(1955)
3.5
Michael Costello
Robert Aldrich and Clifford Odets certainly would appear to be an odd couple, but the director does a fine job in translating the writer's work to the screen. Here it's Odets' work which seems more open to question, and despite some memorable dialogue and a top-notch cast, the film has a difficult time making the artistic integrity of a movie star a burning issue. As in the more successful Odets-scripted Sweet Smell of Success (1957), there's an echo of the smear tactics of the McCarthy era, but here the hysterical studio boss is a creature of melodramatic excess, less a character than a device to force the actor to face his past. More unsettling is the blandness of Wendell Corey's unctuous factotum; he's a poster boy for the banality of evil. Palance isn't bad, but with his limited vocal range and war-damaged features, it's difficult to accept him as either a major movie star or a tormented artist. The rest of the cast is excellent, particularly Shelley Winters in her turn as a frightened young actress. Aldrich hasn't done much to open the play up, but he's heightened its realism, shooting long takes in deep focus with available or minimal lighting.
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releases for The Big Knife on AllMovie
The Big Knife (1955)
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Title/Studio |
Release Date |
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The Big Knife
MGM
More
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October 15, 2002 |
