Nathan I never read the book but can't imagine that Fitzgerald would write something so awful. There is no way Elizabeth Taylor would ever fall for Van Johnson either on screen or in real life. The director and writers never give us any reason they would fall for each other. There is absolutely no chemistry.Also, Johnson is in his late 30's and so he doesn't fit the role of the young GI here.Johnson struggles throughout to play the part in the way that Hayden Christensen labored to play Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith. It is not completely their fault in either case as the material from the screenwriters hurt them, but they are still totally miscast.The positives are Elizabeth Taylor's brilliant and lovely performance. She is mesmerizing. Pidgeon is great as always and you get a look at a young Roger Moore. Overall, this would have been a 2 if it hadn't been for Taylor. The story makes little sense and the screenwriters did a poor job along with the director. It also drags on way too long.

bfd21552 Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited," is a clean, clearly written indictment of the disaffection promulgated by sudden, unearned wealth upon morally "uncompassed," ex-patriot Americans, an immature group fled to the decadence of between-the-wars Paris. One of the best examples of post-WWI Modernism, the story that provides the basis for the film is "thinned" into a screenplay designed to promote the two-dimensional stars, and in the process, the magic and depth of Fitzgerald is diluted into a mishmash of shallow characterizations wandering about upon a Technicolor screen. "Babylon" (and its author) deserved a far, far better script and a more reasonable treatment. . . . And the literature merited actors whose dramatic abilities outweigh their makeup.

jjnxn-1 Lush not terribly faithful rendition of Fitzgerald's Babylon Revisited is hampered by the miscasting of Van Johnson in the lead. There is no way other than script demands that Elizabeth Taylor would pick the vapid Johnson let alone stay with him throughout the increasingly boorish behavior he subjects her too. Donna Reed fulfills the requirements of her part but it asks little of her skill. The film is beautifully shot with that MGM sheen and Walter Pidgeon gives a terrific performance as Elizabeth's madcap father. Fitzgerald is hard to adapt to begin with and the script writers don't have a firm grasp on the material so it becomes a colorful soap opera but little else.

Cathie Browne One of the screens enduring story's of love sorrow and joy. of the post WWII era and it's aftermath on those who lived it. Charles (Van Johnson) returns to Paris to reminisce about the life he led in Paris after it was liberated. He worked on "Stars and Stripes" when he met Marion (Donna Reed) and Helen (Elizabeth Taylor). He would marry Helen and at first be happy staying in Paris after his discharge and working for a news organization. He would try to write his great novel, but that and too much of "the high life" would come between Charles, his wife and their young daughter as tragedy unfolds.Based upon the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, Babylon Revisited.