The Big Knife
| The Big Knife | |
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 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Robert Aldrich |
| Produced by | Robert Aldrich |
| Written by | Story: Clifford Odets Screenplay: James Poe |
| Narrated by | Richard Boone |
| Starring | Jack Palance Ida Lupino Wendell Corey Jean Hagen Rod Steiger Shelley Winters |
| Music by | Frank De Vol |
| Cinematography | Ernest Laszlo |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | November 25, 1955 |
| Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Big Knife (1955) is a film noir directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, Ilka Chase, and Everett Sloane.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Charlie Castle, a very successful Hollywood actor, lives in a huge home. But his wife Marion is on the verge of leaving him, which he refuses to confirm to influential gossip columnist Patty Benedict.
On his wife's advice, Castle is adamantly refusing to renew his contract, which enrages Stanley Shriner Hoff, his powerful studio boss. Castle wants to be free from the studio's grip on his life and career.
Hoff and his right-hand man Smiley Coy have knowledge of a hit-and-run accident in which Castle was involved and threaten to use this information against him. Hoff is willing to do anything to make the actor sign a seven-year renewal.
Castle's soul is tortured. He wants to win back his idealistic wife, who has been proposed to by Hank Teagle, a writer. And he longs to do more inspiring work than the schlock films Hoff makes him do, pleading with his needy agent Nat to help him be free. But the studio chief's blackmail works and Charlie signs the new contract.
Feeling sorry for himself, the darker side of his nature causes Castle to have a fling with Connie, the flirtatious wife of his friend Buddy Bliss, who had taken the blame for Charlie's car accident.
When a struggling starlet named Dixie Evans threatens to reveal what she knows about the crash, Hoff and Smiley decide to have her silenced permanently. They try to involve Castle in their sinister plot and even extort Charlie's wife, secretly recording her conversations with the new man in her life. That is the last straw for Castle, who finally defies the ruthless men who employ him.
However, having betrayed a friend, lost the woman he loves and sacrificed his integrity, Charlie can no longer live with himself. He has a hot bath drawn, gets into it and ends his own life.
[edit] Cast
- Jack Palance as Charles Castle
- Ida Lupino as Marion Castle
- Wendell Corey as Smiley Coy
- Jean Hagen as Connie Bliss
- Rod Steiger as Stanley Shriner Hoff
- Shelley Winters as Dixie Evans
- Ilka Chase as Patty Benedict
- Everett Sloane as Nat Danziger
- Wesley Addy as Horatio "Hank" Teagle
- Paul Langton as Buddy Bliss
- Nick Dennis as Mickey Feeney
- Bill Walker as Russell
- Michael Winkelman as Billy Castle
[edit] Critical reception
New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther, was disappointed and believed the storyline lacked credibility. He wrote, "Actually, it looks as though The Big Knife originally was written and aimed as an angry, vituperative incident of the personal and professional morals of Hollywood. This is the clear implication of what is presented on the screen...But the simple fact is that Mr. Odets—and James Poe, who wrote the screen adaptation—were more disposed to extreme emotionalism than to actuality and good sense. They picture a group of sordid people jawing at one another violently. But their drama arrives at a defeatist climax. And this viewer, for one, was not convinced."[2]
Film critic Jeff Stafford analyzed some of the film's elements, and wrote, "[Of the previous Hollywood-exposé dramas] none...can match the negative depiction of the movie business and its power brokers offered in The Big Knife...The use of long takes by cinematographer Ernest Laszlo adds greatly to the film's claustrophobic tension and the mingling of fictitious names with real ones (Billy Wilder, Elia Kazan, William Wyler and others) throughout the dialogue gives The Big Knife a candid, almost documentary-like quality at times."[3]
[edit] Awards
Wins
- Venice Film Festival: Silver Lion, Robert Aldrich; 1955.
Nominations
- Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion, Robert Aldrich; 1955
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Big Knife at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, November 9, 1955. Last accessed: February 20, 2008.
- ^ Stafford, Jeff. Turner Movie Classics, film review and analysis, 2008. Last accessed: February 20, 2008.
[edit] External links
- The Big Knife at the Internet Movie Database
- The Big Knife at AllRovi.
- The Big Knife at the TCM Movie Database
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