FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
An abusive, controlling businessman (Broderick Crawford) hoping to impress a congressman (Larry Oliver) in D.C. hires a reporter (William Holden) to give private tutoring lessons to his not-too-bright fiancee (Judy Holliday), hoping she’ll learn how to act appropriately in a political climate. However, Holliday and Holden fall for each other, and soon Holliday realizes she wants no part of Crawford’s corrupt schemes.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Broderick Crawford Films
• Character Arc
• Dumb Blondes
• Feminism and Women’s Issues
• George Cukor Films
• Judy Holliday Films
• Millionaires
• Play Adaptations
• Political Corruption
• Romance
• William Holden Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary is rather dismissive of George Cukor’s adaptation of Garson Kanin’s Broadway play, which gave Judy Holliday her break-through role both on stage and on-screen. He writes that “the scenes in which Holliday visits the historical monuments [in D.C.] and becomes excited by what America stands for are like bad Capra”, and he questions, “Why all the civics lessons? Does it take Thomas Jefferson’s words against tyranny to get Holliday to realize that Crawford hasn’t been treating her well?” He further argues that Cukor’s direction “is too theatrical (as is Holliday’s performance at times) and the script… is clever but has only a few bright moments”. He states he doesn’t “like the way Kanin uses Crawford comically through much of the film yet, when it suits his purpose, makes him a real heavy.” He concludes his review by noting that the “best scene is the most famous — when Holliday beats Crawford at gin rummy”.

I think Peary undersells this film. Sure, its theatrical roots are apparent, but Cukor nicely opens up the set, and Holden’s choice to provide civics-lesson field trips in D.C. doesn’t seem too far-fetched to me; gaining insights into your own challenges and blind-spots is sometimes easiest through “safe”, external topics. Holliday’s consciousness-raising comes across as both realistic and witty, and Kanin and Cukor’s decision to leaven Crawford’s sociopathic bully with humor is a smart one: sadly, he’s highly believable, and deserves to have plenty of fun poked at him while he gets his come-uppance. I like the fact that Cukor and Kanin are brave enough to show Crawford not only psychologically but physically abusing Holliday; her need to leave the relationship is ultimately about her own survival. Kudos should also be given for the relative maturity of the script, with Holliday openly propositioning Holden despite being engaged.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn
  
• Broderick Crawford as Harry Brock
  
• A witty screenplay
  

Must See?
Yes, as a most enjoyable classic.

Categories

• Genuine Classic
• Oscar Winner or Nominee

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TCM Articles
• Time Out Capsule Review
• Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review

Synopsis:
A psychiatrist (Donald Pleasence) is deeply disturbed to learn that his “evil” patient (Tony Moran) has escaped from an asylum and returned to his home town, where he killed his sister (Sandy Johnson) 15 years earlier as a six-year-old (Will Sandin). On Halloween, masked Moran quickly sets his murderous sights on a trio of friends: bubbly Lynda (P.J. Soles), wise-cracking Annie (Nancy Loomis), and straight-laced Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Donald Pleasence Films
• Horror Films
• John Carpenter Films
• Psychopaths
• Teenagers

Response to Peary’s Review:
While he’s “not as sold” on John Carpenter’s cult “horror thriller” as are “many of its cultists,” Peary nonetheless asserts that Halloween is the “scariest horror film since Psycho and the most imaginatively directed”. He describes how Carpenter “builds tension by repeatedly using a subjective camera; quick editing; driving, piercing music (which he composed); and the creative use of light and shadow and color (particularly black and white).” He adds that Carpenter “blends the dark, spooky atmosphere essential to Val Lewton; the humor and suspense that go hand in hand in Hitchcock; the cheap — but fun — tricks and shocks found in William Castle films; and the graphic violence that is the staple of the post-Night of the Living Dead American horror film.” He writes that while he finds it a treat “watching the three Middle American teenagers” — who are “smart… witty, and appealingly unconventional” — “jabber away about boys, school, dates, sex, etc.”, he finds it “regrettable that even this film — like its many inferior imitators — thrives upon the deaths of sexually promiscuous, half-dressed young women”.

