The Hasty Heart on DVD, War, Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal

The Hasty Heart, It’s 1945, Burma, the day the war is over. For many this means they’ve survived and will be going home. But not for everyone. A Scottish soldier, Corporal Lachlan “Lachie” MacLachlan is the victim of a wound to the lower back on this day. He’s moved to a M.A.S.H. unit and undergoes surgery. As time goes by he begins to recover and watches, in dismay as soldiers pack up and head for home. The doctors have told him he needs to remain “for observation.” The Colonel takes Sister Parker, the unit head nurse, into his confidence and tells her that the real reason Cpl. MacLachlan can’t go home is because the wound he sustained destroyed one of his kidneys and the other one is defective and will shut down in three to four weeks. He asks her to put Lachlan up with some other soldiers she has waiting to go home so that he can spend his last days with friends. But Cpl. MacLachlan wants nothing to do with friends and prefers his own privacy to “idle chat.” He’s a hard nut to crack and their work is cut out for them to make him as comfortable as possible.

10 out of 10 – Great Performances by All!

The Hasty Heart, Amazing film about a man, used to being and surviving on his own, is dying and does not know it. The other patients in the ward know and try to be his friends, as difficult as he makes it. I thought each one’s performance was amazing and moving. You could feel the nurse’s indecision when Lachie, the dying man, asks her significant questions about the future. Besides Richard Todd’s performance, which truly should have won an Academy Award, was the performance by Ronald Reagan. He was quite the man and quite the actor. Quoting the books of the Bible when he lost his temper was super and makes one think that is a very good idea – but to do it quietly. (wink) A final scene with both actors nose to nose gave a completion to the film as well as the final act between them before getting their photograph taken. Some suggest that it should not end on a whimsical note and I heartily disagree. It ended just perfectly. There was no need for a long drawn out scene of death or dying on any of the characters’ roles. It ended as it had begun, men surviving the after effects of the horrible war and finding humor and fun where they could. Good show!