A Rage to Live

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Plot synopsis

The melodramatic plot centers on newspaper heiress Grace Caldwell, whose nymphomania threatens to destroy the reputation of her staid, wealthy Pennsylvania family. As a precocious teenager, she succumbs to the advances of her older brother Brock's friend Charlie Jay, a decision that apparently ignites her passion for all men.

After a series of meaningless dalliances with strange men in cheap motel rooms, she meets San Francisco real estate broker Sidney Tate at a Christmas party. The two fall in love and he proposes marriage, prompting Grace to confess about her past. Despite being taken aback by her candid revelations, Sidney still wants to marry her, and she commits herself to a monogamous relationship, a pledge she keeps for the first few years of their union, which produces a son and a seemingly idyllic life on a farm.

Problems ensue when lusty contractor Roger Bannon, the son of one of her mother's former servants, arrives to repair their barn and seduces Grace. When she eventually tries to end the affair, he becomes enraged, gets drunk, and accidentally crashes his truck, killing himself. Reports of his death include details about his tryst with Grace, prompting her husband to wonder if she also is involved with newspaper editor Jack Hollister, a suspicion shared by Jack's wife Amy. Brandishing a gun, she publicly confronts Grace at a charity event and attempts suicide but is rescued by Sidney who, realizing she never will change, decides the time has come to begin a new life with his son and leaves his wife.

Principal cast

*Suzanne Pleshette ..... Grace Caldwell
*Bradford Dillman ..... Sidney Tate
*Ben Gazzara ..... Roger Bannon
*Peter Graves ..... Jack Hollister
*Bethel Leslie ..... Amy Hollister
*Carmen Mathews ..... Emily Caldwell
*Linden Chiles ..... Brock Caldwell
*Mark Goddard ..... Charlie Jay
*Brett Somers ..... Jessie Jay

Principal production credits

*Producer ..... Lewis J. Rachmil
*Original Music ..... Nelson Riddle
*Cinematography ..... Charles Lawton, Jr.
*Art Direction ..... James W. Sullivan
*Set Decoration ..... Raymond Boltz, Jr.
*Costume Design ..... Howard Shoup

Critical reception

"Variety" said, "In this banal transfer from tome to film, the characters in John O'Hara's "A Rage to Live" have retained their two-dimensional unreality . . . Nympho heroine goes from man to man amidst corny dialog and inept direction which combine to smother all thesps." [ [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117794290.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 "Variety" review] ]

"TV Guide" rates it 1½ out of a possible four stars and adds, "In the transfer from novel to screen, O'Hara's characters have been transformed from vital, living personalities into stiff, unmotivated soap opera fodder." [ [http://www.tvguide.com/movies/rage-live/review/115319 "TV Guide" review] ]

Awards and nominations

Howard Shoup was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black and White but lost to Julie Harris for "Darling".

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059630/ "A Rage to Live" at the Internet Movie Database]