Reviews (12)

Terrific acting and issues which remain relevant today
Sally Field is an earnest but ambitious newspaper reporter who skirts the boundaries of journalism ethics - a term not yet regarded as an oxymoron when this movie came out in the early 80s - and Paul Newman is the unfairly indicted son of a south Florida mobster. Field chases her story with unintended tragic consequences and sparks fly between her and Newman, in more ways than one.

The real strength of the movie is in the fine acting. Newman and Field are in top form but it is the supporting roles which catch your attention. The then little known character actor Wilford Brimley shows up in the third reel as a down-home U.S. prosecutor and walks off with the movie. "At the end of today two things are gonna be true that ain't true now. One is we're going to know what in the good Christ has been going on down here, and two is I'm going to have somebody's ass in my briefcase." "Wonderful thing, subpeenees." Bob Balaban is also vivid as an overzealous prosecutor whose ruse sets the plot in motion.

If you like this one, you may also like "Independence Day." Not the recent studio blockbuster starring Will Smith but a "small" movie from the early 80s featuring tight writing and a terrific ensemble cast, with Kathleen Quinlan and David Keith in the leading parts and Dianne Wiest in an unforgettable supporting role.

Good performances...ethics be damned
The issue of leaking information to the press has been around for years, and this film does its best to illustrate how badly it can backfire when the sources aren't properly checked and re-checked.

Having said that, and being a journalist myself, I just want to shoot Sally Field for her gross violations of journalist ethics. Getting involved with the subject? No how, no way. It just isn't done. If you can accept this HUGE leap of journalistic and editorial faith, then the rest of the movie is a breeze.

Aside from Newman, I think the best performance in the movie is one of the briefest...Wilford Brimley as the U.S. Attorney who gets to the bottom of the mess. It's just a pleasure to watch him go through the paces of tearing Bob Balaban's little vendetta all to pieces, and to experience his grudging approval to let Newman walk.

"You got your selves."
Elliott Rosen is an obsessive prosecutor who is desperate to get some inside info on the "mob." He steps in to a moral grey area in his pursuit. Knowing that Michael Colin Gallagher (Paul Newman) is innocent of any crime he plans to push him into finding out who did it. The plan is simple he will leak the false fact out, through reporter Megan Carter (Sally Field), that Gallagher is being investigated. This information has a negative impact on Gallagher's business. Further pursuit leads to a death of the innocent. Naturally the paper that prints this has no intention of retracting. Gallagher finds a unique solution. See if you can spot it.

This movie does not make an immediate impact on you with the exception of Brimley's final confrontation speech. However repeated viewing brings out the subtleties that will make this one of your favorite movies for years to come.

The dangers of the public spotlight
Not quite a star-studded flick, but chock full of subtly forceful personalities. Paul Newman plays Gallagher, a crusty but otherwise legit Florida-based liquor wholesaler whose life is turned upside-down when the Miami Standard fingers him as a possible material witness. Under current laws regarding libel, Newman can always sue the paper for libel. However, the law sets a higher standard of wrongdoing to be proven when the victim is a public-figure. (The distinction was meant to prevent public officials from using libel laws to block any criticism of their actions - most notably in the case of southern police officials during the early civil-rights years; unfortunately for Gallagher, the laws have been expanded to cover any figure in the public eye, whether he's there by choice or despite it.) Because the Standard acts without malice, and only reports what's been leaked to it by a shifty DoJ official (Bob Balaban), the fact that the story itself is actually incorrect is irrelevant. While DoJ hopes to pressure Gallagher to turn state's evidence, or somehow lead them to somebody who can, the newspaper hopes Gallagher will come forward and give his own spin. (Exaggeration is an often-used media tactic - one hoped to pressure a story's subject to reflexively come forward and give a story that, while less spectacular, is nonetheless worse off now that it's been confirmed.) While Gallagher comes forward, and hooks up with Sally Field as the Standard's ace reporter, he soon finds another way to wreak havoc - by turning his enemies against each other.

There's something satisfying about the deceptive ease with which Gallagher turns the media against itself, but the resolution is unsatisfying. Wilford Brimley plays the Assistant Attorney General who gets everybody honest by threatening to make people talk under oath. (We get the point, people have no problem saying anything as long as they don't have to stand by it.) The last scene is essentially Brimley's one-man show, one that upstages Sally Fields's character's turn-about: rather than disclose Gallagher as the source of her latest story, she's willing to take the fall for him. Her logic is impeccable - somebody is going to take the blame and the fall no matter what. Why not her? If anything, the film disappoints in underplaying the attraction between the two, which only makes you wonder whether her denouement is one of journalistic integrity or love. Instead, we cheer that Brimley will get to tell the media what he thinks (and nobody in this room is going to like what I have to say, he warns) and the way he exacts retribution (you're no White House appointee, he tells Balaban's character. "The one who hired you, is me." Start packing).

REVENGE WITHOUT BULLETS
When you watch the theatrical trailer of ABSENCE OF MALICE, you are lead to think that this movie describes Paul Newman's revenge and will contain a lot of violent scenes. This is not true. In fact, has a trailer ever described accurately a movie ?

ABSENCE OF MALICE is, in the first place, an "actor" movie, with two stars of 1981 : Paul Newman and Sally Field. The secondary roles are also well written and interesting. The movie belongs to the category of moral movies and tries to defend these two ideas :

- Things and people are not always what or who they seem to be.

- The newspapers should have the duty to verify their sources before printing anything.

The treatment of the subject is well done, the screenplay being sometimes too weak. But Sydney Pollack, with this material, was able to present a conventional but still watchable movie.

A DVD zone moral education ... Read more

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Cast a Giant Shadow is based on Ted Berkman's biography of Colonel Mickey Marcus, the American soldier who served as an adviser in the fight to establish the state of Israel in 1948. Marcus (played by Kirk Douglas) must decide whether to settle into peacetime America or follow his more natural, combative instincts abroad--a dilemma symbolized by a love triangle involving wife Angie Dickinson and Senta Berger as a soldier whom he falls for in Palestine. Although lavish and spectacular, especially in the war scenes--filmed in the actual Middle Eastern locations in which they occurred--Cast a Giant Shadow is not entirely authentic. Moreover, in the light of later troubles in the region, not everyone will find heartwarming this depiction of plucky little Israel coping against Arab foes who are barely depicted as human throughout the film. Still, it's an impressive enough relic of epic 1960s cinema, with cameos by Yul Brynner, John Wayne, and Frank Sinatra. --David Stubbs ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Captures the spirit that founded Israel
Reviewers need to be aware that films of history the sooner they are filmed to the event can often catch the mood/look of the time period better than today with our myriad of special effects but no heart. "Cast a Giant Shadow" does this.

A great war film that shows how technotactically the "edge" on the battlefield goes to those who can get the best mechanical advantage---the Israelis need a main supply route open to feed Jerusalem (I have actually walked these steep defiles) and tries to armor plate trucks and this doesn't work against ambushers waiting for them. This serves as a warning that the U.S. Army cannot make the same mistake of basing itself on restricted to roads, vulnerable heavy armored cars as some seem lusting for these days. David Ben-Gurion, Israeli Prime Minister knows the "center of gravity" is holding Jerusalem (same is true today) in order to have a rallying point for the new nation. He compels Marcus to find a way to win.

Col Marcus played by Kirk Douglas displays the dogged determination "if you first don't succeed, try, try again" so lacking in today's generation. He reminds the Israelites not to wallow in self-pity over their plight BUT TO DO SOMETHING to make things better. He tries to infantry attack Latrun without tracked armored vehicle fire support and fails to take the walled post (now the IDF tank museum) to bust open the road to Jerusalem. He does succeed in mobile warfare against Egyptian tanks using anti-tank guns mounted on jeeps. Eventually, Marcus finds a way----

I think the women in the film are sexy; Dickinson and Berger and add to the film in that they love their man, Marcus but fear for his safety as he does what has to be done because humanity insists it be done. The film reminds us that the true feelings many people have towards Israeli people would be exctinction as Marcus discovers at the death camps in Germany as a U.S. Army Paratroop officer. This prejudice is depicted well in the film and reminds us that freedom is not a "free" lunch. Someone has to pay for it, and that usually means our men in uniform. It also means helping them do their jobs as the film shows that getting support from your own people is not automatic. Marcus earns the respect of his Army but at a lot of struggle; what if today there are no men of vision willing to go this far to defend freedom?

