The most interesting thing to me about "Ocean 711" is Edmond O'Brien's (Mal Granger) acting /role in part one as opposed to the same, when midway in, the Syndicate touches down in California. It was exactly at this point that I had determined to 'walk out.' What changed me wasn't any shift in the plot which continued on along its conventional plane, but rather a switch in O'Brien's energy, character, and demeanor.
We're told, right from the get-go, by the docu voice-over, that Mal Granger is a typical worker, a regular Joe who has just happened to have fallen, through a series of circumstances, into the gambling racket. That certainly could be the case and it was quite easy to project such a character. But only a few minutes into the movie, the viewer meets a Mal who is far closer to a born and raised gangster than to an actual telephone repairman, or any other common man. He's blustery, mostly crude, womanizing, swaggering, and cocky. In fact, he begins to make his cynical and hardened boss, who has to take a bullet so that Mal can rise to the Big Boss of the California horse racing rackets, sympathetic in comparison. Mal Granger is so moribund, so boilerplate, that he's really no more than a self-caricature.
But fold that guy up and toss him in the closet, because a new O'Brien/Granger, the actor, is about to emerge. When Joanne Dru (Gail Mason) and Otto Kruger (Carl Stephens) enter, CLASS takes over. These are not only the bigger national players, but also the bigger actors. Or, at least that's a logical deduction given the transformation of the film at their entry.
The pace picks up, scenes tighten, suspense finally emerges, and more imposing characters replace the 2-D types. But most importantly, Mal Granger finally takes on more valiant proportions. He looks more imposing, acts more human, more engaged, more convincing, and more genuinely gutsy. And he's more integrated into both the action, and the noir world.
But if there is one impetus for this transformation, it's Joanne Dru/Mason. Every character/acting trait that O'Brien/Granger suddenly takes on, she already owns in spades. No way that the womanizing, blowhard dud that Granger has been could match her directness, complexity, and verve. And it's not that she's some muse but rather that she's an actor who has taken charge of her role, which Granger must equal--which he does, which is why the latter half of "Ocean 711" sure beats the first half.
We're told, right from the get-go, by the docu voice-over, that Mal Granger is a typical worker, a regular Joe who has just happened to have fallen, through a series of circumstances, into the gambling racket. That certainly could be the case and it was quite easy to project such a character. But only a few minutes into the movie, the viewer meets a Mal who is far closer to a born and raised gangster than to an actual telephone repairman, or any other common man. He's blustery, mostly crude, womanizing, swaggering, and cocky. In fact, he begins to make his cynical and hardened boss, who has to take a bullet so that Mal can rise to the Big Boss of the California horse racing rackets, sympathetic in comparison. Mal Granger is so moribund, so boilerplate, that he's really no more than a self-caricature.
But fold that guy up and toss him in the closet, because a new O'Brien/Granger, the actor, is about to emerge. When Joanne Dru (Gail Mason) and Otto Kruger (Carl Stephens) enter, CLASS takes over. These are not only the bigger national players, but also the bigger actors. Or, at least that's a logical deduction given the transformation of the film at their entry.
The pace picks up, scenes tighten, suspense finally emerges, and more imposing characters replace the 2-D types. But most importantly, Mal Granger finally takes on more valiant proportions. He looks more imposing, acts more human, more engaged, more convincing, and more genuinely gutsy. And he's more integrated into both the action, and the noir world.
But if there is one impetus for this transformation, it's Joanne Dru/Mason. Every character/acting trait that O'Brien/Granger suddenly takes on, she already owns in spades. No way that the womanizing, blowhard dud that Granger has been could match her directness, complexity, and verve. And it's not that she's some muse but rather that she's an actor who has taken charge of her role, which Granger must equal--which he does, which is why the latter half of "Ocean 711" sure beats the first half.