This ensemble story follows the lives and loves of three law partners and their families. There's Arthur Winner (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.), a rather rigid, emotionless man whose wife, Clarissa (Barbara Bel Geddes), feels there is no passion in their marriage, even telling him that their marriage has been more a business merger than anything. Living by the letter of the law and allowing for no gray areas, self-righteous Arthur has set a standard so high no one can measure up. His college-age son, Warren (George Hamilton), especially, feels inadequate as far as his father is concerned.
Julius Penrose (Jason Robards) is married to Marjorie (Lana Turner), a woman with whom he cannot be intimate due to an accident which had left him impotent. Lonely and longing for love, Marjorie finds what she's looking for in the bottle and in the arms of Arthur Winner.
Noah Tuttle (Thomas Mitchell), senior partner of the firm, is Arthur's father-in-law; advancing in years, Noah is beginning to show signs of incompetency. Though Arthur and Julius try to encourage him to retire, Noah is adamant that he still has the mental capacity to do his job.
Warren, rebelling against his father's impossibly high expectations, has no desire to join the law firm...or even stay in his hometown. Rejecting the love of the girl who has loved him since childhood, Warren welcomes the attentions of a rather loose woman...an action which will affect all the people around him and cause them to re-evaluate their lives.
This kind of melodramatic movie is definitely my cup of tea, and I greatly enjoyed this film. Each storyline was interesting and captured my attention, and the Elmer Bernstein score was beautiful. The acting, while not Academy Award-winning, was solid, especially that of Turner, Zimbalist, and Robards. I do believe things were wrapped up a bit too quickly and cleanly; however, with a 2-hour time limit, that often seems to be the case. At any rate, while somewhat unrealistic because of the neat and tidy ending, I still consider By Love Possessed to be an enjoyable, entertaining viewing experience. It is easily, for me, a 4-star film and one of my favorite Lana Turner vehicles.
Out on DVD, this film should be fairly easy to track down. It is also available on Net Flix instant viewing. If you are a fan of these soap opera kinds of dramas, definitely look for this one. I feel sure you will like it.
Happy viewing!!!