Cast a Giant CAST
First off, this film contains a rousing score by Elmer Bernstein. It is brilliant. Melville Shavelson wrote and directed this sprawling biographical action picture about (Colonel) "Mickey" Marcus (Kirk Douglas), a West Point graduate and an adviser to President Roosevelt during W.W.II, who, at the request of the Israelis, went to there in the late 40s to re-organize their army. In this account, based on a book by Ted Berkman, Mickey Marcus is the master strategist who leads the Israelis to victory in the war with the Arabs. Melville Shavelson admires him, making him the cool but enigmatic leader. Shavelson is very eager to please the audience enough to throw in numerous guest stars, such as Frank Sinatra and Yul Brynner, and agonizes over Mickey's moral conflict between Angie Dickinson, the wife he leaves at home in the U.S., and Senta Berger, the female warrior he takes up with. Even those willing to accept the hours of incoherence and banality may recoil at the obscenity of being asked to experience the horrors of Dachau as reflected in John Wayne's bleary eyes. It also features Topol, James Donald, Stathis Giallelis, Ruth White, Gordon Jackson, Luther Adler, Gary Merrill, and Jeremy Kemp. Get the soundtrack.

UTTER RUBBISH
I GIVE THIS MOVIE MINUS 5 STARS.
Why do we watch movies? Sometimes its because we like fantasy, or action, or romance, OR THE TELLING OF A TRUE STORY. I guess the idea with cast a giant shadow was to tell the true story of how a group terrorists [Jews] with great might and courage created an independent state of Israel- which of course is all false and utter rubbish. The film is light years away from the telling of a true story. The Jews were not mighty nor courageous, nor passionate. The truth is they were terrorists and with America's help defeated the Arabs. What ever the film potrays of the Jews was wrong and highly inaccurate. There was also some inaccuracies in the portrayl of the Arabs, but not on a grand scale as the Jews. Steven Speilberg wanted to do a movie very close to the truth about the same war, but when zionists saw the script they pressured Steven to drop the idea. Cast a Giant shadow underated the amreican involvement which was the only reason why Israel won that war. If you like a war movie there are plenty that are much better than this. If you are pro-israeli I think you will like it, but remember 80% of it is inccurate. Many people watch and then review a movie at amazon if it is a good ONE. On the basis of that, cast A Giant shadow has only 11 reviews, indicating what utter rubbish of a movie it is.

White-Washed View of Arab-Israli War
The problem with a film like this today is that it will evoke passionate responses from both Arabs and Jews. I think a non-semetic person is needed to provide an honest assessment. As an American I have no great feelings for either Isreal or the varied Arab States. I think both sides have little to recommend them even to this day. This film portrays the creation of the modern Isreali army from a bunch of feuding militias. Kirk Douglas plays his usual out-spoken leader part which comes over ok. John Wayne as a WW2 general and State Department official is almost amusing, but does convey how the US government probably felt toward events in the Middle East at this time.

I was surprised at the reasonable portrayal of the British in this film, as they are usually vilified by pro-Isreali elments most times. It shows how the British vainly tried to keep both sides apart, and explains a little of their own position for a change. It was a thankless task for them. The almost saintly portrayal of the Isrealis does give one the impression that this film was funded by the Jewish Defense League in the US! They are always seen as long suffering as they prod along singing and dancing to their dour and flat music! The Arabs don't get much better treatment either, and little individual attention at all, excepet for one dissident chieftain who seems to throw his lot in with the Jews. His portrayal is a bit standard, but is amusing and not that inaccurate for the time.

What the movie does show well is the chaotic nature of the fighting in 1948 with the first Arab-Isreali War. We see Jewish columes being attacked from the mountains and bloody sacrefices being made. The Arab forces are shown a bit better armed than I think they actually were, but there can be no doubt that they had some initial advantages against the nascent state of Isreal which they threw away. 1947-48 was the only chance the Arab World would get to crush Isreal, and they have only themselves to blame for not doing it. The Isrealis once again proved the superiority of Western forces against Eastern ones. Even with the chaotic nature of the fighting, and their poor strategic situation, they were able to hang on and prevail through sheer grit and determination. Kirk Douglas represents the many mercinaries and outside supporters who were vital in giving the Isrealis the technical expertise, help and leadership that they so badly needed. Without them Isreal no doubt would have been crushed.

This movie is a bit sentimental and heavy-handed at times, but it probably conveys a general impression of the times better than any Hollywood production could today. Frank Sinitra flying around in his little plane has got to be funniest thing in this entire opus! Yul Brenner is pretty good also as a downcast Isreali leader. The women in the movie are probably the most compelling aspect. Kirk Douglas's wife and the Isreali girl are both lovely and compelling. Their pull on him has symbolic meaning in the story. There is some good dialouge in this movie, some of it with decent historical references. Viewers should try not to get too involved with the plot and characters, and just try to see it as a grand rolling epic with some scant relation to history! I guess it would help if you are not pro-Isreali or Arab as well. Just sit back, have a few chuckles and gain an appreciation for the complexity of the events which are conveyed in this epic. You can at least begin to understand the current mess in the Middle East today by viewing it. They don't make movies like this anymore.

10% good 90 % bad
Okay, we wanted a movie to enjoy about the Land of Israel and it's struggles. Old style movie making was enjoyable, as was the usual depiction of the Jewish courage and struggle along with a similar type people giving American support. HOWEVER, from the get-go the main actor was cheating on his wife, and every time John Wayne got a chance to say "damn" he sure did. It's like they realized at this point in movie making they could get away with saying "damn" on screen more than in the work place or schools, or any other place of decency, and so they went ALL OUT. Like little kids getting away with something for the first time, if it's all the sudden allowed for some reason, they display it with exhuberance! So bad language, a love affair during marriage (actually celebrated by two married couples' cheating spouses) is toyed with and starts to come to full fruition (whatever THAT means anymore). Movie went in the garbage, we are sad we bought it. There was NO need for profanity, nor a need for such sensuousness on a topic about heroic bravery and humand struggles to live together in peace ON A BATTLEFIELD. The Jews are dipicted as passionate and courageous (usual depiction) but not very smart w/ politics and rough relationships (usual depiction). We aren't Jewish, but we say...don't buy! ... Read more

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What a difference a few years can make. The Desert Fox, releasedsix years after the end of World War II, is a solemnly respectful tribute toErwin Rommel, Germany's most celebrated military genius. James Mason's portrayalof this gallant warrior became a highlight of his career iconography. The filmitself is oddly disjointed: a precredit commando raid to liquidate Rommel isfollowed by a flashback to the field-marshal's lightning successes commandingthe Afrika Korps—-a compressed account via documentary footage and copiousnarration (spoken by Michael Rennie, who also dubs Desmond Young, the Rommelbiographer and onetime British POW appearing briefly as himself). The dramaticcore is Rommel's growing disenchantment with Hitler (Luther Adler), hisinvolvement in the plot to assassinate der Führer, and his subsequent martyrdom. Mason's Rommel returned two years later for a flamboyant, mostly German-speakingcameo in The Desert Rats, a prequel focusing on the battle for Tobruk.--Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (17)

English actor, James Mason, makes a great Rommel.
Originally copyright by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, in 1951, only six years after the end of World War Two, this black and white film gives a shallow overview of the last years of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel: the Desert Fox.

Once you get past the opening rather stagey scenes, of British commandos raiding a German headquarters building in north Africa, hoping to kill the Desert Fox in his lair, the rest of the film is carried along guite well, by the great performance of James Mason, as Rommel. This performance is the only reason I rated this film as four stars, without Mason I would have been disapointed.

Other members of the cast do fine jobs too, notably Cedric Hardwicke and Leo G. Carroll. One can find good entertainment based on real events.

D-Day: the invasion of Normandy, is a highlight of this film. There are several minutes of what appears to be genuine newsreel footage of the storming of the beaches: the ships off shore, the guns, the planes, brave men falling. It's all very real at this point.

"The Desert Fox" was made in an era when the directors, producers, and the Hollywood Establishment in general, were less preachy, and less likely to distort the truth in order to promote a social agenda. That is a big plus for this film.

