Tonight's Movie: Nora Prentiss (1947) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

I've recently had the chance to revisit a few movies for the first time in years, the latest being NORA PRENTISS (1947).

I last saw NORA PRENTISS, which was just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection, in 2009.

It's the story of a bored, respectable doctor, Richard Talbot (Kent Smith). He has a successful San Francisco medical practice with his partner, Dr. Joel Merriam (Bruce Bennett), plus a wife (Rosemary DeCamp) and two children (Robert Arthur and Wanda Hendrix).

Dr. Talbot meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss (Ann Sheridan) after she has an accident, and very soon he's ready to chuck his entire existence out the window in order to start over with Nora. 

Nora, for her part, is blissfully unaware of just how far Richard will go to be with her: He uses the death of a patient (John Ridgely) with no family to stage his own death in an "accident," never thinking about the fact that he'll never be able to practice medicine again, let alone legally marry Nora. Nora, having thought he was divorcing his wife, is in for quite a shock when she learns the truth.

And, believe it or not, there's still much more to the plot I won't go into here...

As I wrote in 2009, this film gets very dark, but it's also very interesting, with a top cast. I've never been much of a fan of Smith, but he's good here as the depressed, lovelorn doctor, and Sheridan is extremely effective as a woman who loves deeply yet wrongly; it's a fully rounded performance as a woman who is likeable yet quite imperfect.

I'd add the film is rather interesting for its era, as it's quite clear Richard and Nora are having a heated affair and later living together.

Nora would have been much smarter to drop her relationship with Richard, especially with handsome nightclub owner Phil Dinardo (Robert Alda) carrying a torch for her, but if she'd done that we'd have no movie. The excellent final shot, with Phil waiting for Nora in the San Francisco fog, is terrific.

My overall feelings regarding the movie were pretty much unchanged since my last viewing 15 years ago. The supporting cast is where the film especially works for me, with Bennett and DeCamp each excellent. I wish Bennett had had a few more scenes as the initially irresponsible bachelor doctor who proves he's ultimately more mature than his "late" partner, consoling Lucy and putting together the mysterious pieces of Richard's life.

DeCamp is wonderful as a woman who's too tied up in her own life to pay much attention to her relationship with her husband, but when the chips are down and he forgets their daughter's birthday, you can see how much she truly loves both her husband and daughter as she makes things right. That scene particularly makes one wish that Richard had decided to recommit himself to his marriage, as it seems Lucy has awakened to the trouble their marriage is in.

Beyond the performances, the film has some very good San Francisco locations and superb black and white photography by James Wong Howe.

All in all, it's a well-done 111 minutes, directed by Vincent Sherman and scored by Franz Waxman. The screenplay was by N. Richard Nash, based on a story by Paul Webster and Jack Sobell.

The Warner Archive Collection previously released this film on DVD in 2009.

The sharp Blu-ray print is outstanding, showing off the film's beautiful black and white shooting to great effect. Sound quality is also very good.

Extras consist of the trailer; a 10-minute Joe McDoakes short, SO YOU THINK YOU'RE A NERVOUS WRECK (1946); and the Bugs Bunny cartoon THE BIG SNOOZE (1946).

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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