Customer Reviews

Where Love Has Gone [VHS]

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This film is based on the best selling novel. "Where Love has Gone" by Harold Robbins, which is nothing more than a fictionaized rendering of the notorious Lana Turner-Johnny Stompanato murder case, in which Lana's daughter, Cheryl,stabbed her mother's lover to death. This notorious murder case was the subject of tabloid headlines for some time.

Here, Susan Hayward plays the role of a wealthy, award winning sculptoress, who is a wild thing, wayward and sexually promiscuous, as her sexuality is the only thing that her domineering mother cannot control. One day, she meets a war hero, engagingly played by Michael Mannix, and falls in love with him, when he stands up to her controlling and manipulative, hoity toity, high society mother, a role that Bette Davis fiendishly defines.

They marry and have high hopes, but Bette is always in the wings, controlling, manipulating, and in the end, getting her way, despites the war hero's best intentions. This causes him to become a drunk and for his wife to play around. They manage to have a child, a daughter, but even this is not enough to make them stay together. The mother arranges a divorce for her daughter with the proviso that he have nothing to do with their child.

Time passes, and the scultoress goes on to become highly acclaimed, much of that acclaim bought by her mother, unbeknownst to her. She also continues to have her bevy of lovers. One night, the long lost father, now a highly successful architect, is summoned, as his now teenage daughter, played with baby doll nuances by the very nubile Joey Heatherton, has been accused of murdering her mother's lover. All together after many years, the generations are in conflict as to how the matter can best be resolved. Common sense and decency prevail in the end. Look for the so called surprise ending, which a discerning viewer can figure out.

Bette Davis, and Susan Hayward are terrific in their respective roles, as is Michael Connor. Joey Heatherton does a respectable job with the role of the fifteen year old daughter. While some critics argue that she was miscast, as she does not look fifteen, I believe that the fact that she appears older is central to the drama. Watch the film, and you be the judge.

All in all, this is a moderately entertaining melodrama, Betty Davis and Susan Hayward fans will especially enjoy it.

Bette Davis and Susan Haywrd are involved in what is a Hollywood re-telling of the Lana Turner Johnny Stomponato affair and his subsequent murder by Lana's daughter. This film is filled with Bette Davis, raging all over the screen at Susan because she has no taste in men or art. Bette has wonderful scenes where she brandishes her wit and her scathing vocal intonations that level all people in her sight.

Susan is great and has a fabulous wardrobe to go with her usual pathos driven style that makes all her films memorable.

The rest of the cast is not up to the standards of these two, and Joey Heatherton as the murdering daughter is plain bad, but who cares? You have Bette to tell her off, and Susan to correct her.

This Harold Robbins trash is served up on a gold platter by Bette and Susan, who want you to have fun all the way. Buy this film and enjoy, especaillly the ending. Unforgettable! and catch those last lines of Bette's about Susan! Also, watch for a very strange cameo by Jane Greer(she was a film noir moll for Robert Mitchum in the 40's and early 50's, and her career was destroyed by H. Hughes) as a social worker for Heatherton, who has some of the most Puritanical things to say about adultery to Hawyard this side of Salem, Massachusetts.

Take a celebrity murder trial, filter it through the grimy typewriter of Harold Robbins, then use the resulting best seller as a vehicle for Susan Hayward and Bette Davis, and you have camp treasure. Though the story is based on the Lana Turner-Johnny Stompanato murder case, Hayward and Davis make "Where Love Has Gone" their own. Hayward plays an acclaimed sculptress from a wealthy family, who also is, like many Harold Robbins' female characters, a promiscuous harpy. The blame for her wild behavior falls squarely on the gray head of her controlling mother, Davis. Thrown in are Michael Mannix, as the war hero Hayward marries, and a young Joey Heatherton, as their helmet-haired daughter who stabs Hayward's lover. Mannix is quickly buried in the rubble of scenery left behind by Hayward and Davis. Hayward, in particular, really tears into her role. Anyone who sees this movie should know that she was born to play the Helen Lawson role in "Valley of the Dolls" a few years later--though she only got the part when Judy Garland was canned. Even in her tender moments Hayward sounds like she's trying to pick up sailors in a bar. Davis, by comparison, is almost restrained. She also seems slightly drunk, like she belted back a few before she had to go on set to manipulate the other players. She practically announces her lines, then does a quick mental retreat. Poor Joey Heatherton really has nothing to do other than whine "Daddy" repeatedly and churlishly ask for cigarettes. Then again, no performance Heatherton would give on film could ever equal the drama of her personal life.

As if Hayward and Davis weren't enough, check out the set and costume design. The Hayward and Mannix's mod '60s home is truly spectacular--it's like the Brady Bunch won the lottery. And look at the use of color. In one scene Hayward's scarf and slacks and social worker Jane Greer's suit are in complimentary shades of green that match the walls of the room. The only other example of such extreme color coordination I can think of is in the Barbra Streisand movie "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever." Also marvel at how everyone in the movie, including Heatherton--who's supposed to be 15--is made to look like they're no younger than 40. But what makes this movie a true "must-see" are the scenes of Susan Hayward welding. It's one of those moments that virtually define the term "camp." Yet, while campy, this misogynistic chick flick (only Harold Robbins...) doesn't quite garner the "camp classic" stamp--it's just a little too reserved for that. Still, "Where Love Has Gone" makes for fun viewing.