On the down side: the film starts off with several undisclosed advertisements for other videos, of like kind, by Fox. This is borderline dishonest, as consumers have paid for entertainment and expect it to be commercial free. At the very least, the ads should be disclosed, before anyone makes a purchaseing decision.

All in all, "The Desert Fox" is good entertainment and deserves a look.

A Proper Tribute To The Desert Fox
Henry Hathaway's 1951 film on Erwin Rommel, NAZI Germany's most brilliant tactician whose indirect involvement in a failed plot to assassinate Hitler resulted in his untimely death.

The film is a character study and focuses more on Rommel's relationship with Hitler and the German High Command as opposed to his achievements as a military tactician. Because the nature of his death wasn't very well known at that time, the film focuses on Rommel's deteriorating relationship with Hitler and his eventual participation in the assassination plot. This is normal since, with the film being made only 6 years after the end of WWII, audiences would have been quite unreceptive to a film glorifying a German general's military exploits against allied forces.

All in all, James Mason delivers a brilliant performance as a man who is struggling with his conscience. Is his duty as a general to just obey Hitler or to protect Germany from destruction? What should he do when Hitler's megalomania is a greater threat to Germany than the Allies themselves? How can he be a good soldier and live with himself by committing treason: even if treason is the only logical alternative? Although the film isn't entirely accurate in its history, it succeeds in capturing all of the internal conflicts Rommel must have suffered in deciding what to do. The film is also accurate in portraying the impossible dilemma faced by Von Runstedt and others in the German High Command with Hitler's incessant meddling in military planning and execution. As the movie shows, by 1944 Hitler assumed direct control of virtually all military operations in the major theaters with disastrous results (i.e. insisting that most heavy guns and panzer divisions remain in Calais even when the D-Day invasion was well underway). This dilemma was dealt with humor in the movie when Von Runsted sarcastically tells Rommel about how corporals (i.e. Hitler) are such brilliant strategists and tacticians who clearly know far more about waging war than your run-of-the-mill Field Marshalls: "You know how rigid those corporals can be."

Altogether a great film that sheds light on the character of one of the greatest military tacticians of the 20th Century. A film not to be missed.

Not enough action
This movie is misleadingly named. Although Rommel was indeed the commander of Germany's Afrika Corp in World War II, and there earned a reputation as a master tactician, that is not what this movie is about. Two-thirds of this movie's 88 minute length focuses on Rommel's minor role in a conspiracy to kill Hitler. The conspiracy failed, and Rommel eventually paid with his life for his involvement. (In truth, Rommel was lucky. The other conspirators were hanged on piano wire and died a painful death. Because he had been built up into a national hero, Rommel was given the opportunity to take poison, and the public was told he died of war wounds.

I'm afraid most viewers, jaded by modern F/X and action laden efforts like Saving Private Ryan, will be disappointed with this rather inexpensively made effort from 1951. There is very little action other than a commando raid during the first five minutes of the movie. The little remaining action is actual stock footage of the war, skillfully cut into the film. The movie is very talky, focusing on Rommel's relationship with his wife and son, Field Marshal Von Rundstedt, and Adolph Hitler.

I have to admit that when I watched an early scene that showed Rommel in North Africa, wearing a long black leather overcoat consulting with his officers, I said to myself "pure Hollywood! there is no way he would have been wearing that in the hot desert." Then I went to my library and consulted a book on Rommel, lavishly illustrated with photographs. Not only was Rommel wearing the black leather overcoat, he was dressed precisely as depicted in the movie. There is also a remarkable resemblance between Rommel and James Mason, who does an outstanding job portraying Rommel in the movie. The moviemakers got it right, and I was wrong.

The Desert Fox and The Desert Rats - really a set!
Both these movies have James Mason playing the part of General Erwin Rommell. The Desert Rats is the story of Australian Infantry under the command of a British Officer (Richard Burton)who although out numbered and out gunned delay the advance of Rommell's Afrika Corps outside of Tobruk until the British Relief Column arrives. Almost like a sequel to The Desert Rats is the story of The Desert Fox. This story is told through the eyes of an ex-British Officer who after the war tries to find out exactly how and why Rommell died under the Nazi Regime. The story reveals how an unwell Rommell, recently returned from the middle east campaign is invited to join the plot to kill Hitler. It shows Rommell's battle of conscience over his loyalty to an insane leader and his knowledge of the plot for that leader's assassination. Although he will not support the plot to kill Hitler, Rommell will not turn the conspirators in either - a decision that would cost him his life.

I strongly recommend the purchase of both these movies.

Decent Semi-Biographical Film
In between stock footage and some odd chase scenes, this is a pretty good film about Erwin von Rommel.

Rommel has always been my hero, and James Mason gives a fine performance as "the Desert Fox." OK, so maybe he doesn't look like Rommel, but he plays him well and his looks aren't as off as some other atrocious role choices have been. John Wayne as Ghengis Khan comes to mind.

Rommel is pretty well realized, although I would have also liked to have seen his earlier life shown as well. I understand that probably wasn't the intention of the film makers, and as showing Rommel in his WWII life, this film succeeds. ... Read more

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John Wayne stars as a 19th-century sea captain out for revenge against awealthy shipping magnate in this interesting and unlikely 1948 offering fromRepublic Pictures. Wayne plays the wronged Captain Ralls with a convincingbitterness that foreshadows his later work in the John Ford classic TheSearchers, and his grim portrayal of Ralls hits a high point when Rallspurposely wrecks his enemy's prize treasure ship. The painfully beautiful GailRussell costarred with Wayne only the year before in The Angel and theBadman and delivers a memorable performance as the tragic Angelique. GigYoung also stands out as a crewman who eventually learns the truth about Ralls.Wake of the Red Witch shares similarities in both character and climax toan earlier Wayne picture, C.B. DeMille's Reap the Wild Wind, but thisfilm has a more direct approach in exploring the complex motivations of itscharacters. --Mark Savary ... Read more

Reviews (9)

An old sea yarn
This tale is narrated from the perspective of the first mate of "The Red Witch" when the incidents at the beginning of the film occur. Of all the characters in this tale, the narrator seems to have the most dignity. None of the characters are lacking in pride, and all but the women are greedy.

For a sea yarn set in the late 1800s, the sea captain has to be a bit of a rogue and a rascal, but still possess heart. This is difficult, in my opinion, for John Wayne. I have seen him in too many movies where he is the gallant working to save the day here. In this movie, he is trying to play a conniving sea captain, and I can't get past my image of him. This will make it difficult to understand his character.

To look at the story, the box is a little off. It places the focus where the movie does not focus its attention. The attention is on the relationship between Captain Ralls (Wayne) and Sidneye (Adler). Both are greedy, but have to have the other to give life some meaning. Parts of the story seem add a love story to bring in a wider audience, but it really doesn't flow, nor does it fit the story.

I would not go out of my way to see this movie, but if it happened to be on, I would give it a view.

Widescreen????
People are wondering why this movie is presented in Full-Screen format. The answer is simple...Widescreen movies weren't made until 1953. This movie was made in 1949. All movies made until 1953 were filmed in the 4:3 ratio. When TV came along, and used the same ratio for picture tubes, the movie execs came up with a wide format to lure back moviegoers.

So, if you see a movie release on DVD, and it was made before 1953, don't look for it in wide screen...

Good Duke, good DVD, but are we missing wider format?
Here's a Duke movie to like. This DVD, which has been previoulsy released, is full screen. Whether or not widescreen was in regular use, it seens obvious to me there's more information on the sides. I saw a wider version on, I think, TCM, also colorized. I don't think it's just a matter of chopping the top and bottom off the full screen version and making it look wider. I think there is more information out there. So given the excellent movie at its heart, it would be nice to have whatever extra picture there is. This is a story that can take advantage of wideness. Apart from that, it's a Duke DVD for every collection, a good story, nice effects and the video transfer and sound are very good. You'll like it. But watch for the wider, colorized version to be broadcast and tape it.

Good John Wayne
It's in full screen instead of widescreen. As a result this good, fun movie loses some of its visual spendor. Also, it's the original BW version. Still, right now it's the only version available. The picture and sound are fine on DVD but look elsewhere for the widescreen and the computer colorized version, which shows up on satellite TV now and then.

