One of the reasons why the 1950s is the best decade for Hollywood is the risks taken by everyone in the business. Executives green-lighted ambitious projects that drew audiences away from television, producers found exquisite material from novels and Broadway and writers and directors pushed the envelope as far as they could with their personal styles. Finally, the actors were the best, mixing glamor with true talent in an effort to bring realism to the screen. They played characters against type, taking audiences to places the movies never dared just a few years before.

Paramount Pictures' 1954 production of Clifford Odets' play The Country Girl is a perfect example of the best acting seen in Hollywood. This is a film with three leading stars who would not be put in a box, directed by one of Hollywood's great writers, George Seaton. Everyone took the risk and it paid off, becoming one of the most acclaimed films from that all-important year of 1954.

The Country Girl is the story of Frank Elgin (Bing Crosby) and his wife, Georgie (Grace Kelly). Frank is a has-been singer, whose alcoholism has pulled him from the heights of a successful singing career to the lows of singing for commercials. Georgie was with him the whole time, suffering with him and belittling him. Hot-shot Broadway producer Bernie Dodd (William Holden) comes into their lives, assuming that he could revive Frank's career by giving him the lead role in his next musical.

Bernie's producer hates the idea and Bernie begins questioning his own ability to bring Frank back to prominence. When the production begins in Boston, Bernie learns the truth – Frank can't survive without Georgie by his side. She completely dominates his life and only by separating them can Bernie really help Frank. But of course, Georgie questions Bernie's own intentions. Is he really doing this to help Frank or boost his own career?

The title of The Country Girl is deceiving. This is actually a Broadway drama centered on a crumbling relationship hanging on its last legs. There are moments where the audience should believe that Frank is on the edge of suicide and Georgie is ready to run off with Bernie. But Odets (None But The Lonely Heart, Sweet Smell of Success, Golden Boy) and Seaton (The Song of Bernadette) have written characters that are stronger than expected. Bernie is the weak character in this story, failing even after all he has seen to see that there is real love still between Frank and Georgie. Rather than splitting them up, he only helped strengthen their relationship.

It is stunning that this is a film that has lost the battle with time, despite astounding performances from Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby, both playing dramatically against type. If you only know Kelly as the strong-willed blonde from her Hitchcock pictures, her performance here is a revelation. While it's still debatable if she really was better than Judy Garland in A Star Is Born, Kelly did deserved that Oscar. Her scenes with William Holden were brilliant, showing two actors at their best.

The one unfortunate thing about The Country Girl is that the songs Crosby is forced to sing are forgettable. They were written by Ira Gershwin and Harold Arlen, but you have to wonder if these would have been strong enough songs to revive an alcoholic's career.

The Country Girl came out in 1954, as one of five movies Kelly starred in that year. It earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, which it lost to On The Waterfront. Kelly did win her Oscar and Seaton won for his adapted screenplay, so the film did walk away with awards. However, it has become known as the reason why Garland didn't win for A Star Is Born, even if it does star Grace Kelly. This isn't the Kelly we know today, but it is proof that she was an immense talent.

On Home Video: The Country Girl is available on a bare-bones DVD from Paramount, without even a trailer unfortunately. It'd be nice to see this make the jump to Blu-ray, but the print used on the DVD is in rough shape and would probably require too much work for a good HD release.

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image: Amazon