IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

jarrodmcdonald-1 Let me mention Walter Wanger's chilling horror thriller THE LOST MOMENT. Much has been documented about the incredible transformation Agnes Moorehead undergoes in order to convincingly portray a 105 year old Italian woman. But it's the young leads, Robert Cummings and Susan Hayward, who capture and hold our attention, with their unconventional love story in this picture. Hayward has a particularly challenging assignment, playing a woman with multiple identities, but she does it masterfully. Though I think Cummings, who is often not given enough credit, has an equally vulnerable and complex character to play as well.The real star, though, of THE LOST MOMENT is the soundtrack-- where we are treated to all kinds of eerie voices and sinister tones that build to a strange rhythm and fill in the spaces. They reveal a hollowness to us in the form of Wanger's carefully designed Gothic set. There is one scene where Cummings has to run through a courtyard and up a winding staircase, on to a landing above, and over to a door. Of course, the door is bolted shut, but when he quickly looks up-- and we look up with him-- from the cylindrical space overhead we see fly down a frightened bird that dives at him in a state of abject despair. The sounds of the bird's wings flapping, heard as we are mesmerized by the wide-eyed expressions of Cummings, who is out of breath from ascending the steps so quickly, is at once disorienting and richly symbolic. THE LOST MOMENT is filled with many such choreographed scenes.And it is perhaps the final scene, where Moorehead's character, sensing the futility of holding on to love letters from the ancient past, that all the work that has come before in the picture pays off most dramatically. Watch this film and judge for yourself-- but only watch it when you have the uninterrupted time to totally appreciate what its makers are trying to accomplish with this superb cinematic adaptation of Henry James' The Aspern Papers.

owi2001 What is it with this film? If you love cinema, you have to love every movie of the 40s?The acting? poor, very poor. Neither Cummings, nor Hayward are ANY good. And the great Agnes Moorehead, apart from her voice, what acting is there? You hardly ever see her, and never really see her eyes at all.The score? rather conventional, uninspired, haunted-house-kind-of-thing.The story and dialogue? I found the story rather boring and there was never anything that really caught my interest. All very predictable and - again - conventional.The cinematography/production design? is the best thing about this movie. Pretty nice and atmospheric, well done.So thanks to Hal Mohr and Alexander Golitzen this movie is not a total waste of time.

stellarbiz Not since "Green Dolphin Street" have I seen such drawn out melodrama! YUCH! If this is Henry James, I'm glad I don't read his works.The plot is so highly predictable it takes any pleasure out of that aspect of the film. Each seeming plot twist made my nausea even worse. Not even the production values can rescue this laborious waste of time.Cummings and Hayward make a valiant effort, but this is not worth the film used to make it. Agnes Moorehead could have been replaced by Norman Bates' mother and still that would not have improved things any.There is ONE good thing I can say for it... it didn't beat Citizen Kane for dramatic cinematography. Do yourself a favor... SKIP IT SKIP IT SKIP IT!

negevoli-44 I now own this movie and can say it basically still stands up for me as an adult, with the caveat that I first saw it as a child, when it seemed wonderfully mysterious to me. Seeing it recently did not have quite the same effect, but I still enjoyed it very much. One reason is that as an adult I fell in love with Venice and found it to be the most beautiful and colorful of cities, whereas the film, though set in Venice, is dark and noirish. I am sure that has affected my appreciation of this movie. That aside, it is still an effective romantic mystery and manages not to be a tear-jerker. I loved Robert Cummings, both in movies and on TV, and this is one of his best. There was just something about those old-time actors that the new generation(s), by and large, seem to lack. I think maybe the old guys took their work more seriously and maybe the new guys are only interested in the big bucks, nose candy, fast cars, and you fill in the blanks.