The DUKE and Gail, together again!
After the classic "Angel and the Badman", DUKE and Gail Russell paired again for this effort, "Wake of the Red Witch".

A tale of the effects revenge, greed, and bittnerness can have on people, the story traces the duel of words and intrigue between two men; Captain Ralls (The DUKE), and shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye.

DUKE skippers Sidneye's prize ship, the Red Witch, and purposely wrecks her in a plan to cheat Sidneye out of a cargo of gold. Turns out that Sidneye had plotted to steal away DUKE's girl, Angelique Desaix (played by the lovely and angelic Gail Russell).

Tricking DUKE into a fatal confrontation with the girl's father, Sidneye is able to marry Angelique before The DUKE can set things right. This leads to her unhappiness, and The DUKE takes revenge on Sidneye by wrecking the Red Witch.

A wonderful study of greed, revenge, and redmption, we see the tale through the eyes of a young seaman (Gig Young), who Ralls sees as his younger self.

Familiar faces in the cast include Paul Fix, Henry Daniell, Jeff Corey, Erskine Sanford, and Grant Withers.

Gail is gorgeous, as usual. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A psycho-fable of the highest merit
Yes, yes I know all the fulminations comparing this film to the play. I haven't seen the play nor read the novel, so I'm judging purely by the film, which I rate at the very highest. OF COURSE the movie is "contrived" as Leonard Maltin's movie guide has it, that's what fables do (talking wolves, trees that sing, clouds that weep and preach a moral), they present contrived situations in order to elucidate. This psycho-fable unearths the ghoulish byplay of fire and ice in all of us, Jew or Bosch, whichever side of the barbed wire of things you stand. Schell's acting is superlative, and the LANGUAGE is English at its nightmare-wittiest. To summarize: you can't like "Doctor Strangelove" and scorn this film: they're two sides of the same rifle butt.

Dr. Theodore Voelkel
Winchester Mass.

Robert Shaw will turn in his grave
If one has ever read the original play of "The Man in the Glass Booth" or at least the novel of the same name by the gifted writer and actor Robert Shaw, the film version by Arthur Hiller can only be regarded as a total disaster. Every ambivalent or critical aspect of Shaw's play has been cut out or made far too obvious, so that everybody gets the message- no thinking required. The film takes no risks. Hiller, in an interview of this DVD says (in nearly every second sentence) that he wanted to make the film "more emotional" than the play. A big mistake. And he is not honest to Shaw as he insists. However, he claims that Shaw, who had (understandably) removed his name from the credits called Hiller after the films release and loved it. One should doubt that. Shaw's two biographers, French and Carmean, tell a different story, namely that Shaw had never seen the film version. They also both reported that Shaw argued with Maximilian Schell, whom he disliked, on the set of "Der Richter und sein Henker" ("End of the Game"), where Schell was, of course, defeating the film version. Schell, in "Glass Booth", gives a performance that can only be described as total overacting, why does someone nominate this for an Oscar? He is as good as in "John Carpenter`s Vampires"- they should have cast Donald Pleasence, who was in the original stage production directed by Harold pinter. Do yourself a favour and get the book!

Maximilian Schell should have won the Oscar for this in 1975
Thirty years ago, under the aegis of the ambitious "American Film Theatre," Arthur Hiller directed a movie based on a novel by writer, director and actor Robert Shaw. (Yes the same salty seaman who was eaten by a "great white" shark in the movie "Jaws"). Whatever one thinks about the plausibility of an enormously successful wealthy entrepreneur, who is also a schizophrenic personality, torn between the morally opposite identities of a sadistic concentration camp commandant, and a Jewish holocaust survivor, Maximilian Schell as "The Man In the Glass Booth," gives an explosive performance, so extreme and so riviting, that it is suigeneris. I can't imagine another actor, with the possible exception of Klaus Kinski, successfully realizing this incredible role. It is almost unfair to the other fine actors who inhabit this film, that they can be little more than foils in what is for all practical purposes a one man show. The story is divided into two acts, the first half taking place in Arthur Goldman's luxurious Manhattan penthouse apartment, and the second half in an Israeli courtroom. Even if you do figure out his true identity before the climactic courtroom scene, it won't take away from your astonishment, I promise.

The ultimate guilt trip
While watching the 2001 release THE BELIEVER, it recalled to mind THE MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH. Though I haven't viewed the latter movie in over a decade, the power of Maximilian Schell's performance puts it on my list of "Most Memorable Films", though perhaps my memory of the details is fuzzy.

Schell is Arthur Goldman, a wealthy Jewish industrialist living in a Manhattan highrise apartment. Goldman is apparently a recluse, who deals with the world through his personal assistant, Charlie (Lawrence Pressman). At first, Arthur seems like a regular guy, albeit expressing outrageous views on Jews and Judaism, but it becomes apparent to the audience that the man has serious issues when he's seen burning the skin under his upper arm with a candle flame. Then, the audience and Charlie are dumbfounded when an Israeli hit team breaks in, kidnaps Goldman, and carries him off to trial in Israel as a war criminal - a former Nazi concentration camp commandant, Adolph Dorf. Goldman insists pretrial that he be allowed to wear a full SS uniform. For his own protection, then, he faces his accusers as THE MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH. Bullet-proof glass, that is, considering the emotional volatility of the charges to camp survivors that are present.

Schell received Oscar and Golden Globe Best Actor nominations for his depiction of a man so tortured by guilt that he would go to extremes to exorcise it. Personal guilt for having survived the Holocaust; collective Jewish guilt for not having fought back. Taking on the persona of Dorf, Goldman gleefully mocks the Jews for their meekness as they went to slaughter. The sad end to the trial is one of the most emotionally compelling scenes I've ever watched.

THE MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH was one of the first VHS tapes I purchased back in 1979 when I bought my first video recorder. (Both the tape and the recorder were MUCH more expensive back then!) Do yourself a favor and rent this film (along with THE BELIEVER) for a thought-provoking double feature on the psyche-twisting nature of guilt.

Robbed
OK, Jack Nicholson did a nice little job in Cuckoo's Nest---his usual scenery munching, overdone performance. However, if fairness truly prevailed in 1975 and Max Schell was a cozy denizen of mainstream Hollywood, he would have taken the Oscar hands down for this remarkable and powerful tour de force of acting brilliance. Arthur Hiller crafts a minimalist piece of cinematography that features acting---not moviemaking gimmickry. This film is a true sleeper which seems to finally and deservedly be waking up 28 years after its creation. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A faceless figure marches down an endless hallway as dark, driving music underscores his doom. It's stocky, stalwart Edmond O'Brien, who plows through the police detective's office like he's got nothing to lose. "I want to report a murder," he demands, grim and sleepy-eyed. Who was killed? "I was." It's a brilliant opening to a memorable film noir classic. O'Brien is a CPA who flees his dull job and small California town for a wild weekend in San Francisco, only to be poisoned and doomed to certain death. With only days to live, his incredulity morphs into a searing drive to find his killers and stinging regrets for what might have been. O'Brien is a familiar noir face, but he usually plays figures of authority: a cop in White Heat; an investigator in The Killers. He's a little stiff here, but his blunt, unglamorous persona is perfect for the Everyman who is randomly visited by death. Rudolph Maté, acinematographer turned director, moves from sun-bright day scenes to busy nighttime locations with few visual flourishes, but when he takes the camera into the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco the film is energized with a gritty, restless vigor. It's one of the most relentlessly dark films noir ever made--taut, edgy, and low budget. Watch for the Bradbury building in the film's climax, made famous by its memorable use decades later in the sci-fi noir classic Blade Runner.--Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (15)

A great exhibit for the Film Noir Museum
It's a clever idea, really -- a man who sets out to solve his own murder before he dies. A businessman in San Francisco for a good time is given a poison for which there is no treatment. He has only a day or two to live. Driven by the need to know who did this and why, he uncovers a convoluted plot involving stolen iridium, false identities, and a cast of colorful characters whose motives I had trouble following. The protaganist's character is a bit fuzzy (the exaggerated portrayal of his compulsive girlwatching is just silly), and the dialog between him and his secretary/girlfriend is sometimes downright weird. What's really interesting about this movie is seeing how much certain styles -- at least as portrayed on screen -- have changed in just a generation. All the men wear suits and ties all the time, even while enjoying that crazy "jive" music in a wild jazz club. Edmond O'Brien is an out-of-shape, middle-aged chain smoker with a puffy face and a Ricky Ricardo hairdo, but several attractive women find him irresistable. The women, then as now, are thin and pretty, but hampered by elaborate hair, stiff clothes, and very strange hats. By today's standards, everybody looks old. And the police are polite to everyone!