I’m in agreement with Peary’s review — and I appreciate his intriguing analysis of serial killer “Michael Meyers” (who would return again and again — and again — in most sequels and remakes to come). Peary writes that he doesn’t “think the intriguing Michael is evil, just insane. There’s that six-year-old inside a man’s body, and everything he does — including his murders — is part of a mischievous game.”

He points out that while Michael “could kill his victims quickly… he prefers to hide behind bushes and in closets, peer into windows, scare them, tease them with loud noises” — and, in a notable scene, “before he attacks Soles, he stands in the bedroom doorway with a sheet over his body and glasses on his covered face.”

Meanwhile, “in his never ending struggle with Curtis… he pretends to be dead several times, only to rise and resume his attack” — a decidedly unique take on the “never assume he’s dead” trope of horror movie victims.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie
  
• Highly atmospheric direction and cinematography
  
  
• Many effectively scary moments
  

Must See?
Yes, of course, as a classic of the genre.

Categories

• Genuine Classic

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Greatest Films Review
• Moria Review
• DVD Savant Review
• Q Network Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
An American ballerina (Jessica Harper) arrives at an elite European boarding school and is unnerved to learn that one of her classmates (Eva Axen) has just been killed. Harper’s roommate (Stefania Casini) suspects that the headmistress (Joan Bennett) and her lead instructor (Alida Valli) are involved in witchcraft, but their investigation puts their lives in danger.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Alida Valli Films
• Amateur Sleuths
• Boarding School
• Dario Argento Films
• Horror Films
• Jessica Harper Films
• Joan Bennett Films
• Murder Mystery
• Witches and Wizards

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary is rather humorously dismissive of this cult gothic-horror flick by Italian director Dario Argento, noting that while it “has a promising beginning”, “it’s done in by too much visual flair (at the expense of content); a trite plotline and unsatisfying conclusion; poor dubbing; and deafening music supplied by [Goblin] and Argento”; he adds that “one begins to suspect that the unseen murderer walking about is an avant-garde rock musician” (!!). Peary’s review is spot-on: Suspiria is a “love it or leave it” type of film, with diehard fans and bored haters at either extreme. Argento purportedly stated he “would rather see a beautiful girl killed than an ugly girl or a man”, which sums up what you get here — though there is also an elaborately staged killing of a blind man by his guide dog in an empty plaza, so he’s not entirely one-sided about the matter. Harper is an effectively plucky heroine, but given far too little to do (and never gets to dance; ballet is noticeably missing from this flick). One mostly pays attention to the inspired sets and production design, as well as how frequently (and randomly — as in a dream) the color scheme shifts. Be forewarned that you will NEVER get the repetitive theme song of this movie out of your head once you’ve heard it — ever.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• DP Luciano Tovoli’s rich cinematography
  
  
• Effectively stylized sets and production design
  
  
• Goblin’s (in)famous score

Must See?
Yes, once, simply for its cult status.

Categories

• Cult Movie

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Moria Review
• Time Out Capsule Review
• Spinning Image Review
• Village Voice Review

Synopsis:
In late-1800s America, a talented con-artist named James Reavis (Vincent Price) plots an elaborate scheme to establish young Sofia (Karen Kester) — a peasant girl cared for by her adopted father (Vladimir Sokoloff) — as a Spanish baroness whose ancestors held a claim on Arizona territory. Reavis becomes a monk and then a gypsy in Spain in order to forge original land-grant documents, then returns and marries Sofia (now Ellen Drew) — but his claim to be Baron of Arizona infuriates all citizens, and sparks an investigation by a known forging expert (Reed Hadley).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Beulah Bondi Films
• Con-Artists
• Historical Drama
• Mistaken or Hidden Identities
• Sam Fuller Films
• Vincent Price Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary writes, Sam Fuller’s second directorial feature — made after I Shot Jesse James (1949) and just before The Steel Helmet (1951) — is a “weird film even for [Fuller].” Peary argues that the “film is too claustrophobic and slow-moving, but keeps attention because [its] premise is so unusual”, and points out that “despite being set in gorgeous Arizona, [the] low budget of the film required that scenes take place indoors or at night” (a backdrop of an enormous map of the Arizona Territory serves as a pivotal visual in many scenes). I’m essentially in agreement with Peary’s assessment: despite its limitations, it’s impossible not to be fascinated by this fantastic tale given its historical basis and the inspired casting of Vincent Price in the lead, who inevitably heightens the surreality and melodrama of the proceedings. There’s some truly ripe dialogue:

