Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

vincentlynch-moonoi One of our other reviewers beat me to the use of "Saratoga Stunk", so I'll have to settle for "Saratoga Flunk". Somehow I had never seen this film, and when I saw it listed on TCM my thought was, "Oh boy, Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman together. This will be great." Gary Cooper is just fine here. He may be the best thing about the film, in fact. I can't say the same for Ingrid Bergman, despite the fact that I usually very much enjoy her performances. This marks only the second film I've ever seen her in that I disliked (immensely), the other being "Anastasia". She even looks goofy in this film.And then there's the midget. Was he supposed to be that creepy? And then there's the matter of Flora Robson, a fine WHITE English actress, who plays a BLACK Haitian maid in black face. Fine performance, but perhaps the worst makeup job in the history of Hollywood.Florence Bates, a very reliable character actress, has a good role for which she was perfect. John Warburton is good as a railroad executive and alternate romantic interest for Bergman.The story is about a young woman who intends to get revenge for the way she and her family were treated in New Orleans. Unfortunately, it all seems so terribly petty. I was thinking that Vivien Leigh could have pulled it off, but Bergman simply ends up looking rather foolish. Much of the film is little more than a drawing room costume drama, although there is a great action sequence late in the picture involving the railroad trunk line in question (no, the trunk in the title is not about a suitcase trunk). Perhaps the film redeems itself a bit in the last 20 minutes, but it's a long slog...well over 2 hours.There are those who like this film, but I think it's just horrible...and I see I am not alone.

utgard14 One of the worst films Gary Cooper or Ingrid Bergman ever made. What were they thinking with this? I adore Ingrid. She's very high on my list of favorite actresses. But she is absolutely dreadful in this! She overacts and chews scenery like few I've ever seen. Poor miscast Gary Cooper looks like he doesn't know what he got himself into. Don't even get me started on Ingrid's friends -- Flora Robson in blackface and a dwarf. I expected Bela Lugosi and the Bowery Boys to pop up at any minute! The script is cringeworthy. Watching actors you respect say painfully bad lines is not fun. You could tell in some scenes Cooper wished he could be anywhere else but filming this mess. To make a bad movie worse, the darned thing goes on forever. A running time of over two hours in the 1940s was usually reserved for epics. Makes me wonder if WB foolishly thought this was going to be another Gone with the Wind. Anyway, a total dud but fans of these two great movie stars might want to check it out just for curiosity's sake.

bobt145 I'll leave it to one of the ladies to give us judgment on Gary Cooper's charm.For me, this is Ingrid Bergman at her absolute best. Shot just after Casablanca, the screenplay and Sam Wood's common sense choose to focus on Ingrid in every scene but the brief, although well done, train wreck and brawl.She is radiant, sly, coquettish, warm, reactive, piercing, soft, hard. Most of all, she is desirable. A woman for all time, for all women.And she is strong. Melting for a brief second, gathering her resolve and forging ahead with her plans and schemes.The Edna Ferber novel has enough truth to provide a reasonable story line for Ingrid to carry along single handedly. Cooper and Jerry Austin as Cupidon are excellent. Florence Bates gets too little time, too late as a matron with claws.And French, yes, bless them, they allowed Ingrid to speak French, which she did so beautifully.The current 6.2 Yahoo rating is laughable. "Saratoga Trunk" may not be a "Casablanca" or "Notorious" but it is far better than this lowly rating. See for yourself.

NativeTexan A fantastic movie, and very overlooked. Gary has never been more handsome, and Ingrid is more beautiful than in ANY other film. If you don't believe, just watch the movie. Every cast member is wonderful; the love scenes between Gary and Ingrid will make your pulse race! The story is great, the script is Oscar caliber. Don't miss this film!!