{"id":1896,"date":"2006-12-03T22:49:30","date_gmt":"2006-12-04T05:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2021-01-06T01:59:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T08:59:51","slug":"ruthless-1948","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1896","title":{"rendered":"Ruthless (1948)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong> &#8220;He spoils everything he touches. He takes the life out of it and leaves it to rot&#8211; He&#8217;s made like that!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Poster-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-20939\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Poster-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Poster-87x128.jpg 87w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Poster.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn ambitious man (Zachary Scott) from a lower-class home alienates and betrays everyone around him during his rise to power &#8212; including his best friend Vic (Louis Hayward) and childhood sweetheart (Diana Lynn).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Class Relations<\/li>\n<li>Edgar G. Ulmer Films<\/li>\n<li>Flashback Films<\/li>\n<li>Greed<\/li>\n<li>Louis Hayward Films<\/li>\n<li>Raymond Burr Films<\/li>\n<li>Rise-and-Fall<\/li>\n<li>Sydney Greenstreet Films<\/li>\n<li>Tycoons<\/li>\n<li>Zachary Scott Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review:<\/strong><br \/>\nEdgar G. Ulmer&#8217;s B-level variation on <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=42173\"><em>Citizen Kane<\/em><\/a> (one of his few higher-budget films) suffers from both a predictable plot and the surprisingly lackluster performance of its lead character (Scott), whose expression never varies and whose cold affect keeps the audience at arm&#8217;s length rather than allowing us to see what makes him tick. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott-1024x666.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-61931\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott-1024x666.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott-300x195.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott-128x83.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott-768x500.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott-1536x999.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott-415x270.png 415w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Scott.png 1557w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Diana Lynn (sweet and effective) gets it just right when describing Vendig (Scott) in the final line of the movie: &#8220;He wasn&#8217;t a man; he was a way of life&#8221;; ultimately, then, Vendig is meant to represent an <em>archetype <\/em> rather than a flesh-and-blood character, and the film&#8217;s overall emotional charge suffers for it. Interestingly, recent critics seem to find something of greater worth in this &#8220;pulp poetry&#8221; than I did. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Diana Lynn as Martha\/Mallory<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Lynn.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Lynn-1024x653.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"408\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Lynn-1024x653.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Lynn-300x191.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Lynn-128x82.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Lynn-768x490.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Lynn.png 1519w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Louis Hayward as Vic<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Hayward.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Hayward-1024x669.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"418\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Hayward-1024x669.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Hayward-300x196.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Hayward-128x84.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Hayward-768x502.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Ruthless-Hayward.png 1493w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though film fanatics may be interested in seeing Ulmer&#8217;s variation on <em>Citizen Kane<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0040751\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/ruthless\">Time Out Capsule Review <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;He spoils everything he touches. He takes the life out of it and leaves it to rot&#8211; He&#8217;s made like that!&#8221; Synopsis: An ambitious man (Zachary Scott) from a lower-class home alienates and betrays everyone around him during his rise to power &#8212; including his best friend Vic (Louis Hayward) and childhood sweetheart (Diana Lynn). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Class Relations Edgar G. Ulmer Films Flashback Films Greed Louis Hayward Films Raymond Burr Films Rise-and-Fall Sydney Greenstreet Films Tycoons&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1896\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1896"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61932,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions\/61932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}