“I’ll want you until the day I die. It is not death, it is dying that alarms me. It is not your crime, it is your weakness that alarms me.”

… which somehow doesn’t feel entirely out of place. James Wong Howe’s cinematography adds to the atmosphere of this hard-to-classify low-budget western crime-caper love-story.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• A compelling and unusual storyline
  
  
  
• James Wong Howe’s cinematography
  
  

Must See?
Yes, once, as a novel story by a unique director.

Categories

• Important Director

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TCM Article
• Chicago Reader Capsule Review
• Spinning Image Review
• DVD Savant (scroll down)

Synopsis:
A young woman (Susan Sarandon) and her fiance (Barry Bostwick) arrive at a castle during an annual convention of visitors from the planet Transsexual, and watch as Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) — with the help of his butler (Richard O’Brien) and maid (Patricia Quinn) — brings a hunky blonde (Peter Hinwood) to life.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Aliens
• Gender Bending
• Horror Films
• Mad Doctors and Scientists
• Musicals
• Science Fiction
• Susan Sarandon Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “undisputed queen of the midnight movies” is “the definitive cult movie”, the “greatest phenomenon” of cinema, and “the one movie that can’t even be discussed without mentioning its fans”, who have “changed it from being an undistinguished, campy horror-SF send-up to a fabulously entertaining multi-media midnight show.” It remains the “ultimate audience-participation film”: cult-viewers who’ve seen the movie hundreds of times “may be dressed like their favorite characters”, “recite the dialogue en masse, shout out their own additions to the script, and, under a spotlight, put on a singing-dancing-mime performance that half-duplicates, half-parodies the action taking place on the screen above them”. In his essay on Rocky Horror for his Cult Movies book, Peary admits to only sitting through this flick once himself (he writes “I was wary of attending… because of all the bad press about theater violence, but I found the reports exaggerated”), so clearly he’s not a personal fan — but he notes that the “beauty” of live screenings is “that in one row you’ll find gays, transvestites, psychology students, stoned-out viewers from the film that ended at midnight, high-school students out on dates, and people who wonder what they’re doing there”.

By watching the movie on DVD (Blu-Ray is recommended), it’s much easier to get a sense of the film itself and what is has to offer — or not. Peary writes that, in his opinion, “the picture — minus the sing-along — isn’t particularly well made or amusing”, but he likes it “when the stodgy criminologist (Charles Grey)… demonstrates dance steps”, and finds “the big production of ‘The Time Warp'” and “Meatloaf’s wild rock number, ‘Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?'” “a lot of fun”. He also points out that “Curry is dynamic as the cinema’s one” (?) “masculine-acting (sweet) transvestite”. Indeed, Curry’s performance is both iconic and mesmerizing; it’s difficult to keep your eyes off of him whenever he’s on-screen. When he’s not, it’s hit or miss. There is, of course, much, much more to read and learn about this cult classic (see Peary’s Cult Movies essay or the fan website) — and there’s nothing quite like finding a “live” screening near you.

Note: The film’s sequel — Shock Treatment (1981) — is included in the back of GFTFF but dismissed by Peary as “disastrous”.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter (nominated as one of the Best Actors of the Year in Peary’s Alternate Oscars)
  
  
  
• Truly wild sets and costumes
  
  
  
• Multiple fun homages to classic Hollywood
  
  

Must See?
Yes, dammit!

Categories

• Cult Movie
• Historically Relevant

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Moria Review
• Spinning Image Review
• Q Network Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
When a teenager (Marilyn Manning) and her father (Arch Hall, Sr.) are kidnapped by a hulking prehistoric caveman (Richard Kiel), Manning’s intrepid singing boyfriend (Arch Hall, Jr.) goes searching for them in his dune buggy.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Giants
• Kidnapping
• Mutant Monsters
• Science Fiction

Response to Peary’s Review:
In his typically non-PC fashion (at least when it comes to discussing female sexuality on film), Peary writes that “in the most lurid scenes” of this “low-budget horror film” about “a giant prehistoric caveman (a pre-‘Jaws’ Richard Kiel) who abducts a pretty young girl”, this “horny man rubs his big hands all over [Manning’s] tiny, trembling body and we hope he’ll try something unforgivable”. !!!!

Okay, I don’t know where to go with that — especially when Peary follows up by stating, “But, dammit, she’s rescued by her boyfriend”.

He argues that the “picture is a lot of fun”, and “probably would have run into censorship problems if anybody’d paid more attention to where Kiel was placing his hands”, and he asserts that he thinks “everyone was too scared of Kiel to ask him to cool it”. With all that said (and ignored), is the film worth watching? Sure, but not for the reasons Peary outlines. Manning is actually an appropriately feisty heroine rather than simply an objectified pawn, but the main “fun” to be had here is in mocking the truly terrible production values, script, and acting. Discussed as one of the Fifty Worst Films of All Time by Harry Medved and Randy Dreyfuss in their 1978 book.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Plenty of terrible dialogue, acting, and sets
  
  

Must See?
Yes, once, as a cult favorite — but be sure to watch it with the MST3K crew or other bad-movie-loving friends.

Categories

• Cult Movie

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Moria Review
• BadMovies.org Review
• Classic Horror Review

Synopsis:
In ancient Rome, a slave (Zero Mostel) desperate to escape from his brutish owners (Patricia Jessel and Michael Hordern) convinces his young master (Michael Crawford) to trade his freedom for a young virgin (Annette Andre) recently purchased by the owner of a courtesan-house — but matters become more complicated when he learns Andre has just been sold to a soldier (Leon Greene), and Hordern mistakenly believes he has been given “access” to Andre himself.

• Ancient Greece and Rome
• Buster Keaton Films
• Comedy
• Mistaken or Hidden Identities
• Musicals
• Richard Lester Films
• Slavery

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary refers to this screen adaptation of Larry Gelbart, Burt Shevelove, and Stephen Sondheim’s popular Broadway hit as a “spirited, tremendously underrated musical comedy”. He calls out director Richard Lester’s “wild cutting and frantic camera work (handled by Nicolas Roeg)” as setting “the anarchical tone for the slam-bang mix of slapstick, satire, burlesque-vaudeville, farce, and absurd humor”, and he notes that while “not all the gags work and the pacing falters on occasion”, there are “a surprising number of hilarious moments”. He writes that “Lester captures period flavor and finds Wizard of Id-like humor in the brutality the strong and powerful dish out and the weak and powerless endure”.

With all that said, I’ll admit to not being a fan of this beloved cult favorite — primarily due to my distaste over how objectified, sexualized, and/or demonized every single female character is. Could Jessel’s pasty make-up:

— or that of her mother (Beatrix Lehmann) — be any more garishly witch-like? Could beautiful women’s bodies be any more fondled, used as dining tables, or assumed to be merely objects for male pleasure (or reproduction)? However, things become more enjoyable (for me) once Greene (giving “a funny performance”) arrives on the scene; his narcissistic rhetoric is consistently laugh-out-loud humorous:

Miles Gloriosus: What is she like?
Pseudolus: A face so fair, a heart so pure – Sir, if you had been born a woman, you would have been she!
Miles Gloriosus: As magnificent as that?

