I've watched so many movies over the years and read about
many more so when I first heard this movie was coming out my first thought was
that I'd never heard of it before. What made this a bigger surprise was that it
had two of my favorite actors in it in supporting roles, Lee Marvin and Ernest
Borgnine. So where has it been all these years? The answer is who cares now
that it's been given new life via Twilight Time's release of the film on DVD.
As is always the case with Twilight Time, it's limited to 3,000 copies so get
it now if you want one.
The movie involves several stories going on at once that
meld into one main story by the end. That main story involves three criminals
(Stephen McNally, J. Carroll Naish and Lee Marvin) who are planning to rob the
bank of small town Bradenville, a town where the main business is copper
mining. Seeing it as easy pickings they put together their plot which in the
end will involve characters involved in other items included in the story.
The main of these involves Shelly Martin (Victor Mature), a
family man whose step-son is having problems with his friends since his real
father died in the war that Shelly wasn't involved in. As he tries to make
things right with his step-son it is Shelly's car that the bank robbers hijack
along with Shelly the day of the robbery. Shelly is the local foreman at the
copper mine and his boss involves another tale here.
Boyd Fairchild (Richard Egan) is the lackluster son of the
mine's owner, more involved in getting drunk than in taking responsibility for
the mine. His wife Emily (Margaret Hayes) spends most of her time on the golf
course where she romances the local golf pro.
Boyd spends most of his time at the local clubhouse where he hits on
Linda Sherman (Virginia Leith), the mining company's nurse. Linda is the same
young woman that bank manager Harry Reeves (Tommy Noonan) has been glimpsing
through her curtains at night. You see while the movie is noir in many aspects
it also has a soap opera tone going on here as well.
Eventually the day comes and the robbery is set in motion.
Having stolen Shelly's car and tied him up along with an Amish family led by
Borgnine, the robbers hit the bank, steal the money and high tail it back to
the farm. Their plan is to hold up there rather than hit the road where they
know the police will be waiting. To say things don't always go as planned is an
understatement.
So what makes this movie so special? Well for one while it
is indeed a film noir tale it's not told in black and white. Instead the colors
here are vibrant and alive as is the cinematography. Director Richard Fleischer
uses every inch of the widescreen Cinemascope picture to great effect here.
Some shots that would be mere second hand footage in most films are astounding
to watch, even more so when you consider that the movie was made in 1955.
Cinemascope had only begun in 1953 and by the time this film arrived it was a
great way to show what it was capable of. As a long time film buff just
watching what was on the screen captivated me.
The movie has a pulp feel to it when it comes to the
storytelling but that works in its favor. The soap opera additions help fill
out the characters rather than take over the story. The acting is all well
performed with Marvin turning in a bad guy performance that would lead him to
stardom as his career moved forward. All in all the movie is something worth
watching more than once and since getting it in I've done just that.
If you're a movie fan then you'll want to make sure you pick
up a copy before they're all gone. It might not have won and Oscars or be
talked about by most film historians but what you get from this movie is
something that's hard to ignore. If nothing else pick it up for the beauty of
the images on screen. It will be worth your while.
Click here to order.
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