An unusually cynnical film noir
The concept of a murder victim who functions as his own detective, gives to D.O.A. a unique point of view and also gives it a major status.
The inspiration for D.O.A. comes from a 1931 german film entitled Der mann, der seinen morder sucht, directed by Robert Siodmak (The dark mirror).
People manipulated by forces they are unable to control and comprenhend; that's a another important component of the film noir's profile.
This film, altogether with Kiss me deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955) are the best exponents in remarking this point, because also establish a crossroad about the unknown consequences derivated from the technology.
Don't miss this weird story; an unvaluable gem and also well done film of Rudolf Mate.
Edmond O' Brien is top-notch.

based in false facts but superb
This movie is a clear demonstration of how it's possible to make excellent cinema based on premises frontally opposite to the movies of today. We will see the protagonist to react as a madman when he finds out that someone has poisoned him with an terrible, fluorescent, imaginary toxin. Also I doubt very much that can be real the attitude of the physicians dealing with such a case in saying crudely to the patient that he has only a few hours of life, and I don't dare to enter in ethical considerations. This movie doesn't admit microscopic vision.
And nevertheless and against all these, the spectator follows this unreal plot and remains magnetized by the movie. How is this possible? The response only can be one: an enormous amount of talent. Let's rest in peace the unfortunate DOA, he has deserved it after 90 minutes of a nightmare that we do not understand but fascinates us. Today, with all the special effects and computers of the world the same results aren't reached.

Forces Beyond Our Control.
A man named Frank Bigelow (Edmund O'Brian) shows up at Los Angeles police station to report a murder: his own. Frank is dying of luminous toxin poisoning. He recounts to police the incredible story that brought him to be at the brink of death in this police station in a strange city. Just a few days ago, he was a small business owner in a little town called Banning. He had an adoring girlfriend, Paula Gibson (Pamela Britton), who was also his personal secretary. But Frank had cold feet about marrying Paula and decided to take a little vacation to San Francisco to give himself some air. Paula called to tell him that a man named Phillips was desperately trying to reach him, but the name didn't ring a bell. The next day, Frank found out that he had been fatally and irreversibly poisoned. Frank's increasingly frantic search for the identity and motivation of his murderer takes him to two cities, into the criminal underworld, and onto the wrong end of several pistols before all is done.

Rudolph Mate's "D.O.A." is a film noir classic. And it takes the cynical view typical of the genre. Frank is a man whose fate is entirely beyond his control. As the audience roots for Frank to solve the mystery and find his murderer, fate unabashedly mocks his efforts. Frank is a dying man; what earthly difference will it make if he finds his killer? Whatever Frank does, the result will be the same. And it's all because he notarized a bill of sale...one out of hundreds of bills of sales. Who knew what being a notary could lead to? But for a movie with such a cynical story to tell, "D.O.A." has always been immensely popular. I think that's because Frank Bigelow is an "everyman" who rises to the occasion when difficult circumstances require it. He's not too smart and not too dumb. He has a nice girlfriend...to whom he isn't entirely faithful. He's basically a good guy, works hard, but imperfect. And when fate deals him a bad deal, he finds within him a strength and determination that even he may not have known he had. He's going to solve the mystery if it's the last thing he does. Even though it will be the last thing he does. Edmund O'Brian does an admirable job of conveying Frank's imperfection, his initial incredulity at his predicament, and then his determination when he stares reality in the face and decides to take matters into his own hands, to the extent that he can. The opening scene in which Frank enters the police station to report his own murder is a stroke of genius. What a way to hook an audience! The only fault that I find with the film are the ridiculous noises that we hear every time Frank spies an attractive woman. Their tone is completely inappropriate to the film, and they are a real blot on Dimitri Tiomkin's otherwise excellent score.

The DVD (This refers to the Roan Group DVD only): This film looks too contrasty and lacking in subtle tonality to me. Not having seen the film on the silver screen, I don't know if it was originally like that, if there was a problem with the print, or if it's a bad transfer. But the film stocks available in 1950 were technologically much better than this DVD would lead you to believe. The main menu on the disc doesn't show up before the movie. The disc starts to play as soon as it is inserted into the player, so you have to either hit the menu button on your remote or get yourself onto your couch quickly. There are two bonus features: An interview with actress Beverly Campbell (now Beverly Garland) in which she describes her experience being blacklisted by the Hollywood studios for several years following her appearance in "D.O.A." And there are a few pages of text that you can read about film noir in general and "D.O.A." in particular. Beverly Garland's story is interesting, but the DVD seems to be put together in a slipshod manner.

A film noire classic in every sense of the word
1950's D.O.A. is classic film noire, one of the true classics of the genre. The characters are intense, everyone is up to something, and the clock is ticking for one Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien), who must attempt to find his own murderer before his last grain of sand trickles to the bottom of the hourglass. Bigelow is an accountant who up and takes a week off to visit San Francisco, ostensibly to get away from his secretary and incredibly needy, codependent, marathon-talking girlfriend Paula (Pamela Britton). Once he arrives at the hotel, he's like an elephant in a peanut factory, trying to go every direction at once in order to have a good time with every woman he sees. While the neurotic Paula broods, Bigelow goes out to paint the town red with a gang of his hotel neighbors, only to wake up the next morning feeling less than healthy. A trip to the doctor's office instantly changes his entire perspective on life, for he finds out that he has been poisoned with a luminous toxin, for which there is no cure whatsoever. With anywhere from a day to two weeks to live, he starts off on a relentless quest to discover his murderer. The plot takes a number of twists and turns, and it can get a little confusing at times because of all the characters and all the shenanigans each of them are pulling. Bigelow has nothing to lose, though, and he refuses to give up as long as he has a breath in his body.

D.O.A. starts off a little slow, and the fact that a silly musical wolf call greeted the appearance of any woman early on had me doubting the merits of this film, but when things really get going, they really get going. The action and suspense build inexorably with each passing minute of the film, and the background music only reinforces the gripping effect upon the viewer. The camera work is also quite effective, strongly conveying the increasing alienation Bigelow is faced with as the Grim Reaper makes plans to pay him an imminent visit. It is easy to become mesmerized by all of the story's twists and turns, as on top of the great atmosphere, you have to think about each new clue and surprise that Bigelow encounters on his mission. You have to admire Bigelow's relentless determination and quick-thinking mind, and he quickly transforms himself from a character of dubious merit and possibly ignoble feelings into a tragic hero/victim of classic proportions. If the whole luminous poisoning thing doesn't make you sympathize with the character, the neurotically suffocating burden of love he has to deal with continuously from Paula will. Other films have taken this idea of a poisoned man hunting down his murderer in his dying days and hours, but none has produced such a gritty tale that drips with realism and builds to the type of crescendo found in this remarkable film noire classic. ... Read more

Description

The classic suspense film that inspired the 1980’s remake which featured Dennis Quaid, the original 1949 D.O.A. still makes the blood pulse with intrigue and excitement as vacationing CPA Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) becomes the recipient of a deadly poison known as iridium. Told by a doctor that he only has a few hours to live, Bigelow desperately retraces his movements of the previous 24 hours, trying to locate his murderer.See the one that started it all, a tense and gripping classic noir suspense film! ... Read more

Reviews (15)

A great exhibit for the Film Noir Museum
It's a clever idea, really -- a man who sets out to solve his own murder before he dies. A businessman in San Francisco for a good time is given a poison for which there is no treatment. He has only a day or two to live. Driven by the need to know who did this and why, he uncovers a convoluted plot involving stolen iridium, false identities, and a cast of colorful characters whose motives I had trouble following. The protaganist's character is a bit fuzzy (the exaggerated portrayal of his compulsive girlwatching is just silly), and the dialog between him and his secretary/girlfriend is sometimes downright weird. What's really interesting about this movie is seeing how much certain styles -- at least as portrayed on screen -- have changed in just a generation. All the men wear suits and ties all the time, even while enjoying that crazy "jive" music in a wild jazz club. Edmond O'Brien is an out-of-shape, middle-aged chain smoker with a puffy face and a Ricky Ricardo hairdo, but several attractive women find him irresistable. The women, then as now, are thin and pretty, but hampered by elaborate hair, stiff clothes, and very strange hats. By today's standards, everybody looks old. And the police are polite to everyone!

