The performances in Gregory La Cava's Private Worlds are subdued; maybe a bit too subdued. But for the life of me, I can't decide whether or not it was intentional. On the one hand, the actors are playing mental health professionals who must continuously guard their speech and actions around patients. And I know for a fact that Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert were capable of more energetic performances. Additionally, there are three sequences of heightened action and intensity where the visual language springs to breathless life: when the patients riot, when a patient escapes, when one of the characters has a mental breakdown. These sequences are characterized by fast editing, dutch angles, stark cinematography, and quick camera zooms. Could La Cava have deliberately made his actors give lower-key performances in order to more successfully juxtapose with these sequences? I'm not sure. Thankfully, the film is sturdy enough despite the performances, I suppose.
6/10
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