A series of great actors are thrown together in this one. I was in college when it was released but never saw it. As I watch it now I see a kind of emptiness of dramatic films of the time. Many of the best sellers of the time were used to ride on their popularity when it came to adaptations. But when the book wasn't that great, the movie generally follows suit. The controversial figure of Elia Kazan (one of our greatest directors and a mediocre novelist) was responsible. He peppers the show with people we know well. Kirk Douglas does well with the role but he is so unlikeable and has such a checkered past, it's hard to care for him. He is ruined from the beginning of the movie and it is just a matter of time. Fay Dunaway is ice cold and yet he sees her as his salvation. Hume Cronyn is his shady lawyer. Richard Boone plays the father, laboring under dementia. Ultimately, I thought it would never end and that many of the events were beyond the pale. But I can put it on my list now.
Review of The Arrangement
