I saw this after the Peter Hyams remake. It's still a little too silly but is better in part because it's simpler. In the remake Jesse Metcalfe wanted to bust Michael Douglas for faking evidence by faking evidence... here Dana Andrews is doing it to show how the death penalty can cause the wrong people to be convicted (the same thing as The Life and Death of David Gale). It's a simpler motivation.
I also believed the final twist more, even though Lang disliked it. Here it feels more organic that Andrews wanted to take out a former lover - he used the opportunity.
Joan Fontaine is adrift in a hopeless role. Dana Andrews does his solid Andrews thing. There's some colourful burlesque girls in support and you can imagine Lang having a high old lechy time around them.
Definitely one of the better 1950s RKO movies. Not a masterpiece but interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment