Mervyn LeRoy, who has tackled just about every type of film, returns to romantic melodrama in Moment to Moment, an unabashed sudser. A mild suspense story blending a wife’s infidelity and amnesia, the film doesn’t entirely jell for several reasons, mainly thin scripting, weak acting and LeRoy’s own too-leisurely pace.
John Lee Mahin joined Alec Coppel in adapting latter’s story [Laughs with a Stranger] about a happily-married Yank wife, increasingly neglected by headshrinker hubby who is on the lecture circuit all over Europe while she and the kid remain on the Riviera. A US naval officer has an affair with her, provoking a physical argument and a shooting.
Jean Seberg lacks dimension as the wife, even allowing for the script. In early scenes, an overly passive limning # which suggests jaded boredom instead of a well-adjusted spouse in a single fall from grace # robs the role of most sympathy.
