The Country Girl (1955) on Netflix

A director hires an alcoholic has-been and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife, who he believes is the cause of all the man's problems.

Washed up singer/actor Frank Elgin has a chance to make a come-back when director Bernie Dodd offers him the leading role in his new musical. Frank however is very insecure, turns to alcohol and shuns even the smallest of responsibilities, leaving everything up to his wife Georgie who finds it harder and harder to cope with her husband's lack of spirit. Bernie tries to help Frank regain his self-confidence, believing that it is Georgie who's the cause of his insecurity.

—Leon Wolters <wolters@strw.LeidenUniv.nl>

Broadway director Bernie Dodd is in desperate need of a male lead for his new play and pushes to hire Frank Elgin, an aging one time star with just the experience and skills required. The downside is that he has a reputation for being an unreliable drunk. Elgin has the talent for the job, but seems to be entirely dependent on his wife Georgie to make all of his decisions for him. He tells Dodd that she has to come with them when they go to Boston to fine tune the show. He describes his wife as the drinker and suicidal at times and simply can't be left alone. Dodd takes up his cause, blaming Georgie for Frank's lack of self-confidence and a clash of wills ensues. He soon realizes he may have incorrectly assumed who was supporting who in their relationship.

—garykmcd

The hard-drinking Frank Elgin, a once-popular Broadway star whose glory days have passed. When director Bernie Dodd gives Elgin a role in his new musical, he must also deal with the actor's sour and ever-present wife, Georgie, who Dodd believes is the cause of her husband's failure. However, as Dodd spends more time around Georgie, the truth about her husband becomes clear.

—Jwelch5742

Famed Broadway director Bernie Dodd is known for making risky casting choices which may not make the process of the show smooth, but generally has electrifying results on stage. With only a couple of weeks until out of town Boston previews, he has to recast the lead in his new musical, he lobbying for Frank Elgin, formerly a Broadway heavyweight whose career years ago sank under the weight of the onset of his alcoholism. Bernie is the only one on Frank's side, producer Philip Cook in particular who does not want to risk what is largely his money on Frank. Winning out in casting Frank albeit on only a two week run contract, Bernie, who nonetheless wants to provide as much support to Frank knowing the potential problems, is up front that one bender is enough to fire him. In hiring Frank, Bernie learns that he is a package deal with his wife, frumpish Georgie Elgin. In explaining the situation to Bernie, Frank tells a story of his and Georgie's life going off the rails following the death of their infant son, he, in trying to help Georgie deal with her grief in her turning to the bottle and attempting suicide, turned to the bottle himself while Georgie emerged out of her alcohol dependence. With Frank having problems in rehearsals up to and during the Boston run, he maintains a happy and cordial demeanor to all including Bernie, while behind the scenes is demanding that Georgie lobby for more and more on his behalf. Georgie supports Frank in being that liaison to Bernie solely in wanting Frank to be the man he once was. And Bernie, who handles Frank with kid gloves, blames all their problems on Georgie, not only in she being the crutch on which Frank always leans, but in his belief that she is the reason for Frank's alcoholism. This leads to a complex situation between the three, which the truth may be the only catalyst for them dealing meaningfully with what is going on.

—Huggo