As you can see from my ID name, this is one of my top 10 movies of all time. Yes, it is basically a filmed stage play, not really opened out, but the performances of the 3 leads are so magnificent, it doesn't really matter.
Dame May Whitty plays a woman you love to hate very well in this one. Mrs. Bramson, her character, is so nasty, smug and self-satisfied, that you can't help but cheer when Bob Montgomery's Danny smothers her good show! My friend and I laughed our heads off when she went into hysteria when left alone and had to drag her butt off the wheelchair and actually stand up on her own. A very good performance. I have seen her in several other films, but in smaller and less showy roles than here, and I think she carried it off beautifully and she was 72 at the time. WOW! -- Impressive!
What can I say about Robert Montgomery's performance, except that I thought it was fantastic, and such a large step away from many of his roles, especially up to that point. Apparently the studio was mad at him for defying some rule, or whatever, and gave him this role as punishment. Well, he showed them. Aside from him being slightly restrained in a couple of earlier scenes (he could have been a bit more menacing, although I suppose the objective was to build the suspense at a slower pace), his performance hit fever pitch at the film's end. The arrest scene (my friend's favorite) and the psychotic breakdown speech (my favorite the church/evil monologue was great also) were excellent. Who knew the man had it in him? And all the while keeping the spot-on Welsh accent. BRAVO!!!! As good as Montgomery was in comedy, I would love to have seen him in more roles similar to this (as in The Big House and A Rage in Heaven).
Rosalind Russell was the perfect choice for the role of Olivia Grayne, Whitty's niece, as we see her blossom from a backward, repressed, shy woman into a more self-assured, no-nonsenser unafraid to speak her mind by the movie's end -- both types of roles that Russell has always been able to pull off with ease.
The lengthly scene in the kitchen between Danny and Olivia (the actors make a good pair) is very sexy, yet does not even contain a single kiss. Boy, they knew how to make em in the old days!
My little quiibbles: the script could have delved a bit more into Danny's psyche, and could also have relied on less conveniently-placed exits/entrances for the characters. But these are minor points.
A film not to be missed for the fab performances, esp. Bob Montgomery tossing cats around and menacing old ladies.
HIGHLY RECOMMEMDED.
Dame May Whitty plays a woman you love to hate very well in this one. Mrs. Bramson, her character, is so nasty, smug and self-satisfied, that you can't help but cheer when Bob Montgomery's Danny smothers her good show! My friend and I laughed our heads off when she went into hysteria when left alone and had to drag her butt off the wheelchair and actually stand up on her own. A very good performance. I have seen her in several other films, but in smaller and less showy roles than here, and I think she carried it off beautifully and she was 72 at the time. WOW! -- Impressive!
What can I say about Robert Montgomery's performance, except that I thought it was fantastic, and such a large step away from many of his roles, especially up to that point. Apparently the studio was mad at him for defying some rule, or whatever, and gave him this role as punishment. Well, he showed them. Aside from him being slightly restrained in a couple of earlier scenes (he could have been a bit more menacing, although I suppose the objective was to build the suspense at a slower pace), his performance hit fever pitch at the film's end. The arrest scene (my friend's favorite) and the psychotic breakdown speech (my favorite the church/evil monologue was great also) were excellent. Who knew the man had it in him? And all the while keeping the spot-on Welsh accent. BRAVO!!!! As good as Montgomery was in comedy, I would love to have seen him in more roles similar to this (as in The Big House and A Rage in Heaven).
Rosalind Russell was the perfect choice for the role of Olivia Grayne, Whitty's niece, as we see her blossom from a backward, repressed, shy woman into a more self-assured, no-nonsenser unafraid to speak her mind by the movie's end -- both types of roles that Russell has always been able to pull off with ease.
The lengthly scene in the kitchen between Danny and Olivia (the actors make a good pair) is very sexy, yet does not even contain a single kiss. Boy, they knew how to make em in the old days!
My little quiibbles: the script could have delved a bit more into Danny's psyche, and could also have relied on less conveniently-placed exits/entrances for the characters. But these are minor points.
A film not to be missed for the fab performances, esp. Bob Montgomery tossing cats around and menacing old ladies.
HIGHLY RECOMMEMDED.