An unusually cynnical film noir
The concept of a murder victim who functions as his own detective, gives to D.O.A. a unique point of view and also gives it a major status.
The inspiration for D.O.A. comes from a 1931 german film entitled Der mann, der seinen morder sucht, directed by Robert Siodmak (The dark mirror).
People manipulated by forces they are unable to control and comprenhend; that's a another important component of the film noir's profile.
This film, altogether with Kiss me deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955) are the best exponents in remarking this point, because also establish a crossroad about the unknown consequences derivated from the technology.
Don't miss this weird story; an unvaluable gem and also well done film of Rudolf Mate.
Edmond O' Brien is top-notch.

based in false facts but superb
This movie is a clear demonstration of how it's possible to make excellent cinema based on premises frontally opposite to the movies of today. We will see the protagonist to react as a madman when he finds out that someone has poisoned him with an terrible, fluorescent, imaginary toxin. Also I doubt very much that can be real the attitude of the physicians dealing with such a case in saying crudely to the patient that he has only a few hours of life, and I don't dare to enter in ethical considerations. This movie doesn't admit microscopic vision.
And nevertheless and against all these, the spectator follows this unreal plot and remains magnetized by the movie. How is this possible? The response only can be one: an enormous amount of talent. Let's rest in peace the unfortunate DOA, he has deserved it after 90 minutes of a nightmare that we do not understand but fascinates us. Today, with all the special effects and computers of the world the same results aren't reached.

Forces Beyond Our Control.
A man named Frank Bigelow (Edmund O'Brian) shows up at Los Angeles police station to report a murder: his own. Frank is dying of luminous toxin poisoning. He recounts to police the incredible story that brought him to be at the brink of death in this police station in a strange city. Just a few days ago, he was a small business owner in a little town called Banning. He had an adoring girlfriend, Paula Gibson (Pamela Britton), who was also his personal secretary. But Frank had cold feet about marrying Paula and decided to take a little vacation to San Francisco to give himself some air. Paula called to tell him that a man named Phillips was desperately trying to reach him, but the name didn't ring a bell. The next day, Frank found out that he had been fatally and irreversibly poisoned. Frank's increasingly frantic search for the identity and motivation of his murderer takes him to two cities, into the criminal underworld, and onto the wrong end of several pistols before all is done.

Rudolph Mate's "D.O.A." is a film noir classic. And it takes the cynical view typical of the genre. Frank is a man whose fate is entirely beyond his control. As the audience roots for Frank to solve the mystery and find his murderer, fate unabashedly mocks his efforts. Frank is a dying man; what earthly difference will it make if he finds his killer? Whatever Frank does, the result will be the same. And it's all because he notarized a bill of sale...one out of hundreds of bills of sales. Who knew what being a notary could lead to? But for a movie with such a cynical story to tell, "D.O.A." has always been immensely popular. I think that's because Frank Bigelow is an "everyman" who rises to the occasion when difficult circumstances require it. He's not too smart and not too dumb. He has a nice girlfriend...to whom he isn't entirely faithful. He's basically a good guy, works hard, but imperfect. And when fate deals him a bad deal, he finds within him a strength and determination that even he may not have known he had. He's going to solve the mystery if it's the last thing he does. Even though it will be the last thing he does. Edmund O'Brian does an admirable job of conveying Frank's imperfection, his initial incredulity at his predicament, and then his determination when he stares reality in the face and decides to take matters into his own hands, to the extent that he can. The opening scene in which Frank enters the police station to report his own murder is a stroke of genius. What a way to hook an audience! The only fault that I find with the film are the ridiculous noises that we hear every time Frank spies an attractive woman. Their tone is completely inappropriate to the film, and they are a real blot on Dimitri Tiomkin's otherwise excellent score.

The DVD (This refers to the Roan Group DVD only): This film looks too contrasty and lacking in subtle tonality to me. Not having seen the film on the silver screen, I don't know if it was originally like that, if there was a problem with the print, or if it's a bad transfer. But the film stocks available in 1950 were technologically much better than this DVD would lead you to believe. The main menu on the disc doesn't show up before the movie. The disc starts to play as soon as it is inserted into the player, so you have to either hit the menu button on your remote or get yourself onto your couch quickly. There are two bonus features: An interview with actress Beverly Campbell (now Beverly Garland) in which she describes her experience being blacklisted by the Hollywood studios for several years following her appearance in "D.O.A." And there are a few pages of text that you can read about film noir in general and "D.O.A." in particular. Beverly Garland's story is interesting, but the DVD seems to be put together in a slipshod manner.

A film noire classic in every sense of the word
1950's D.O.A. is classic film noire, one of the true classics of the genre. The characters are intense, everyone is up to something, and the clock is ticking for one Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien), who must attempt to find his own murderer before his last grain of sand trickles to the bottom of the hourglass. Bigelow is an accountant who up and takes a week off to visit San Francisco, ostensibly to get away from his secretary and incredibly needy, codependent, marathon-talking girlfriend Paula (Pamela Britton). Once he arrives at the hotel, he's like an elephant in a peanut factory, trying to go every direction at once in order to have a good time with every woman he sees. While the neurotic Paula broods, Bigelow goes out to paint the town red with a gang of his hotel neighbors, only to wake up the next morning feeling less than healthy. A trip to the doctor's office instantly changes his entire perspective on life, for he finds out that he has been poisoned with a luminous toxin, for which there is no cure whatsoever. With anywhere from a day to two weeks to live, he starts off on a relentless quest to discover his murderer. The plot takes a number of twists and turns, and it can get a little confusing at times because of all the characters and all the shenanigans each of them are pulling. Bigelow has nothing to lose, though, and he refuses to give up as long as he has a breath in his body.

D.O.A. starts off a little slow, and the fact that a silly musical wolf call greeted the appearance of any woman early on had me doubting the merits of this film, but when things really get going, they really get going. The action and suspense build inexorably with each passing minute of the film, and the background music only reinforces the gripping effect upon the viewer. The camera work is also quite effective, strongly conveying the increasing alienation Bigelow is faced with as the Grim Reaper makes plans to pay him an imminent visit. It is easy to become mesmerized by all of the story's twists and turns, as on top of the great atmosphere, you have to think about each new clue and surprise that Bigelow encounters on his mission. You have to admire Bigelow's relentless determination and quick-thinking mind, and he quickly transforms himself from a character of dubious merit and possibly ignoble feelings into a tragic hero/victim of classic proportions. If the whole luminous poisoning thing doesn't make you sympathize with the character, the neurotically suffocating burden of love he has to deal with continuously from Paula will. Other films have taken this idea of a poisoned man hunting down his murderer in his dying days and hours, but none has produced such a gritty tale that drips with realism and builds to the type of crescendo found in this remarkable film noire classic. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Astonishing Rita and DVD; silly movie
Rita Hayworth was never more captivatingly beautiful and sensuous than in "The Loves of Carmen". Fortunately, this lushly restored digital transfer is breathtaking in color and clarity and a fitting medium for Rita's screen presence and the film's fantastic cinematography.

The movie, however, is beyond melodramatic and turgid. The dialogue is often hysterical. While Rita (a Latina whose real name was Cansino) is actually pretty impressive as the gypsy Carmen, the otherwise reliable Glenn Ford is hopelessly miscast as the naive Spanish don who falls under her spell.

But if you love simply to behold Rita (and I do!), this is the ultimate feast for you. She is beyond stunning in this film. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Cagney is bad to the bone!
I've always loved watching film noirs & of course I'm a huge James Cagney fan. I must confess that when I bought this the other day I'd never even heard of it. Along with White Heat, Cagney proved he was truly a screen villian to be feared. He had already established his reputation with his great gangster roles of the 30's, but never did he play a more evil character than in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. A comparison to Al Pacino's "Tony Montana" character in Scarface is not far off, believe me! Other reviewers have gone over the plot, so I won't waste your time. Without a doubt this is one of Cagney's finest performances, & no Cagney fan should be without this classic or White Heat, his only other film noir role.

