernie badly misinterprets her motives and the true depths of Frank's despair. It is only until Bernie looks like a complete a-hole does he realize that Georgie has been helping Frank all along.
As I said before this film is surprisingly dark because of just how pitiful Frank's character is. He takes his wife for granted yet is utterly dependent on her, lies to everyone including himself about his problems, and is a complete mess and that is even before you consider the drinking problem. Georgie's problems are no easier; she must take care of her helpless husband, trapped in this life for years and is looked upon by others like Bernie as being the root of Frank's problems. Her one wish is to see Frank be able to stand on his own two feet again. It is only then that they will be able to return to a normal life again.
I thought The Country Girl was well acted by the three leads, Bing Crosby as Frank, William Holden as Bernie and Grace Kelly who won an Academy Award for best actress in her role as Georgie. I am a huge Grace Kelly fan and enjoyed watching her give a strong and emotional performance. The film is all about these three characters' interactions with each other and they work well together.
The film does take a surprising shift later on in the film that I did not agree with at all, but was happy that it corrected itself. A potential romance brews between Bernie and Georgie, which in real life you wouldn't really think twice about if you read about it in the news somewhere, but when you throw in Frank's personal crisis, I thought it would have been in really bad taste for Georgie to leave him for Bernie who was a total dick to her throughout the movie anyways. I liked that after ten years of suffering together, Frank and Georgie are given a chance to be happy together again.
Grade: B+
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