The Sign of the Ram - 1948

I was scrolling for something to watch one night, and I happened across this movie. I didn't know anything about it and had never heard of it. I went in blind.

Leah has been in a wheelchair since she saved Mallory's children. Since then, she's used emotional manipulation to run the house the way she wants it. The kids are in her debt, and they seem happy to make her happy. But now that they're grown, they're starting to want to have relationships and possibly move out. That's not acceptable.

The first thing I thought of while watching this was that it was a tame version of This Was a Woman. Strangely enough, they came out the same year. While Leah sticks with lies and emotional manipulation, Sylvia (This Was a Woman) tried to kill a dog and did actually murder her husband. The main thing that bugged me about this movie was no one took two seconds to think through anything. Some decisions that could have used a moment's reflection:

* Deciding to just stop talking to the man you're in love with because your stepmother tells you he's talking to you out of pity and doesn't think of you like that

* Leaving in the middle of the night without telling your fiancé you're checking on a rumor when you know it involves her and your stepmother is creating trouble

* Deciding to try and commit suicide without factchecking anything the obvious disapproving stepmother tells you about your birth

* Poisoning the random lady that was brought to your house (for reasons I still don't understand) because you think she is responsible for all the problems there

* Chucking yourself over a cliff because you think you're going to be alone even though you haven't done anything illegal

I could go on, but I have other reviews to write. I'm behind. I did want to give some props to the actress who played Leah. Her name was Susan Peters, and I didn't realize it, but she was a pretty tragic figure. First, I was impressed she could play the piano. Most of the time, actor and actresses are positioned in such a way you can tell they can't play, or if they aren't, they should've been. One particular episode of Columbo always comes to mind. As a trumpet player, it always made me cringe to watch this one guy know absolutely nothing about and not even be close to the music. Anyway...

Susan Peters was actually paralyzed. She'd been in a hunting accident, so she wasn't in the wheelchair as part of the acting. I was just impressed with her acting to be honest, so I was saddened to learn that she struggled with depression and ended up basically dealing with health problems and starving/dehydrating herself to death at 31 years old. That's so sad. She was talented, pretty and so young. She was my favorite part of this movie.

The movie had potential if everyone wasn't so dang stupid. If more people had common sense, it would've been better, but if I had to choose between the two similar movies, I'd choose This Was a Woman.