Vierzig Karat (1973)

Vierzig Karat: Directed by Milton Katselas. With Liv Ullmann, Edward Albert, Gene Kelly, Binnie Barnes. Forty year old Norwegian-American divorcée Ann Stanley owns her own Manhattan based real estate agency specializing in upscale Manhattan apartments. She lives with her seventeen year old daughter Trina Stanley, and her mother, Maud Ericson, who acts more the teenager than Trina. Largely because of her uptight and regimented attitude, Ann has had no love in her life since divorcing her ex-husband, character actor Billy Boylan, an irresponsible man who she still loves as a friend and who she sees whenever he is in town between acting jobs and whenever he needs money from her. Ann’s uptight attitude seems to have softened slightly ever since returning from a trip to Greece with Maud. What she has not told anyone is that her softened attitude is from a romantic one night only liaison with a young American man she met by happenstance by an out of the way Greek beach, he who tried to get her to be more carefree, if only for that one night. Purely by coincidence, she meets that man again in New York. He is twenty-two year old Peter Latham, a steel heir who is an acquaintance of Trina’s. While Ann’s family and friends encourage her to pursue a relationship with a wealthy southern gentleman client named J.D. Rogers, Peter pursues Ann behind the scenes, while Maud believes Peter wants to court Trina. Peter is falling in love with Ann. Although she admits she is flattered by Peter’s declaration, Ann may not be able to get over the difference in their ages, regardless of what she may be feeling about him. If she can let go of that repressed attitude, she may give herself the opportunity to examine if she truly does have romantic feelings for Peter, and what to do about them if they do exist. Dealing with an issue with Trina, discussing Billy’s own life with him, and meeting Peter’s friends and family may give Ann some insight into the matter.

“u0026quot;40 Caratsu0026quot; – a light and cheerful comedy is the only comedy Iu0026#39;ve seen Liv Ullmann in. She plays Ann Stanley, forty years old Manhattan Real Estate agent divorcée who lives with her mother and 16 years old daughter. On her vacation in Greece, she meets 22 years old Peter Latham (Edward Albert), and they spend the night together. Ann quietly disappears into the early morning hours, leaving him with the memories of the night and nothing else – no address or telephone number. Peter later returns to New York, where one evening he arrives to pick up a date for the evening. Guess, who his dateu0026#39;s mother is? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat follows is, IMO, funny and charming romantic comedy with wonderful supporting performances from Gene Kelly (as Annu0026#39;s first annoying husband), Binnie Barnes and Deborah Raffin. Iu0026#39;ve read some comments that Liv was miscast and was not comfortable playing such a light comedy after all the profound and tragic characters she had played for Bergman. I donu0026#39;t think so. For me, one of the most memorable scenes of the film is the one after Liv (Ann) returns home from her vacation and is asked what Greece was like? Ann turns to face a camera, smiles, and says, u0026quot;Greece glows under the sunu0026quot; – but it is her face, her smile, her eyes that glow. If ever the saying, the eyes are the soulu0026#39;s mirror, is true, it is about Livu0026#39;s eyes. There are kindness, tenderness, strength, and something even more attractive than beauty itself in them – the goodness of her soul.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;40 Caratsu0026quot; was a very pleasant surprise for me. I hope that it will be released on DVD soon and become available for all admirers of Liv Ullmann and of funny and clever romantic comedies.”