Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board: To reach If You Knew Susie by Trish Sharp, click the profile photo at www.facebook.com/susanhaywardclassicfilmstar and you will see the link.
First off, Kerry, for someone who hasn't seen the film in years, you remember quite a lot about it! (Much more than I had till seeing it lo these many years later!)
Like you, Trish, it was difficult to watch it again knowing how Susan died. And I agree with you that her scenes as she died were amazingly portrayed, with dignity, as opposed to histrionics.
Kerry, I think Trish and I discussed the absence of the Chubby Checker scene before and Trish thought it was because it would have dated the film as the '60s. But, as I said to her, it was already dated by something Susan said in the hospital room as she tried on the post-surgery wigs; i.e, "This really is the new frontier." That was a theme John Kennedy used during his 1960 campaign for president. (Naturally, that would have been known only to Americans, I think.)
Trish, I completely agree that those Cornwall outdoor scenes with Susan's hair being tousled were great, and that she and Craig were good together. But my favorite scenes in Cornwall were with that adorable boy, especially when he comes to get the doctor because his mother came home drunk!
Kerry, if you can, try to get this film. Yes, it's hard watching it knowing how Susan herself died, but it was also a worthwhile movie.
