It's one of those portmanteau movies, with stories linked by two young reporters. The girl has a miniature tape recorder in her handbag, though she never asks her subjects' permission to record - and never seems to transcribe the tape, either. (Movie reporters never take notes.)
The "human stories" of those waiting to see who has survived an air crash in the alps are variable. Some are crudely tear-jerking - the blind mother, and her daughter in law pretending "Susan's flight has been delayed". The young couple whose child awaits an operation that can only be performed by the surgeon who was on the plane.
But some are lifted by the actors - Nyree Dawn Porter as the pilot's wife who's just had her first baby, for example. Though would she be able to get up and fly to Switzerland the next day? (Note how babies are not left with their mothers but taken to a nursery - when did that change?) The displaced children waiting for their foster mother avoid mawkishness, and the matron of the (huge) children's institution convinces. (Didn't she run a women's hostel in Millions Like Us?)
The best "back story" is the ageing star of stage and screen whose faithful agent awaits her return. He boosts her to anyone who inquires. And think of the publicity! He is obviously in love with her, though he has a cosy relationship with his secretary which has gone on for years. Both of them are convincing and likeable.
The young reporters are somewhat drippy, and as for that ending - oh dear, oh dear! Never mind, Women's Lib would be along in about eight years.
The "human stories" of those waiting to see who has survived an air crash in the alps are variable. Some are crudely tear-jerking - the blind mother, and her daughter in law pretending "Susan's flight has been delayed". The young couple whose child awaits an operation that can only be performed by the surgeon who was on the plane.
But some are lifted by the actors - Nyree Dawn Porter as the pilot's wife who's just had her first baby, for example. Though would she be able to get up and fly to Switzerland the next day? (Note how babies are not left with their mothers but taken to a nursery - when did that change?) The displaced children waiting for their foster mother avoid mawkishness, and the matron of the (huge) children's institution convinces. (Didn't she run a women's hostel in Millions Like Us?)
The best "back story" is the ageing star of stage and screen whose faithful agent awaits her return. He boosts her to anyone who inquires. And think of the publicity! He is obviously in love with her, though he has a cosy relationship with his secretary which has gone on for years. Both of them are convincing and likeable.
The young reporters are somewhat drippy, and as for that ending - oh dear, oh dear! Never mind, Women's Lib would be along in about eight years.