All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Two fabulous actresses are absolutely wasted in this dreadful sex melodrama that was probably too forgettable to end up on critic's worst list. Patricia Neal tries her best to add class into this tasteless combination of sisterly rivalry and smut that I label "A Patch of Blue Movies". Patricia is a blind woman trying to remember what lead her to become blind, unaware that her husband (Curt Bergens) is trying to seduce her much younger sister (Samantha Eggar) who taunts him while Neal blindly sits by, unaware at first. But the blind have great insight, one thing that the film did get right, and if you haven't nodded off by the time Neal figures this out, then you might go into shock that something with thought behind it just happened.This is painful to get through, a combination of its trashiness and abuse to Neal's character. From her husband, sister, harridan mother in law. They are all slime. Films that utilize sex to move the plot forward or develop one are fine, but this one seems to be getting off on its perversion. I admire Neal for taking on bold roles, but this one makes me winder what she saw when she read the script.

Patricia Neal is a blind married woman, who's a victim of hysterical blindness, a term for blindness that is caused by psychological reasons, instead of anything really wrong with the eyes. It seems she was traumatized by something and refused to see things the way they really were. By way of how she relates to sister Samantha Eggar and husband Curt Jurgens, we enter her world. I read one review of this movie that called it turgid. I was never sure what turgid meant. And. sometimes the dictionary only tells you a synonym type of definition, with not enough of an explanation. But if turgid means to tell a story with exaggeration instead of subtlety. Then, I would agree to an extent, but I think this type of film, the story itself, the mood and setting, and its way of telling the story all go well together, up to a point. Things certainly get worse, before they get better. But I liked Ms. Neal's performance (as usual) and I particularly liked the ending, instead of getting a startling and shocking climax which the film feels like it's heading for. It may not be much on the whole, but I would watch this over and the family dynamic and dysfunction only adds to its appeal as a curiosity piece for the Patricia Neal fans.

With the death of Patricia Neal this month (August 2010), I took some time to research her life, past the obvious facts I had known about: i.e., the affair with Gary Cooper; the marriage to famous children's author Roald Dahl; divorce in 1982; respectable career continuing into her 70's; death at 84.PSYCHE 59 is a film which I saw on television years ago, and I found it very disturbing, because of its themes of betrayal and animalistic sexuality. Patricia Neal's performance was terrifying in its precision.But now I realize that just a year after its release is when Neal suffered her strokes. In a way, her life, and that of her daughter, Tessa, mirrored this film. Let me explain.Neal became an invalid, of course, and her dramatic recovery is usually ascribed to the caring discipline of her husband. However, Raould Dahl, who died in 1990, is now known to have been a promiscuous British spy, part of whose duties involved bedding wealthy and well connected American women, married to movers and shakers, in order to pry information from them during WWII, when the Allies never quite completely trusted their U.S. rescuers. At the same time, he made valuable contacts which helped him to promote himself as a writer in the late 1940's.Dahl started out as a short story writer, quickly rising to the top echelon with works published in The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker for example. He started writing children's books after his marriage to Neal which, while immensely successful, do admittedly have macabre overtones, so popular today.But in 1965 Neal, not quite 40, became more of a burden than a marriage partner to her dashing husband, whom so many women found irresistible.Roald had dabbled in alcohol and drugs earlier in the relationship, after the death of their eldest daughter Olivia, age 7. Her death left him shattered, and it is reported he gave barbiturates to his next eldest daughter, Tessa, to keep her under control. Tessa grew up to become a drug addict and alcoholic. Tessa's own daughter, the beautiful Sophie Dahl, apparently has dated her mother's old boyfriends.I am not making any of this up. I simply 'Googled' Neal, Dahl, Tessa Dahl, and Sophie Dahl, and read several articles listed on the first page of each search.At the time of her divorce from Raold Dahl, Neal revealed that she had discovered he had been carrying on an affair with Felicity Crosland, a friend of hers who had worked on her first commercial for Maxim Coffee, behind the scenes. Dahl confessed the affair in 1982, and demanded Neal leave their home in England, which they had shared for 30 years. She did so. He quickly married his mistress and moved her in.Neal also shared that it was very hard for her to accept the additional discovery that her own children had known about his connection with Crosland and hidden the facts from their mother. Tessa at the age of 16 evidently overheard a passionate phone conversation between the lovers. Her father Raold, in words I won't repeat here, told the girl if she said a word she would be thrown out on the street.PSYCHE 59 is a film with tremendous unspoken tensions. I suspect that Patricia Neal and her children suffered greatly. In fact, Neal's 'blindness' to her husband's long affair is similar in an uncanny way to the blindness of the wife in PSYCHE 59.In this case, did 'Life Mirror Film'? Or was Patricia Neal conveying to her husband, in a non-threatening way, that she really knew what he was up to? Raold didn't meet Felicity Crosland until around 1972, but it is more than likely he had other adulterous relationships over the years also.In her magnificent career, Patricia Neal excelled, as most actresses do, when she tapped deeply and honestly into her own psyche.

Made at a time when psychological dramas were enjoying popularity and at a stage when what could be depicted on screen was being tested with each new film, this movie showcases the talents of its star trio fairly well. Neal plays a blind woman, married to Jurgens, who is blind not because of any substantial injury or illness, per se, but because she has suffered some sufficient mental trauma to render her sightless – hysterical blindness. Her husband dotes on her while simultaneously seeming to resent her. Things get even stickier when Neal invites her baby sister Eggar back home to live with them. Eggar dates family friend Bannen, who already has a flirtatious rapport with Neal, while Jurgens struggles with an attraction to Eggar. Eggar, an unbelievably brazen and selfish person, leads him on deliberately, sometimes right under the nose of her sight-impaired sister. When Neal and Eggar head out to the country to visit grandmother March, with the gentlemen soon joining them, things take on a more upsetting tone, culminating in yet another traumatic series of events which call Neal's vision into question again. Neal, fresh off an Oscar win for "Hud," is captivating to watch here and retains most of the film's focus. Jurgens, although top-billed, is somewhat less central though he does an excellent job. His steely eyes are well-served by the stark black and white cinematography (which is wonderful throughout.) Eggar is impossibly young and delectable. She shows off an array of 60s fashions and hairstyles, but also gives a strong performance in a role that could have been played very one-dimensionally. Bannen is likable and solid in his less-than-magnetic character. He has the bad luck to be in love with a vixen. March portrays with some degree of restraint the highly atypical grandmother who seems almost devoid of affection and doesn't hand out praise easily. This type of film will not appeal to all viewers as it is at times heavy-handed and strains to be artsy. However, for those willing to take it in, it's a very interesting and engrossing piece. Certainly, the work of the three leads is very strong. In the second half, the focus gets blurry, the pace begins to drag and the motivations of the characters get a bit cloudy, but there are some great moments of tension and anxiety on display. A heavily dramatic score by Kenneth Jones punctuates the opening credits and the emotional scenes. Fans of the leads really can't afford to miss out on it.