Cagney: A Hood Who Rules With Personality Not Logic
When James Cagney was offered the role of criminal Bruce Cutter in KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE, he thought that he had long since finished playing gangsters. He changed his mind though, and his role as the psychopathic killer was the last that he would play. What stamps his performance as the opportunistic killer in this film is that he hearkens back to the sort of prohibition type thugs that he immortalized in the 30's, but unlike those roles in which he combined immorality with a certain likeableness, here he is totally feral. More than a few supporting characters note that he insane with ambition.

KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE is not the kind of crime film in which believability ranks highly. The impetus of audience reaction is carried solely through the kinetic force of Cagney's over the top performance. From the opening scene in which he escapes a prison work farm with the help of girlfriend Holliday (Barbara Payton) to every scene that ought to drown in illogic, the flow of plot runs so smoothly that the audience can't help but overlook the extraordinary concatenation of coincidence. As soon as Cutter rolls into town, no cops recognize him, even when he strolls leisurely into and out of the town's police station. He pulls a stickup and when apprehended by the police, he is let go by a crooked cop (Ward Bond), who promptly implicates himself on a recording device. To further complicate matters, Cutter starts an affair with Margaret (Helena Carter), the daughter of the town's most powerful citizen. Considering that Cagney was 50 years old at the time, the implausibility of a pair of pretty twenty somethings falling for him is breathtaking. Finally, the blatant use of police corruption adds to the feeling that you have seen this movie at least 20 years before. Several critics have pointed to it by paying homage to its origins as a 30's type gangster B movie. This, I think, is being a little too kind. It is no such thing. Instead, it stands as the swan song of a gifted actor who tried once too often to reprise the role of a ruthless thug that made him famous in the first place.

Original Tough Guy
Cagney along with a fine cast of co-stars portrays a mentally disturbed, escaped convict with high aspirations. Betrayal, greed and unrestrained ambition are the key ingredients to this underated film noir masterpiece. The DVD plays clean and clear with good sound quality.

Tough Guy Cagney Does It Again
When socialite Margaret Dobson (Helena Carter)attempts to scare gangster Ralph Cotter ( James Cagney) with a high speed joy ride in her expensive convertible, Cagney's darting eyes and slight smile alerts viewers that this high society mistress has made a grave mistake. No celluloid dame ever put fear into the heart of a James Cagney character, and Cagney as escaped convict Ralph Cotter in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye doesn't disappoint his male legion of fans. With the speedometer needle already bouncing at the 90 mph. mark, Cotter calmly places his shoe on top of Miss Dobson's foot and mashes the accelerator pedal down even further. In one of the most revealing female/male test of wills ever captured on screen, the two characters battle a mind game that Cotter eventually wins. Just when we thought we have seen every James Cagney gangster persona , scenes such as the convertible ride command our attention once again. Cagney is ruthless in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in which he portrays an escaped convict who courts two girlfriends, blackmails two police detectives, robs a supermarket payroll, murders three mob bagmen and pilfers the daily gambling bankroll. Although Cagney wasn't always amused at how studios continually pushed gangster scripts his way, he seems to have had fun in the role of Cotter. Especially when his other girlfriend Holiday (Barbara Payton)throws everything but the kitchen sink at him during an on screen spat. The film does contain flaws which challenge the believability of viewers, such as Cotter's miraculous escape from a chain gang, the use a dictaphone to frame a police inspector, and Cotter not being reckognized as an escaped convict. These shortcomings aside, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is watchable because of Cagney's commanding performance. Cagney leads the holdup of Hartford's Supermarket with coolness, his beating and disposal of a garage mechanic is violent, and his towel smacking of girfriend Holiday and her reaction are memorable. The film also boasts fine performances from Luther Adler, who plays shrewd and influential lawyer Cherokee Mandon. Ward Bond who portrays the corrupt police inspector, Weber. Barton Maclane who later gained TV fame as General Peterson on I Dream of Jeannie, also gives a fine supporting role as Weber's sidekick. Overall the film does make a statement about crime and corruption that slowly creeped back into America's consciousness after WWII. With graft, corruption, bribes, and scandals shocking the nation, filmmakers once again drew fine lines between crimminal characters and the characters that represented law and order. For fans of crime, noir, gangster, or just James Cagney, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is a great way to spend an hour and fifty minutes.

A misogynistic predator
James Cagney is ruthless as Ralph Cotter, a murderous crazed hood who blackmails cops and everyone else in his path after a break from chain gang.

Made after "White Heat," and while preparing dancing scenes for his next film "West Point Story," Cagney abhorred doing another gangster flick, but you can't tell it here. He throws himself into the role, and does the best with what he has.

Cagney is the whole show, and his evil is more pronounced than ever. Not only is he a murderous thug, but a sexual predator, seducing and coercing women to doing his bidding along the way.

Cagney -- a gentleman in real life -- played a lot of misogynistic characters, and he is no less in this -- savagely beating a moll with a rolled up, wet towel, then seducing her as she falls weeping and hysterical into his arms.

One could say, if you reviewed his gangster flicks as a whole, that Cagney hadn't made a whole lot of cinematic progress from grapefruit squashing and dragging chicks across the floor by the hair (as he did with Mae Clarke in previous films). Seen without that hindsight, he is brutal and effective.

While he played other bad guys in subsequent films, this is the last true gangster that he played, and he was relieved to call it quits.

It was poorly reviewed at the time -- a well made bomb -- but it's worth viewing for Cagney's savagery. You need to suspend belief just a little bit in certain scenes -- not a whole lot of visible planning goes into big stakes heists, so his gangster comes off more ruthless than smart. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

A great exhibit for the Film Noir Museum
It's a clever idea, really -- a man who sets out to solve his own murder before he dies. A businessman in San Francisco for a good time is given a poison for which there is no treatment. He has only a day or two to live. Driven by the need to know who did this and why, he uncovers a convoluted plot involving stolen iridium, false identities, and a cast of colorful characters whose motives I had trouble following. The protaganist's character is a bit fuzzy (the exaggerated portrayal of his compulsive girlwatching is just silly), and the dialog between him and his secretary/girlfriend is sometimes downright weird. What's really interesting about this movie is seeing how much certain styles -- at least as portrayed on screen -- have changed in just a generation. All the men wear suits and ties all the time, even while enjoying that crazy "jive" music in a wild jazz club. Edmond O'Brien is an out-of-shape, middle-aged chain smoker with a puffy face and a Ricky Ricardo hairdo, but several attractive women find him irresistable. The women, then as now, are thin and pretty, but hampered by elaborate hair, stiff clothes, and very strange hats. By today's standards, everybody looks old. And the police are polite to everyone!

An unusually cynnical film noir
The concept of a murder victim who functions as his own detective, gives to D.O.A. a unique point of view and also gives it a major status.
The inspiration for D.O.A. comes from a 1931 german film entitled Der mann, der seinen morder sucht, directed by Robert Siodmak (The dark mirror).
People manipulated by forces they are unable to control and comprenhend; that's a another important component of the film noir's profile.
This film, altogether with Kiss me deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955) are the best exponents in remarking this point, because also establish a crossroad about the unknown consequences derivated from the technology.
Don't miss this weird story; an unvaluable gem and also well done film of Rudolf Mate.
Edmond O' Brien is top-notch.

based in false facts but superb
This movie is a clear demonstration of how it's possible to make excellent cinema based on premises frontally opposite to the movies of today. We will see the protagonist to react as a madman when he finds out that someone has poisoned him with an terrible, fluorescent, imaginary toxin. Also I doubt very much that can be real the attitude of the physicians dealing with such a case in saying crudely to the patient that he has only a few hours of life, and I don't dare to enter in ethical considerations. This movie doesn't admit microscopic vision.
And nevertheless and against all these, the spectator follows this unreal plot and remains magnetized by the movie. How is this possible? The response only can be one: an enormous amount of talent. Let's rest in peace the unfortunate DOA, he has deserved it after 90 minutes of a nightmare that we do not understand but fascinates us. Today, with all the special effects and computers of the world the same results aren't reached.

