[7]

Montgomery Clift stars as a Tennessee Valley Authority officer tasked with convincing a stubborn old woman to leave her family’s home before implementation of a new dam floods her property. Elia Kazan directs, reuniting with Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden) as the old woman. Much of the film was shot on location and I love the setting, captured in Cinemascope and DeLuxe color. The film has an effortless beauty about it. Van Fleet is wonderful as the hillbilly matriarch. She commands the screen without having to try too hard. Another great thing about the movie is Lee Remick. Remick plays Van Fleet’s granddaughter and Clift’s best hope for convincing the family to leave. At first I groaned that act two was going to predictably focus on a love-relationship between Clift and Remick, but Kazan keeps it interesting. The attraction remains largely unspoken and is allowed to unfold in unique locations, from a slow-moving river ferry to an abandoned house. The weakest link is Clift himself, seeming out of sorts as he often does. He doesn’t drag the movie down, but I can’t help thinking someone else might have been able to make more of an impression with such a low-key, off-beat movie as this one.