And also well-directed, Joseph Cotten in particular with the often-told Cain and Abel theme. This is explored with the backdrop of alcoholic brother,Van Johnson.
"JD Martin" is well-established lawyer living near the Mexican border with his neglected wife, Ruth Roman.Cotten, often cast memorably in noir films (most notably his performance in Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" as the "merry widow murderer"), reverses roles here as he is the ostensibly sensible conformist, and Van Johnson the nice guy who is down on his luck Jailed for a bar brawl, he escapes from a Joliet Illinois prison.There are a few cloying scenes with Johnson calling his displaced family on the lam in Nogales Mexico.Other than that, Cotten steals the show here as troubled older brother who reinvented himself and wants to forget his impoverished childhood in Iowa.
The set decoration is notable here,shadows and glass, interesting 1950's architecture and subtle notes of intrigue. It hints at the idea that, everything is not necessarily as it seems.Cotten and his wife attend the requisite cocktail parties "...we can't miss a party at Lil Breckenridge's"...Roman tells her husband,though she seems miserable and unfulfilled.
Well-written, and worth watching more than once for Cotten and several nuanced performances.
"JD Martin" is well-established lawyer living near the Mexican border with his neglected wife, Ruth Roman.Cotten, often cast memorably in noir films (most notably his performance in Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" as the "merry widow murderer"), reverses roles here as he is the ostensibly sensible conformist, and Van Johnson the nice guy who is down on his luck Jailed for a bar brawl, he escapes from a Joliet Illinois prison.There are a few cloying scenes with Johnson calling his displaced family on the lam in Nogales Mexico.Other than that, Cotten steals the show here as troubled older brother who reinvented himself and wants to forget his impoverished childhood in Iowa.
The set decoration is notable here,shadows and glass, interesting 1950's architecture and subtle notes of intrigue. It hints at the idea that, everything is not necessarily as it seems.Cotten and his wife attend the requisite cocktail parties "...we can't miss a party at Lil Breckenridge's"...Roman tells her husband,though she seems miserable and unfulfilled.
Well-written, and worth watching more than once for Cotten and several nuanced performances.