Category: 1950s

Because all descriptions of this film first mention the Lipstick Killer, I went in thinking this was a classic film noir. Instead, it’s a behind the scenes look at power struggles within a news organization whose editors are competing to be the first to scoop the identity of the killer. It’s a cynical look at the news, where even the supposed hero of the story, TV anchorman Dana Andrews, is willing to cheat on his fiancé and use her as bait in order to break the story. Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders, and James Craig battle for power within the organization, all under the machinations of the new corporation owner Vincent Price.

The story of a multi-term, corrupt politician running in his last campaign isn’t particularly new. Even with John Ford at the helm and Spencer Tracy as the mayor of an unnamed New England town as the lead, this doesn’t offer much new to the genre. It hits many common notes: the political machine doing the dirty work of the campaign while the candidate is under the delusion it’s for the greater good, a young upstart using modern means to finally give the incumbent a run for his money, and the mayor using his power and influence in selfish and unselfish ways. It’s certainly a watchable political film, but there are more engaging ones out there.

It’s not surprising that this later was later adapted into a television show. It feels like a long episode of any television police procedural over the years and easily works as a pilot movie. Focusing on both the professional and personal aspects of a day in the life of Jack Hawkins’s Scotland Yard inspector, it’s interesting that it came so soon after my viewing of Working Girls, another movie focusing on one day in a worker’s life. While watching this one, I somewhat imagined an episode of some other television show juxtaposing the days of these two individuals employed on opposite sides of the law. That has the potential to be a bit deeper and engaging than this watchable, but relatively lightweight police drama.

For better or worse, some people find themselves thrown onto a singular life path that is almost impossible to stray off from. That is what happens to Tyrone Power’s Martin Maher. Upon immigrating to the United States from Ireland, he gets a job at West Point and for the next 50 years, that is where he stays. On one hand, it’s a casual telling of the history of West Point through one man’s experiences, as he watches class after class of cadets graduate and shape world events. On the other, it demonstrates the cyclical of each person’s life and the consequences of the decisions that they may or may not have the free will to make, for better or worse.

This is a rather solid film noir directed by Orson Welles. Set on the Mexican-United States border, it’s a bit convoluted of a tale involving a bomb, a Mexican crime family, and good and bad crime fighters from both sides of the border. For viewers of Citizen Kane, it’d be no surprise that this one is filled to the brim with interesting camera perspectives and angles, though it sometimes sacrifices the story itself. Also taking away from the story a bit is a poorly brown-faced Charlton Heston portraying a newlywed Mexican prosecutor. 

A film with Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe is hard to pass up. Sadly there is quite a bit of unevenness in this production. Visually, it is stunning. The location, Canadian scenery, and Ms. Monroe’s costumes are all beautiful. Marilyn herself is also one of the strong points; I enjoy her roles best when there are smarts and strength beneath the ditziness. Mitchum on the other hand is mostly phoning it in, burdened with a story that doesn’t offer him much to do. He wanted to start a farm with his newly recovered son and instead Monroe’s fiance comes and steals his horse and gun, so of course he must set out on a revenge mission to recover both. There’s also a group of anonymous Indians whose only job is to provide a menace to propel our characters along.

I find it impossible to believe this isn’t another straight-up Tennessee Williams adaptation featuring Paul Newman. All drawn-out Mississippi drawls, extra large estates, and familial dramas, it even contains the stereotypical bloated patriarch, here played with extra ham and bad makeup by Orson Welles. Newman is all sparkle and charm as the alleged criminal who comes to town, who ends up driving a further wedge into the father-son relationship between Welles and Anthony Franciosa. It’s great as always to see Paul’s chemistry with Joanne Woodward, though I really wish someone would have ruffled up her hair at some point during the movie. Though under-utilized, Angela Lansbury and Lee Remick bring quality to their small roles.