Worthwhile Movies #2 - Dear Heart

Well, the three books reviews I wrote on my computer last week have vanished into thin air. In lieu of my regular Friday post I'm writing about one of the movies on my 2008 list.


Dear Heart (1963) is one of my absolute favorite movies for its good writing, excellent acting and insights into human character. From the first minutes of the movie, you know the heroine is somewhat of a busy-body. It’s only as the movie unfolds that you see her behavior not as nosiness, but as a frank interest in people’s lives. She really cares about them. Evie Jackson is quirky with a capital “Q”, but if you don’t love her by the end of this film, you’ve got a heart of stone. Though not your typical love story, this is nevertheless a deeply satisfying movie. The hero and heroine are not drop-dead gorgeous (which increases their appeal to me). Even the hero’s name, Harry Mork, implies a totally non-Hollywood-ized character.

I think it is amazing that this film was made at the height of the sexual revolution and yet its main message is that sex and love are not the same thing. Almost every character in this movie has (or has had) a one night stand. This is all done very discreetly – implied, not shown. Two people, however, are looking for something different. Evie and Harry have made their share of mistakes, but have the decency to regret it and the guts to try over.

When a man propositions Evie at the Postmaster’s Convention (she’s a postmistress from Avalon, Ohio) she tells him, "Sex is just one page in the book.” As Harry and Evie build their friendship he tells her, “I wish you liked me enough to be shocked (at my affair).” Later his fiancée (Angela Lansbury!) breezes into town and doesn’t even question the fact that Harry is spending time with Evie. Harry WANTS her to care and confronts her. She responds, “Harry, you’re a man and you’ll continue to be one. All I ask is that you don’t tell me about it. Because if you tell me about it, I’ll have to do something. And I’m done doing!” Obviously she wants to glide through life without any friction in her relationships. Happily, this laissez faire attitude is exactly what brings Harry to his senses.

I have so many favorite quotes from this movie that I can’t list them all. At one point all the significant people in Harry’s life show their selfishness by going into their rooms and slamming the doors. He stands in the hall and yells, “You’ve got to come out and get mixed up with me. We’ve got to talk and we’ve got to fight and we’ve got to meddle in each other’s business until we forget about our own.” Evie’s philosophy exactly!

I wouldn’t call this a “family” movie because one of its central themes is sexuality, BUT it’s one of the best pro-marriage movies I’ve ever seen. I find it charming, funny and heart-breaking all at the same time.