The Hasty Heart (1949)

Good concept, poorly executed.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This movie belongs to Richard Todd. This is a must see for any film student. Forget Reagan. He can't act but I had to find this film in a Ronald Reagan film package just to see the Academy nominated performance of Richard Todd. Why we never heard from him again while Reagan has film collections is the absurdity of Hollywood. Richard Todd gave the best performance of the year and should have won the Academy Award. Don't miss this film if you want to study good acting. Patricia Neal is also first rate but the rest of the cast was below average. Reagan is distracting at how bad he is but only makes Todd that much better. The story is so sweet it will tear your heart out and you could spend most of the film crying. It was nice to get away from the war propaganda for half a second in 1949 and see a story that could have happened in any age. This film is among the best of the 40's and Richard Todd deserves a standing ovation.....

"The Hasty Heart" is one of the most effective tearjerkers I know of. In a way, I guess, it could be called manipulative: Having a character we know from the start to be terminally ill is pretty much a sure thing. But this movie earns all its tears.Richard Todd gives a superb performance as the Scottish soldier who is afraid of intimacy. Why he didn't win an Academy Award is a mystery. His performance is as brave as he and the other characters in the movie are portrayed as being.Patricia Neal, too, is excellent. She is a great favorite of mine but that's irrelevant: had she never made another movie, her Sister Parker would be a knockout in American movie history. (Thankfully, she did make many more.) The supporting cast is superb. However, I don't care for Ronald Reagan in his important role. This has nothing to do with politics and he often could be very good. But he doesn't seem to me to fit in with the ensemble -- and this is very much an ensemble piece.Pat O'Brien would have been much better, but he was too old. William Holden would have been right too, but he was too young.Several things in the movie are outdated. The slight condescension toward the black character, Blossom, was of its time. It makes one cringe a little now. It's also sort of funny to see so many people in a hospital unit smoking cigarettes. Thankfully, that's behind us too, at least as a way for sick people to feel better.Vincent Sherman's directing is possibly his best. And he was a fine director. The story is simple, direct, and heartbreaking. And Todd is a marvel -- truly a marvel.

This film was a complete surprise as to how excellent it was. Not a surprise was Patricia Neal's usual outstanding performance. Ronald Reagan proved to be much more than a B movie actor though. This is far and away his most outstanding performance and shows that his acting ability was as good as anybody's from that time. I'm also very surprised that this film is not more well known. Reagan's role as "the Gipper" in Knute Rockne All-American is obviously memorable and outstanding particularly during his hospital scene. And for Reagan to be known as the Gipper instead of the Yank makes sense. But again, this performance as Yank is clearly superior to any other role he performed including the Gipper.

I came back from work one day and this old Black and white movie was on TV Damn, Black and White ??? and i had spent a fortune on my Dolby system, after flicking through the channels i came back to it, something about the main character caught my attention (Cpl. Lachlan "Lachie" MacLachlan) he was rude, obnoxious scaving and although he acted very tough he appeared to be very very lonely. For the next hour and a half i was hooked. Its a story about people (as simple as that) how they get along , how they dont get along its a very human story, no special effects, no twisting plots just a warm hearted story that you will come away from feeling better with the world. This is one of those Sunday afternoon movies you could easily flick past like i almost did. If you ever see it advertised take time out to watch it, it will make you cry and laugh all in the same scene. Take time to watch it........Highly recomended s c...