Buster Keaton, in his final role before dying of cancer, seems literally lost during most of the film (for good reason), but has a nice moment at the end when his character suddenly becomes a pivotal part of the storyline. All film fanatics should check this film out at least once, and more often if it tickles your particular fancy.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Zero Mostel as Pseudolus
  
• Leon Greene as Captain Miles Gloriosus
  
• Nicolas Roeg’s cinematography
  
• Richard Williams’ closing credits
  

Must See?
Yes, as a cult comedy favorite.

Categories

• Cult Movie

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Talk Review
• NY Times Original Review
• TCM Article
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
Two freshmen (Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards) arrive at college ready to have fun and meet beautiful girls, but quickly find themselves homeless when a group of jocks take over their dorm. Banding together with other outcasts — including an underage genius (Andrew Cassese), a booger-eating misfit (Curtis Armstrong), a gay African-American (Larry B. Scott), an Asian exchange-student (Brian Tochi), and a bespectacled violin-player (Timothy Busfield) — they find a house and try to form a new fraternity.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• College
• Comedy
• Misfits
• Revenge
• Underdogs

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “surprise box-office hit” may be “just a silly teen comedy”, but is a “standout in [the] raunchy Porky’s genre because at least you don’t mind identifying with these characters.” He argues that while “there are some funny bits”, the “most enjoyment comes simply from hearing Carradine’s horsy laugh”:

and complains that “the bullying tactics of the football players are too cruel to be funny”. I disagree. Sure, the jocks are cruel and brutish (cartoonishly so):

but they get theirs BIG TIME, and the protagonists — a resilient, quirky bunch — eventually have the upper hand. What’s not to love about THAT? Edwards’ romance with a bespectacled female nerd (Michelle Meyrink) is an especially heartwarming subplot.

This may be the ultimate underdogs-get-their-day flick. Watch for a slimmish John Goodman as the jocks’ coach, and Bernie Casey as the head of Lambda Lambda Lambda, the historically black fraternity the nerds attempt to join.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Many enjoyably humorous moments
  
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as a feel-good cult favorite.

Categories

• Cult Movie

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Q Network Review
• Spinning Image Review
• NY Times Original Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
As patients complain that their loved ones are “lookalike imposters”, a doctor (Kevin McCarthy) in a California town tries to protect himself, his new girlfriend (Dana Wynter), and his married friends (King Donovan and Carolyn Jones) from mysterious pods with human-like figures in them.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Aliens
• Carolyn Jones Films
• Don Siegel Films
• Kevin McCarthy Films
• Living Nightmare
• Mistaken or Hidden Identities
• Possession
• Science Fiction

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary refers to this extra-terrestrial invasion flick as “one of the all-time great science-fiction films, one of the few that make the fantastic seem perfectly credible”. He argues that director Don “Siegel’s film outshines Phil Kaufman’s 1978 remake… in pacing”, given that “the excitement just keeps building”, with “several tricks” used “to establish tension: having characters leave their motors running when they get out of their cars; having much activity take place in basements and other dark, shadowy settings; and, most effective of all, establishing that aliens have replaced [McCarthy’s] friends so we’re paranoid about everything ordinary and familiar”. Peary adds that Siegel “used staples of the action film he knew so well: diverse camera angles, penetrating close-ups of characters mixed with mysterious longshots…, and sharp editing”.

I think Peary misses the boat in his comparison of the two films, given that both are creepily effective in their own ways. However, there’s no denying that this earlier version is a true classic of the genre and era. While Peary writes that it’s “controversial because it can be seen as either anti-communist or anti-McCarthy polemic”, at this point in history that doesn’t really matter: the idea of witnessing “your loved ones becoming your enemy”, and “fighting to retain your ability to love” is terrifying no matter what your political leaning. Siegel’s smart direction and Ellsworth Fredericks’ noir-ish cinematography combine to make the visuals consistently impressive, and McCarthy gives an excellent leading performance: he is fully invested in his role as a man determined to resist the lure of sleep and conformity at any cost.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Miles Bennell
  
• Siegel’s taut, exciting direction
  
  
• Ellsworth Fredericks’ noir-ish cinematography
  
  
• Excellent use of on-location shooting in Southern California
  
• Many truly creepy scenes
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as a genuine sci-fi classic. Discussed at length in Peary’s first Cult Movies book.

