John Loves Mary

Stagey almost-farce starts out as a sappy, but generally entertaining comedy with Reagan (surprisingly) handling the light comedy very well; Neal's performance is fine, but is often too intense - projecting strong emotions which almost threaten to drown all around her, and Carson is a lot of fun as Reagan's army buddy. Would probably have worked better as a short - once the ending is never in doubt, the film threatens to collapse under the weight of its various plot complications.

A successful play brought to screen with some famous names. The main problem was that they didn't really do enough to transform it into a cinematic experience. It's basically the same format as the play with presumably the same hammy stage acting. On the positive side, it did bring Patricia Neal to the cinema audience.