Forces Beyond Our Control.
A man named Frank Bigelow (Edmund O'Brian) shows up at Los Angeles police station to report a murder: his own. Frank is dying of luminous toxin poisoning. He recounts to police the incredible story that brought him to be at the brink of death in this police station in a strange city. Just a few days ago, he was a small business owner in a little town called Banning. He had an adoring girlfriend, Paula Gibson (Pamela Britton), who was also his personal secretary. But Frank had cold feet about marrying Paula and decided to take a little vacation to San Francisco to give himself some air. Paula called to tell him that a man named Phillips was desperately trying to reach him, but the name didn't ring a bell. The next day, Frank found out that he had been fatally and irreversibly poisoned. Frank's increasingly frantic search for the identity and motivation of his murderer takes him to two cities, into the criminal underworld, and onto the wrong end of several pistols before all is done.

Rudolph Mate's "D.O.A." is a film noir classic. And it takes the cynical view typical of the genre. Frank is a man whose fate is entirely beyond his control. As the audience roots for Frank to solve the mystery and find his murderer, fate unabashedly mocks his efforts. Frank is a dying man; what earthly difference will it make if he finds his killer? Whatever Frank does, the result will be the same. And it's all because he notarized a bill of sale...one out of hundreds of bills of sales. Who knew what being a notary could lead to? But for a movie with such a cynical story to tell, "D.O.A." has always been immensely popular. I think that's because Frank Bigelow is an "everyman" who rises to the occasion when difficult circumstances require it. He's not too smart and not too dumb. He has a nice girlfriend...to whom he isn't entirely faithful. He's basically a good guy, works hard, but imperfect. And when fate deals him a bad deal, he finds within him a strength and determination that even he may not have known he had. He's going to solve the mystery if it's the last thing he does. Even though it will be the last thing he does. Edmund O'Brian does an admirable job of conveying Frank's imperfection, his initial incredulity at his predicament, and then his determination when he stares reality in the face and decides to take matters into his own hands, to the extent that he can. The opening scene in which Frank enters the police station to report his own murder is a stroke of genius. What a way to hook an audience! The only fault that I find with the film are the ridiculous noises that we hear every time Frank spies an attractive woman. Their tone is completely inappropriate to the film, and they are a real blot on Dimitri Tiomkin's otherwise excellent score.

The DVD (This refers to the Roan Group DVD only): This film looks too contrasty and lacking in subtle tonality to me. Not having seen the film on the silver screen, I don't know if it was originally like that, if there was a problem with the print, or if it's a bad transfer. But the film stocks available in 1950 were technologically much better than this DVD would lead you to believe. The main menu on the disc doesn't show up before the movie. The disc starts to play as soon as it is inserted into the player, so you have to either hit the menu button on your remote or get yourself onto your couch quickly. There are two bonus features: An interview with actress Beverly Campbell (now Beverly Garland) in which she describes her experience being blacklisted by the Hollywood studios for several years following her appearance in "D.O.A." And there are a few pages of text that you can read about film noir in general and "D.O.A." in particular. Beverly Garland's story is interesting, but the DVD seems to be put together in a slipshod manner.

A film noire classic in every sense of the word
1950's D.O.A. is classic film noire, one of the true classics of the genre. The characters are intense, everyone is up to something, and the clock is ticking for one Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien), who must attempt to find his own murderer before his last grain of sand trickles to the bottom of the hourglass. Bigelow is an accountant who up and takes a week off to visit San Francisco, ostensibly to get away from his secretary and incredibly needy, codependent, marathon-talking girlfriend Paula (Pamela Britton). Once he arrives at the hotel, he's like an elephant in a peanut factory, trying to go every direction at once in order to have a good time with every woman he sees. While the neurotic Paula broods, Bigelow goes out to paint the town red with a gang of his hotel neighbors, only to wake up the next morning feeling less than healthy. A trip to the doctor's office instantly changes his entire perspective on life, for he finds out that he has been poisoned with a luminous toxin, for which there is no cure whatsoever. With anywhere from a day to two weeks to live, he starts off on a relentless quest to discover his murderer. The plot takes a number of twists and turns, and it can get a little confusing at times because of all the characters and all the shenanigans each of them are pulling. Bigelow has nothing to lose, though, and he refuses to give up as long as he has a breath in his body.

D.O.A. starts off a little slow, and the fact that a silly musical wolf call greeted the appearance of any woman early on had me doubting the merits of this film, but when things really get going, they really get going. The action and suspense build inexorably with each passing minute of the film, and the background music only reinforces the gripping effect upon the viewer. The camera work is also quite effective, strongly conveying the increasing alienation Bigelow is faced with as the Grim Reaper makes plans to pay him an imminent visit. It is easy to become mesmerized by all of the story's twists and turns, as on top of the great atmosphere, you have to think about each new clue and surprise that Bigelow encounters on his mission. You have to admire Bigelow's relentless determination and quick-thinking mind, and he quickly transforms himself from a character of dubious merit and possibly ignoble feelings into a tragic hero/victim of classic proportions. If the whole luminous poisoning thing doesn't make you sympathize with the character, the neurotically suffocating burden of love he has to deal with continuously from Paula will. Other films have taken this idea of a poisoned man hunting down his murderer in his dying days and hours, but none has produced such a gritty tale that drips with realism and builds to the type of crescendo found in this remarkable film noire classic. ... Read more

Description

Give action fans an inside look at the Mafiosi with this powerful tale of loyalties, conflict and honor...and of two brothers separated by The Brotherhood. Frank (Kirk Douglas) is middle-aged, loyal to the old syndicate ways. Vince (Alex Cord) is young, and brashly eager to take on the new. "I was eighteen years old when I had to make my first hit," says Frank. Now it's time for Vince to make his. And Frank is his mark. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Pulsating Drama!
I viewed this movie years ago at my local cinema and up to now I have not had the chance to view it again either on TV or Video. How refreshing it was to purchase the DVD and see it for what it is,a truly wonderful film. The on location photography is excellent and Kirk Douglas delivered his best performance since Spartacus eight years previous. True,one knows it dates from the sixties but it retains its power and surpisingly is only 96 minutes long. No movie today can pack as much tension in that time frame without overdoing the drama. All in all 5 stars for a great DVD,never mind that there are no extras

Brilliant!...
This movie was actually made before the Godfather and stands right beside it in its storey and performances. Kirk Douglas is wonderful and believable as a Mafia Don. There are a lot of parallels to Copollas movie. Some may try to compare the two and view it as dated but if you keep an open mind and view it on its own merits it is a great movie about the Mafia and organized crime in the United States. The only gleeming weakness that I personally found was Alex Cord. He does as good a job as he can but his acting ability is not up to par with the others in this wonderful moving movie. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

A great exhibit for the Film Noir Museum
It's a clever idea, really -- a man who sets out to solve his own murder before he dies. A businessman in San Francisco for a good time is given a poison for which there is no treatment. He has only a day or two to live. Driven by the need to know who did this and why, he uncovers a convoluted plot involving stolen iridium, false identities, and a cast of colorful characters whose motives I had trouble following. The protaganist's character is a bit fuzzy (the exaggerated portrayal of his compulsive girlwatching is just silly), and the dialog between him and his secretary/girlfriend is sometimes downright weird. What's really interesting about this movie is seeing how much certain styles -- at least as portrayed on screen -- have changed in just a generation. All the men wear suits and ties all the time, even while enjoying that crazy "jive" music in a wild jazz club. Edmond O'Brien is an out-of-shape, middle-aged chain smoker with a puffy face and a Ricky Ricardo hairdo, but several attractive women find him irresistable. The women, then as now, are thin and pretty, but hampered by elaborate hair, stiff clothes, and very strange hats. By today's standards, everybody looks old. And the police are polite to everyone!

An unusually cynnical film noir
The concept of a murder victim who functions as his own detective, gives to D.O.A. a unique point of view and also gives it a major status.
The inspiration for D.O.A. comes from a 1931 german film entitled Der mann, der seinen morder sucht, directed by Robert Siodmak (The dark mirror).
People manipulated by forces they are unable to control and comprenhend; that's a another important component of the film noir's profile.
This film, altogether with Kiss me deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955) are the best exponents in remarking this point, because also establish a crossroad about the unknown consequences derivated from the technology.
Don't miss this weird story; an unvaluable gem and also well done film of Rudolf Mate.
Edmond O' Brien is top-notch.

based in false facts but superb
This mo