Come Back, Little Sheba

Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1952 melodrama about a sad dysfunctional older couple who take in a young female boarder.

The husband (played by Burt Lancaster) quietly becomes painfully infatuated with her, while the wife becomes fixated on the girl's love life. She makes both the husband and the wife aware of their sexual and romantic frustrations and dissatisfactions.

The husband is a recovered alcoholic, and the pain of seeing the young girl with another man drives him to drink. The wife, who was always nervous and annoying, becomes even more so, and there is a terrible explosion where the husband gets mean and violent. After going through detox he comes home and repents.

It's weird; I'm not sure if you're supposed to feel happy for them at the end, or feel like anything has been resolved. In a way, it seems that they are ready to turn over a new leaf, putting the past behind them, and aware of how much each means. But on the other hand, they don't belong together and they are just going to grow old in much the same way as they had already been living... I was sort of confused I guess.

The movie is dated and I found the acting stilted. As I always say with older movies, it might make a good remake...