Paula

Loretta Young is in the title role as the wife of a college dean who, after several miscarriages, learns she will never have children. On her way to a formal event, she accidently hits a little boy (Tommy Retting) on a dark road, and before she can find out if he's okay, a nasty local yokel (Will Wright) shows up, calls her a reckless woman driver and whisks the kid away. Wright likes the spotlight as 'the guy who saved the orphan', , telling reporters the driver was a drunk society woman, and describing her car. Young is torn between her worry about the boy and concern that any breath of 'scandal' can hurt her hubbie's career.

She volunteers at the hospital, and arranges with her doctor (Alexander Knox) to help him learn to speak again and she devotes herself to him. She and her husband decide to adopt the boy, and one night Young is dressed for a dinner out..and wearing the same distinctive necklace as the night of the accident. Little Retting recognizes it..and knows she's the one who hit him. He tries to tell others, but his speech is still limited..and Young knows he knows. What does she do? Confess? Knox knows too, but is aware that Young really loves the boy, and returning him to an orphanage would be a mistake. Knox's MD character is a bit confusing in the film..he's a friend/obgyn/pseudo psychologist/speech therapist...hmmm.

There's a little twist when Wright shows up at Young's home, ranting about the boy, but a heart warming ending. Young is fine in her role, Kent Smith as her husband is pretty dull. I put this a step above the 'woman's pictures' of the time because there is some suspense involved...at one point, Young says to the boy 'you can't tell anyone because you can't talk' in a cool, almost menacing tone...to scare him or to prod him to try harder? Or both? Not bad at all...

For a lack of truth in advertising, take a look at the movie poster. It's got a picture of Young in a skimpy low cut dress and says "If you were Paula would you have stopped?" Ahem. I think quite a few men who bought tickets were probably disappointed that this turned out to be a "motherhood is good film".

"Paula" is NOT a film for the cynical. After all, unless you are willing to see a schmaltzy film that will tug at your heart, the film probably won't be your sort of thing. However, if you do see it, be prepared--having a box of Kleenex handy wouldn't be a bad idea!

Loretta Young plays a woman who is struggling with her own infertility. While her life is otherwise great, she clearly misses not having a child of her own. How she gets one is the very strange twist in this story!

One night as she's driving, a child darts out and she accidentally hits him. In a panic, she drives away after she sees that the child is going to get medical help. Her conscience, however, cannot handle this-- she feels very guilty about the accident. So, she decides to volunteer at the hospital to see what she can learn about the boy. It turns out that he will survive but the injury left him brain damaged. While he looks pretty normal, he cannot speak and must re-learn this. But he's an orphan and it costs a lot of money to have a full-time teacher--and Young's character volunteers to take the boy into her home and teach him. But what if the boy or anyone figure out who she is and why she's doing all this?

This is a terrific family film. I loved the very original story as well as the performances by Young and Tommy Rettig (as the boy, David). A heart-warming yet exciting and well made movie--one of Young's best.

Paula (1952)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Interesting but too overly dramatic film about a wife (Loretta Young) who suffers her second miscarriage and is about to give up on life when another tragedy strikes. While speeding to a meeting, she runs over a seven year old boy who becomes deaf to the wreck. Another man takes the boy to the hospital so the police don't know who hit him but the woman feels so guilty that she adopts the boy so that she can try and teach him to speak again. However, the police are still on the hunt for who hit the boy and the boy eventually remembers who it was. This film could have been a lot better had they toned down the crying moments. By crying moments I mean that this is one of those films that tries to make you cry every five minutes, which becomes quite annoying after a while. The scene where Young learns she lost her second baby is heartbreaking but other moments don't come off as good. Young is very good in her role, which requires her to be a snob, a heartbroken mother and a woman trying to do what's right with both the child and the law. Kent Smith is also very good as her husband who at first doesn't want to take in a mute child. The film loses some steam in the final act as things turn very stupid during one scene where the man who drove the kid to the hospital shows up at Young's house and starts a fight. The ending is predictable but touching.

Loretta Young loses her baby and is told in the hospital that she will never be able to have children. Dr. Alexander Knox, who was so brilliant in "Wilson" tells her this. She is married to college dean Kent Smith. The latter never had much sex appeal or appeal of a leading man in any of his pictures.

While driving to join Smith at a pre-promotional party for him, Young accidentally hits 7 year old Tommy Rettig of "Lassie" fame. Rettig, with those sad eyes of his, evoked a lot of emotion here as he is unable to recover from the accident.

Not admitting to the police that she did this, Young instead volunteers at the hospital and takes in the boy and suddenly becomes a speech pathologist. She is guided by Knox who suddenly is an expert in this field anyway.

Young and Rettig pull out emotional stops in this film. You may want to question the criminal justice system in the nonetheless happy ending.

If the script for PAULA hadn't become so maudlin in certain crying scenes, this might have emerged as more than a melodramatic soap opera.

LORETTA YOUNG is quietly competent in the leading role of a woman who develops a noble cause after a serious auto accident leaves TOMMY RETTIG unable to talk. This noble gesture of acting as his therapist and taking him under her wings is the sort of role that even Greer Garson might have had trouble making believable. But Miss Young does her best with an overly dramatic role as a long-suffering wife who cannot bear children of her own.

And others in the cast are quietly effective too, including KENT SMITH as the husband who learns that his new job means he has to avoid all scandal and Alexander KNOX as Paula's doctor friend who gives her the emotional support she needs.

It's an interesting premise, inspired somewhat by another film of this type--THE MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION about a man with a similar guilt complex after an accident.

But there is no real depth to the screenplay which seems more suitable for a one hour TV drama, the kind done so often in the '50s. The acting is better than the script deserves, especially by Miss Young who is coolly efficient in manner but gives the film some real warmth.