Categories

• Genuine Classic

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Moria Review
• FilmSite Review
• TCM Articles
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
An ambitious press agent (Tony Curtis) reliant on favors from widely-read columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) panics when he’s unable to carry out Hunsecker’s request to break up a romance between Hunsecker’s beloved sister (Susan Harrison) and her musician-boyfriend (Marty Milner).

Genres:

• Alexander Mackendrick Films
• Burt Lancaster Films
• Corruption
• Journalists
• New York City
• Tony Curtis Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “savage glimpse at the sleazy New York show-biz scene” — co-scripted by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman — is “crisply directed by [Brit] Alexander Mackendrick, with strong emphasis placed on New York locales” and a “great array of characters”. He accurately notes that it presents an “ugly, dark… world full of paranoia, hatred, hustling, squirming, backbiting, lying, blackmailing, sex traded for favors, schemes, threats, broken dreams, ruined lives, money, and power”. Indeed, this is one truly bleak flick: as if being reminded of rampant corruption and power dynamics weren’t enough to make us quiver for the state of humanity, we’re exposed to Lancaster’s unsavory fixation on his beautiful younger sister, which propels the entire narrative.

(Hunsecker was reportedly based on Walter Winchell, who was similarly upset about his daughter’s romance — but there’s a difference.)

Other distressing scenes and characters abound. Early in the film we’re shown Curtis entering his apartment/office, where his deeply despondent, love-sick, homely secretary (Jeff Donnell) lies on his behalf and makes it clear she’s at his beck and call no matter how badly he treats her. (“So, what’ll you do if I feel nervous?” he taunts her. “Open your meaty, sympathetic arms?”)

Meanwhile, in a nightclub, Hunsecker viciously tears into a politician (William Forrest) naively attempting to pass his mistress (Autumn Russell) off as the ward of a talent agent (Jay Adler).

Shortly after this, Curtis blackmails a buxomy, sympathetic cigarette-girl (Barbara Nichols) into sleeping with a lecherous reporter (David White) so that White will help out Curtis’s cause by printing something unsavory in his column about Milner.

Despite its challenging moral landscape, however, the film remains compulsively watchable, thanks to a script chock-full of zingy one-liners:

“I’d hate to take a bite outta you. You’re a cookie full of arsenic.”
“What am I, a bowl of fruit? A tangerine that peels in a minute?”
“Watch me run a 50-yard dash with my legs cut off!”
“My right hand hasn’t seen my left hand in thirty years.”

and typically stunning, noir-ish cinematography by James Wong Howe. (Be sure to check out TCM’s article “Behind the Camera” for fascinating insights into Howe’s craft and decision making.) Excellent use is made of New York locales: we feel we’re trapped in this city’s snare of publicity and sleaze, with Elmer Bernstein’s jazzy score simply adding to the hectic surrealism. While it’s true, as Peary writes, that “Milner and Harrison seem out of place” in the film, Curtis and Lancaster — and other supporting players — are top-notch. All film fanatics should view this grueling film at least once (and probably again), though they’re excused for not wanting to revisit it often.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco (nominated as one of the Best Actors of the Year in Peary’s Alternate Oscars)
  
• Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker
  
• Barbara Nichols as Rita
  
• James Wong Howe’s cinematography
  
  
• Highly effective use of NYC locales
  
  
• Elmer Bernstein’s score

Must See?
Yes, as a bleak classic. Nominated as one of the Best Films of the Year in Alternate Oscars.

Categories

• Genuine Classic

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Savant Review
• Q Network Review
• TCM Articles
• FilmSite Review
• NY Times Original Review
• Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review