The Affairs of Susan (1945)

Written by CinemaSerf on July 1, 2022

Four men all have one thing in common - they are totally infatuated with Joan Fontaine's title character. Thing is, none of them are in love with the same women - or, at least the same iteration of the same woman. She has presented each of them, over the years, with a different "Susan" but which might be the real one now? What follows is an episodic depiction of their life with her, from the perspective of each of the men, and in the end it falls to her to choose one or none of her potential suitors! It's not hard to see why the men would fall for this enigmatic woman, and the quirkiness of the story helps it along quite nicely. I can't say i was particularly fond of any of the "Susan's" we were offered, but Fontaine is more than adequate at getting us immersed and there's also quite a fun spat with Rita Johnson ("Mona") to add just a little humour that is otherwise lacking. It is too long, there are periods when the plot struggles a bit but it's still well worth watching this star in action.