Susan Hayward & Bette Davis, 2 of Hollywood's most talented actresses, really shine in this melodramatic version of the Harold Robbins bestseller. Susan holds her own and then some against Bette, when they have scenes together you can't take your eyes off of them. I agree with the previous reviewer, Joey Heatherton was miscast in the role of Susan's daughter but the rest of the cast makes up for it. Highly recommended.

So glad to see this vintage trash (the good kind) is being released on DVD! Enjoy the flashy performances and gorgeous sets, costumes, scenery. This is grand Hollywood soap opera!

I also remember wonderful scenes from WHERE LOVE HAS GONE (who will ever forget Hayward crying desperately as she drove her convertible at the end?) and am eager to enjoy this gripping melodrama again in its new DVD release. Hope that both image and sound have been carefully restored, to say the least! Only one thing: I was so wanting to have this film in a beautiful Susan Hayward Collection, along with MY FOOLISH HEART, TOP SECRET AFFAIR, BACK STREET and STOLEN HOURS! When are we going to see these great Hayward films in DVD, restored and with plenty of extras?????

Man, can you imagine the heat on the set of this soapy film, when the two legends of Bette Davis and Susan Hayward, both infamously hard to work with, had scenes together? Bette Davis was scheduled to return to the set after her final scenes, to smash her painting, but refused, so Susan got to do it, and I guess she enjoied it!

It's a grower. Super glamorous 60s movie.
PS/Total out of it: You JUST HAVE to see Susan Hayward wearing a mask for metal workers and handling a welder!!

This thinly disguised version of the Lana Turner-Johnny Stompanato murder case works mainly due to its great cast. Susan Hayward plays the Lana Turner character with her trademark intensity and she is a riot when confronting Bette Davis' Mother-From-Hell character. I have read endlessaccounts of how they hated each other during filming and that tranfers to the screen very effectively. As for Mike Connors (later "Mannix"), he is too perfect for words and he plays a drunk very badly. Joey Heatherton is'nt as bad as some people have said but she certainly does not look 15 years old.

1964's "Where Love Has Gone", based on the sensational Harold Robbins trash novel of the same name can be seen as one of the last real occasions when women in leading roles were allowed to emote to their heart's content in glossy soap operas on the big screen. Big budget, glossy glamour flicks were fast becoming a rarity for veteran actresses by the mid 60's and this film makes for an interesting time capsule of what real glamour on screen was all about. In a double casting coup drama queens Bette Davis and Susan Hayward, playing a deeply troubled mother and daughter team were guaranteed to set sparks off each other on screen and that is exactly what happened with the two clashing repeatedly both behind and in front of the cameras. Indeed for Bette Davis "Where Love Has Gone", could be easily referred to as "Round Two", in the bad publicity stakes as she had only two years earlier repeatedly made headlines for all the wrong reasons when "working", with long time rival Joan Crawford in 1962's "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?". Despite the troubled set and intense rivalry of the two leading ladies, I believe the end product here on screen was worth all the headaches for those involved. With the glamour and the camp appeal piled on for viewers to relish "Where Love Has Gone", makes great viewing from the closing era of the glossy "women's picture". Having only just seen this film for the first time courtesy of a dear friend, I believe it more than lives up to its scandalous reputation and trashy source material to be hugely entertaining and a visual feast for the eyes. Hollywood most definately doesn't make glossy soap operas with stylish performers like Davis and Hayward anymore more's the pity which makes films such as "Where Love Has Gone", precious relics of a long gone era of filmmaking.

I am not going to comment on the merits (or lack of) of this film. After all, everyone else already has, and chacun à son goût. Suffice it to say that the Davis camp will want it for Bette and the Hayward camp for Susan. And there might even be some folks out there who'll want it because of Mike Connors and/or Joey Heatherton, after all, when it comes to movie fans, stranger, more bizarre things have been known to happen. I myself love both leading ladies, with a definite preference and proclivity for Miss Davis, who gave us such magnificent treasures over her long, prolific career. What I wish to comment on is a very distracting flaw in the soundtrack of this release. The music and sound effects track is several decibels higher than the dialog track. Every time background music comes in, it does so at a deafening volume. Sound effects are also overly loud. When the telephone rings in the film, it rings so thunderously it seems like it's ringing right next to your ears. This same lack of sound equalization is present on Olive Films' DVD release of Harlow. Olive is to be commended for finally bringing to DVD several long out of print films. Some are from the Paramount catalog, a company that, shamefully, has done absolutely nothing with its classic product. However, the person and/or persons doing the re-mastering for these releases need to be aware of this incongruence in volume levels between the music and dialog tracks. It makes for a very unpleasant viewing experience and it needs to be corrected in future releases or it will mar the enjoyment of them also. I sincerely hope Olive's upcoming Summer and Smoke doesn't suffer from this same equalization malady. That said, I strongly urge Olive Films to continue its work licensing these lost gems and I hope that they will consider giving us other Paramount oversights like Samson and Delilah, The Secret of the Incas, and Omar Khayyam. Also on my wish list, and I am sure I am not alone in this, are Something for Everyone, The Empty Canvas (La Noia), A House is not a Home, Les amitiés particulières (This Special Friendship), De Eso No Se Habla (I Don't Want to Talk About It), Back Street, and the 1973 TV version of the musical Applause with Lauren Bacall and Larry Hagman. Is Olive up to these challenges?