Leofwine_draca
PSYCHE 59 is a film I really struggled with. It's posited as a blind-woman-in-peril thriller, and even B-movies in that particular genre are pretty good and enjoyable; it says something that they're still making them even now, long after they first gained popularity in the 1950s. Sadly, this movie goes for the pseudo highbrow, psychological, arty approach and as a result it's a vapid mess. It reminded me of some of those dull and dated Pinter adaptations that critics rave about and viewers snore over. This one's a four-hander in which Patricia Neal goes blind for no real reason while her shady husband Curt Jurgens looks after her. Samantha Eggar gets the most memorable role as a saucepot, regularly stripping to her underwear; her sexuality is the most important thing in the movie and the only memorable thing about it. Ian Bannon feels a bit extraneous although strives hard in his early role. The film is slow, talky, and lacking in any kind of suspense or atmosphere; a dud, in other words.
Martin Bradley
As had so often been the case in the past the best thing about Alexander Singer's "Psyche '59" is Walter Lassally's luminous cinematography. This British drama revolves around Patricia Neal, blinded in an accident but aware that her blindness is psychosomatic and not physical. She's married to Curd Jurgens and has a flightly younger sister, (Samantha Eggar), who comes to stay. There's a fourth character played by Ian Bannen who wanders in and out of their lives.The movie wasn't a success despite its excellent cast and has virtually disappeared. Singer came to the film fresh from his cult classic "A Cold Wind in August" and perhaps more was expected of him than he delivered. It doesn't really work as a thriller; plot-wise it's something of a one-trick pony and outside of its cast of four there is no-one to latch on to and consequently few red herrings. It might have worked as a tale of sisterly rivalry if it wasn't so banal and what almost amounts to a subplot involving Bannen's character almost proves more interesting.It's not really a bad film, (though the ending is gob-smackingly awful), just a very strange one and it's easy to see why it flopped. It's the kind of film that might appeal to the so-called intelligensia looking for meanings that aren't really there. See it by all means; just don't expect too much.
mark.waltz
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.
cynkat
I am amazed at these comments. I love Pat Neal, which is why I recorded this film, but I could not even get through it. The dialogue is cringe worthy, and the camera work, which I assume is meant to be artistic, is obnoxious. PN is great as usual, but all the characters around her seem like they are in a different movie. Sam Eggar has never impressed me with her acting ability and her super bitch femme fatale persona fell flat. Eric was wooden and the character was uninteresting; it is hard to imagine any woman would find him irresistible... The whole "feel" of the film made me wince. It reminded me of those bad movies from the fifties that tried so hard to be hip, and came out cheesy.
AD
