Director
Jules Dassin, once shunned by Hollywood for being accused of "un-American activities," had already worked for nearly thirty years in Europe before making this Canadian drama about an elderly painter and a sixteen-year-old teen.
Richard Burton delivers as a convincingly up-tight artist abandoned by his muse for the last ten years. After he meets Sarah (
Tatum O'Neal on the wan from her 1973 Oscar as "Best Supporting Actress"), the muse begins to stir once more. The two disparate souls meet at a soft-core film (Sarah's friends dared her into seeing the flic), and an uneasy, non-sexual relationship starts. But even though the artist discovers that his muse is not totally defunct, that is a difficult trade-off for dealing with Sarah's romantic inclinations. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide