davidhchester

(2013-05-17 17:34:02)

God-awful... yet fun!

This is an absolute hoot. It is one of the worst films I have everseen. The joy of seeing this film, other than the unintentionallyhilarious dramatic moments, is to get a clear picture of the type ofworld that director Todd Haynes envisioned in "Far From Heaven."Barbara Stanwyck, while possessing a hot figure for a 50 year old woman(at the time), was definitely pushing the borders with her looks. It isfascinating that studio heads were still giving her "leading roles" --but then, once you hear the lines she had to say, you'll come to theconclusion that she must've owed somebody something, because this filmis absolutely atrocious. My own poor mother, who's dying of cancer, hadenough energy to say, "This one stinks!"Probably the most exciting thing about this movie is the big kissbetween Barbara and Raymond Burr, both who were purported to be gay.It's just exciting to imagine them thinking, "Well, since we aregetting paid for this, let's make it look good!" Poor Sterling Haydenis saddled with the worst lines, all of them sounding like they werewritten for a woman starring in a bad B-movie from the 1950s... whichis oddly what this is.It is, I suppose, interesting to note that "Kathy" (Barbara'scharacter, and the same name of the character that Julianne Mooreplayed in "Far From Heaven") was not content to sit at home and bakepies. She was a rabble-rouser and was going to stir up trouble nomatter what. In one hysterically funny scene, Kathy is a prisoner inher own home when her husband and "the guys" are playing cards on oneside of the house, and their wives, "the girls" are gossiping on theother side of the house, going on and on and on and on about "cheeseand olives." Kathy, rightfully so, rushes off to the bathroom saying,"I'm sick!" Ditto, girlfriend! Raymond Burr was a wonderful Perry Mason, but in this film he's deadly.But then, so is everybody else.It also seems strange that not a single couple (of course all"heterosexual") in this film has a child. Everyone is somewhere between35-50 and no one has a child? I don't believe it.More fun can be had just by viewing a few vintage shots of Los Angelesin its '50s heyday.The script, as I mentioned before, is absolutely deadly, a laugh festalmost from start to end. Barbara desperately tries to rhythmicallyalter her lines to imbue them with deeper meaning, but when she's stuckwith stupid, gushy conversation like, "Oh Bill darling!" it doesn'tmatter what she tries to do to dress this garbage up. It stinks.Again, it's a blast just to sit through and laugh at, and even if youget up 10 times to use the facilities or grab some cold pizza, youwon't have missed a thing. An absolute must for dateless Fridays whenyou don't care about being fat and lonely.

thomas196x2000

(2013-05-17 03:52:20)

Just watched this, and wanted so much more

This is really an oddball. I really wanted more from it, but viewingthis is kind of like having an almost flat soda and trying to tellyourself it's still good.Two different movies wanted to be made here, a soap-operaish characterpiece and a police melodrama. All we got was a melodrama of the verybad kind.Where to start. Stanwyck's character acts in wildly improbable ways andis inconsistent. She starts in a newsroom doing the Ann Landers bit,and it SEEMS that she might want more--and is certainly capable ofit--maybe a reporting job. Care was put into creating the newsroomatmosphere, including having a sandwich boy prattling on aboutsandwiches (and it's "Ike" from "The Waltons"!!!) and a lot of perioddetail. You think you're going to get some sort of newsroom/policedrama. Uh, but no, the brakes are pretty much put on full just as youare getting acquainted with the atmosphere.As the film continues, it appears that Stanwyck gets a better job inNY. She is going to move on up to something better.Suddenly, the plot creakily shifts and we never see the newsroom, orthe sandwich boy for that matter (hell, thought he might show up as awitness or something later on, I mean, this was supposed to be a noir,right?) Stanwyck, who doesn't believe in marriage, kids, or anythinglike that, suddenly marries a police office she barely knows and metduring work.It's not 10 minutes of screen time between when she seemingly rejectsanything but a career and is next going on and on about wanting to donothing but darn Hayden's socks. No, I am not kidding.Then just as suddenly, she is bored of living with Hayden, her cophusband, and begins scheming to get him ahead in his career. If she isso bored, why is she not working? I didn't get the impression he wouldmind. But instead, she gets into all sorts of mischief, from stagedaccidents to affairs to get him ahead.In the middle of all these things, she wants him to transfer to BeverlyHills, where it would be quieter. How is that moving him forward? It'sinconsistent with her wanting him to move ahead. When all else fails,she murders someone, as if THAT would propel them both forward. Howcould it, when the results of the investigation would send her to thegas chamber? Why was his promotion that important to her, to lose herlife or freedom over? Just a few minutes earlier in the film, promotionwas not important, it was a transfer to a dead end quiet job in BeverlyHills! Huh?!?! The whole thing doesn't add up, or make any sense atall.And one other thing, just what IS it with that huge looming drive-inscreen outside their home? I thought that was going to play insomehow...maybe the noise coming over and bothering the characters,maybe masking an important sound, I don't know.Heck, just in my wonderings here I am coming up with plot ideas thatcould have worked better. This cast and story foundation deserved somuch more than this.Very strange movie.

(2013-05-15 16:59:04)

"Crime of Passiion (1957) ... Stanwyck & Hayden ... United Artists (2003)"

United Artists presents "CRIME OF PASSION" (9 January 1957) (84 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Kathy (Barbara Stanwyck) is a smart and tough 1950's advice columnist at a San Francisco newspaper, with her name plastered on billboards all over the city --- One day, Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden), a Los Angeles detective, walks into her office and there is instant attraction --- After marrying Bill, Kathy gives up her career and becomes a homemaker --- However, she is not your typical 1950's homemaker --- After hosting several cocktail parties in their San Fernando Valley home, she realizes that Bill is content with his position, and shows no ambition in furthering himself --- Kathy will not sit idly by while everyone around her is "moving up in the world" --- She personally takes upon herself the task of pushing Bill's career along, even if it comes down to murder. Sterling Hayden: ever the maverick, ever the individual - he preferred to sail his yacht around the world rather than act in movies. Yet despite his lack of interest in film, he was lauded and chased by the very finest directors: John Huston, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola & Stanley Kubrick. In each of his roles, Hayden's individuality showed forth whatever the genre of film: noir, adventure, western & swashbuckler.Under the production staff of:Gerd Oswald [Director]Jo Eisinger [Screenwriter]Jo Eisinger [Story]Herman Cohen [Producer]Robert Goldstein [Executive Producer]Paul Dunlap [Original Film Music] Joseph LaShelle [Cinematographer] A. Leslie Thomas [Art Director] BIOS:1. Gerd Oswald [Director]Date of Birth: 9 June 1919 - Berlin, GermanyDate of Deatth: 22 May 1989 - Los Angeles, California2. Barbara Stanwyck (aka: Ruby Catherine Stevens)Date of Birth: 16 July 1907 - Brooklyn, New YorkDate of Death: 20 January 1990 - Santa Monica, California3. Sterling Hayden [aka: Sterling Relyea Walter]Date of Birth: 26 March 1916- Upper Montclair, New JerseyDate of Death: 23 May 1986 - Sausalito, Californiathe cast includes:Barbara Stanwyck - Kathy Ferguson DoyleSterling Hayden - Police Lt. Bill DoyleRaymond Burr - Police Inspector Anthony (Tony) PopeFay Wray - Alice Pope Virginia Grey - Sara Alidos Royal Dano - Police Capt. Charlie Alidos Robert Griffin - Police Sgt. James Dennis Cross - Police Sgt. Jules Jay Adler - Mr. NalenceStuart Whitman - Laboratory Technician Malcolm Atterbury - Police Officer Spitz Robert Quarry - Sam, ReporterMr. Jim's Ratings:Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 StarsPerformance: 4 StarsStory & Screenplay: 4 StarsOverall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]Total Time: 84 min on DVD ~ United Artists ~ (12/02/2003)

(2013-05-15 01:19:15)

You jaw will hit the ground

This should be a cult-type film along the lines of Valley Of The Dolls and Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space. It's in the so-bad-it's-good category. How this script actually made it to the soundstage has to be one of the great unsolved mysteries of 1957, and probably a lot more interesting mystery than this ridiculous movie. We have Barbara Stanwyk, a 50-ish spinster who writes for a second-rate San Francisco newspaper and has no use for home & hearth & the pitter patter of tiny feet. The unspoken 1950s implication here is that the hard-bitten menopausal Stanwyk character is a "twilight girl." She meets up with a bland L.A. detective played by Sterling Hayden, a handsome joe who's easily 10 years her junior and probably fighting off hordes of police groupies. Displaying absolutely no chemistry, this unlikely couple get married out of nowhere and Stanwyk packs it in for a "stifling" life as an Eisenhower-era housewife in a nondescript neighborhood in an L.A. suburb. Choking on the suburban blandness and her hubby's lack of ambition, Stanwyk embarks on evil, homicidal schemes to move her lug up the LAPD ladder!! It's like Lucy Ricardo scheming to get into Ricky's floor show, only Stanwyk is a flat-out nut case. (Couldn't she just withhold marital favors until hub took a motivational course?) Your jaw will hit the floor with a restounding THUD as you watch Stanwyk cook up her plots against police wives and shacks up with LAPD brass, including Raymond Burr who thankfully had Perry Mason waiting in the wings after this turkey. The very thought of Raymond Burr & Barbara Stanwyk in the sack should put you off your lunch & dinner. (Thankfully it's off screen. Whew.) This is a LONG way from Double Indemnity . . . but pretty solid entertainment for those of you with a perverse sense of humor.

wes-connors

(2013-05-13 02:50:00)

Stand By Your Man

In San Francisco, lovelorn newspaper columnist Barbara Stanwyck (asKathy Ferguson) helps visiting Los Angeles lieutenant Sterling Hayden(as William "Bill" Doyle) and fellow detective Royal Dano (as Charles"Charlie" Alidos) capture a woman who has murdered her husband. Nevermarried, Ms. Stanwyck changes her outlook when Mr. Hayden invites herout for dinner and drinks. Offered a better job in New York, Stanwyckgives up her career when Hayden asks her to dinner in Los Angeles. Theyget married and move to the Valley. "I just want to be a good wife and do things for you," Stanwyck tellsHayden, "I just hope all your socks have holes in them, and I can sitfor hours and hours darning them!" Smoking intermittently, Stanwyck pours coffee for Hayden and his pokerpals while chatting with the girls about chiffon. She becomesinterested in furthering her husband's career, insisting he move to themore upscale Beverly Hills police beat. Needing a release, Stanwyckgets it in the form of police inspector Raymond Burr (as Anthony "Tony"Pope) after a fender-bender with wife Fay Wray (as Alice Pope).Watching Stanwyck as an increasingly hysterical suburban housewife isunbelievably amusing.***** Crime of Passion (1/9/57) Gerd Oswald ~ Barbara Stanwyck,Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray

telegonus

(2013-05-12 12:44:25)

None Too Steamy

For a movie with the word passion in the title this modest 1957 noir wannabenever builds up a head of steam. It tells the tale of a successful SanFrancisco Dear Abby-type columnist who inexplicably falls in love with ataciturn, unambitious police officer from Los Angeles. After a whirlwindromance, these two lovebirds settle down to a life of dull domesticity inL.A. Though the woman has given up her writing career, she soon finds thatshe's too intelligent and ambitious to be a housewife. She encourages herhusband to seek advancement in the police department, but politics isn't histhing. He likes being where he is. Rather than do the smart thing, andreturn to writing, the woman becomes a meddler, and in time gets into deeppersonal doo-doo.There's nothing in this movie that hasn't been done before and better. Itdoesn't feel like an independent production from the late fifties but ratherlike an RKO thriller from six or seven years earlier. And not one of thebetter ones. Director Gerd Oswald has proved himself elsewhere to be attimes a superb craftsman, but Jo Eisingers by the numbers script conspirewith mediocre production values to defeat him.And down he goes. What makes the movie somewhat watchable is the acting.Barbara Stanwyck gives her all to the role of a career woman who, thoughsmart enough, maybe lacks the experience to see that the average joe shefalls for, though amiable in his gruff way, is simply not the man for her. Ifind her performance believable. As her hubby, the towering Sterling Hayden,he of the sullen expression and morose, inexplicably angry line readings, islikewise okay, though I sense that he's not always focused on his acting.I've seen him do tighter work. In a smaller but pivotal role Raymond Burr ishis usual polite, somewhat impassive, inscrutable self, bringing authorityand, well, weight, to his role as Hayden's superior. Interestingly, allthree performers were nearing the end of a particular phase of his career.Stanwyck was soon to quit movies for television, and when she returned itwas as a character actress. Hayden was just about to quit movies, too,though like Stanwyck he would go on to interesting things later. And Burrwas soon to triumph on television as Perry Mason, leaving behind a decade'sworth of good character work in film, of which this is one of the lastexamples.

sol1218

(2013-05-12 03:06:43)

Fatal Ambition

**SPOILERS** Love works in strange ways on people who become hopelesslyoverwhelmed by it. In the case of former San Francisco Post lonelyhearts columnist Kathy Ferguson, Barbara Stanwyck,it lead to disastrousand fatal results.On top of her game as one of America's top advisory, in personalproblems, columnists Kathy got stung by the love bug when she laid herpretty eyes on tall handsome and not too talkative-the strong andsilent type- L.A policeman Lt.Bill Doyle, Sterling Hayden. Billtogether with his partner Capt. Charlie Alidos,Royal Dano, came to seeKathy at her job to get information of one of her fans who just happensto be wanted for murder back in Los Angeles.It didn't take long for Kathy to not only give Bill the information ofthe murder fugitives whereabouts, after his boss Capt. Alidos left on awild goose chase, but fall heads over heels for him. Turning down ahigh paying job offer to work in New York City Kathy instead marriedBill and moved to L.A. Living the boring life of a 1950's suburban housewife Kathy soonrealized what a mistake she made in throwing away her career in thenewspaper business for the laid back and not all that ambitious, ingoing up the ladder as a cop, Bill Doyle. Determind to get Billpromoted at all cost to captain Kathy went as far as gettingromantically involved with his boss Inspector Tony Pope, Rymond Burr.Pope took Kathy's interest in him as one of the perks, he had ascrapbook filled with his many affairs, of his job as a top man in theLAPD. Kathy feeling both humiliated and insulted in Pope dropping herlike a hot potato after she put out for him, to get her husbandpromoted to be his assistant, really went a bit nuts when he gave thejob she put out for to Bill's partner Capt. Alidos!It's then that Kathy secretly started to embroil Bill with his partnerCapt. Alidos over herself. Kathy did this by planting letterssupposedly written by Capt. Alidos accusing her as being a home wreckerand even hinting that she's having an affair, which was true, with amember of the LAPD.Outraged at what Alidos did Bill confronted him at the police stationand laid him out-with a straight right- giving him a king size shiner!Pope knowing that he-not Capt. Alidos-in fact was the reason for Bill'sanger tried to smooth things over. Pope did this by getting Bill offthe hook and possibly having him canned from his job. Kathy still trying to get Pope to promote Bill, she should have beenhappy that he was still on the police force, later hystericallyconfronted Pope at his home. It was there and then, when Pope told herto get lost, that Kathy's emotions took over her common sense. Thislater put her husband Bill in the unenviable position to bust her inone of the most sensational murder cases in the LAPD's history!If Kathy was as in love with Bill as she at first thought she was hisbeing a cop, and a lieutenant on top of that, shouldn't have been anobstacle in her love for him. He provided Kathy with the home andsecurity which almost any middle class woman would be more then happywith. Bill also provide Kathy with the unconditional love, despite heralways putting him down, that she always longed for. It was Kathy-notBill- who made the big mistake by marrying him and sacrificing hercareer in doing that. And it was her that Kathy should have blamed forthe boring life, as a suburban housewife, that she choose to have eventhough at the time she did't realize just how boring, to her, it wouldbe!

ricer

(2013-05-11 11:04:04)

surprising social critique

Don't be put off by the negative commentary on this film (whichsurprises me almost as much as the film's unflinching social critique).Stanwyck gives a strong performance in an unusual late-cycle noir;unusual in that it opens in conventional noir style, wraps up the firstnoir plot in less than ten minutes, then proceeds into insightful andincisive melodrama. Sharper socially than even Fritz Lang's late noirs,"Crime of Passion" reminds us of the "nostalgia" for the "happy familyvalues" of the 1950's for the wishful (?) thinking that it is.Stanwyck's slow descent into middle-class torpor and madness (she's asharp, witty, intelligent woman who saddles herself with a maddeninglyboring and conventional cop husband, played nicely against type bySterling Hayden) lays bare the social nightmare presented to womendesiring anything but the conventional patriarchal lifestyle (at onepoint, the LA police captain tells Stanwyck that she should be at homemaking her husband supper-- a line which haunts both Stanwyck and thefilm).

mark.waltz

(2013-05-08 09:08:44)

Some women should not get married.

A devoted columnist for a large San Francisco newspaper, BarbaraStanwyck has forgone marriage and romance to have a career. But whenLos Angeles police detective Sterling Hayden comes to town on a case,sparks fly between the two of them, and they impulsively marry.Stanwyck relocates to Los Angeles and finds the mediocrity of herexistence not to her liking at all, and that includes instantresentment towards the wives of Hayden's co-workers, lead by chattyVirginia Grey. Certainly, these "Ladies who Lunch" types would get onthe nerves of an independent woman such as Stanwyck, and it becomes herlife's mission to change their situation immediately.Stanwyck thinks like a ruthless businessman and schemes to get into thegood graces of Hayden's boss's wife (Fay Wray), hoping that her husband(Raymond Burr) will look at Hayden for an important promotion. To getthis to come to fruition, she goes as far as seducing him, but that'sno guarantee that hubby will get the job Stanwyck wants for him.Stanwyck does what any other film noir wife will do. She resorts tomurder! Not as ruthless as her 40's film noir vixens PhyllisDiedrickson, Martha Ivers, or Thelma Jordan, Stanwyck's character iscertainly a strong woman, having worked mainly around men and seeminglypreferring their company. Certainly, the women in her new social circleseem frivolous and flighty, and its obvious that Stanwyck would feelmore comfortable playing cards with the boys rather than swappingrecipes with the girls. So while the crime she commits seems to comeout of nowhere (other than perhaps a mental breakdown gone untreated),it does make sense that the frustration she felt would take over andcause her to snap. Stanwyck, getting ready to move on to her televisioncareer (with only a few feature films left), is still a quiteattractive, shapely woman, and for someone in her early 50's, she hasquite a bit of sex appeal left. This won't go down in the list of bestfilm noir thrillers, but Stanwyck's performance helps it rise abovewhat was being done in abundance already on television.

(2013-05-07 21:16:44)

"I know that you can achieve so much more Bill"

Barbara Stanwyck was an actress of formidable talent, she was subtle, and elegant, yet she could bluster and lose control and do it with so much grace and grandeur. In Crime of Passion a 50's noir potboiler, Stanwyck plays a popular San Francisco newspaper columnist named Kathy Ferguson. Fiercely independent, Kathy prides herself on the fact that she's a career girl, and that she hasn't resorted, like most other women of her generation, to settling down to cook and clean for a man. All this changes however, when she meets and falls in love with hunky detective LA Police detective Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden). Whisked off to suburban Los Angeles, Kathy finds it hard adjusting to life as a policeman's housewife, and she's frustrated at her husband's lack of ambition. It doesn't take long for the droning petty misery of suburban life and the stifling social puddle of the detective's wives to steadily unbalance her. Without her husband's knowledge, she uses her feminine wiles to help advance his career - cleverly conspiring to associate with Alice Pope (Fay Wray) so as to get close to Chief of Detectives Tony Pope (Raymond Burr), Bill's boss. Bill remains ignorant of Kathy's dangerous schemes even when they result in him being unfairly pushed ahead of his more-qualified Captain, Charlie Alidos (Royal Dano). Things really spiral out of control when Kathy starts to put the moves on the retiring Chief Pope, in the hope that he will place Bill first on the LAPD's short list for his job. Although the story isn't remotely believable, and the Lady Macbeth-like themes are indeed quite bizarre, the film is mostly worth watching for Stanwyck's fine performance as Kathy. She starts out as a tough, wisecracking, and no nonsense newspaperwoman, who is quick to put male chauvinist cops in their pace, and then she quietly turns into this macabre, coolly manipulative woman, who will stop at nothing to advance the career of her straight-shooting but unimaginative husband.Made in 1957 and in a time when there was much discussion over the role of women in the workforce, Crime of Passion brings feminist issues right to the forefront. Kathy's far too cool to be shaken by conservative detective Dano's assertion that she belongs in a home cooking some man's supper. But she's getting on in years and must be feeling the need to marry, because she lands a man of her own almost before she knows what's happened. And it's quite remarkable that she jumps into the role of dutiful wife without so much as taking a breath. Director Gerd Oswald gives us a tough and uncompromising look at 1950's suburban middle class life. Kathy is forced to live in a wasteland - here's a woman who is used to working with intelligent and creative people, now all she has for company is her doltish but loyal husband - when she can get to see him - and a bunch of gaggling unsophisticated detective wives for company; they're shallow women that seem do little more than praise the big boss and butter up the hen at the top of their pecking order.To give away much more of the plot would be to destroy the viewer's enjoyment of this compelling film, but suffice to say as Kathy becomes even more unhinged, and her straight-jacketed life becomes too much for her, she resorts to terrible ends to get her way; this intelligent and supposedly sophisticated woman just can't accept a man without ambition. You really believe that a high flier like Kathy could fall in love with a man like Bill and then imprudently push him beyond his limits.Barbara Stanwyck and Sterling Hayden are terrific together and there's a real chemistry going on here. Bill loves Kathy unconditionally and just wants her to be happy, but Kathy's fatal mistake is that she can't accept her husband for who he is. It is to Barbara's credit that she plays the role straight, without resorting to camp. And Sterling Hayden is a revelation as Bill. He's a sort of a sensitive stalwart, a Mr. nice guy who knows he's just good enough to do his job and is comfortable with that. Crime of Passion is bleak and cynical in its portrayal of the claustrophobic aspects of suburbia, especially in the way that women were stifled intellectually and creatively. Full of existential angst and fuelled by a sort of quasi-macho misogyny, the film is a powerful and commanding depiction of a middle-class 50's marriage gone terribly wrong. Mike Leonard February 06.

bob-959

(2013-05-06 16:41:58)

A pre-feminist tantrum? No, "Witness to Murder" reveals the hysteria behind the cardboard image of the '50s happy housewife. - Spoilers

What Eric Chapman doesn't seem to realize when he dismisses "Crime ofPassion" as a "pre-feminist tantrum" is that in its day, the movie wassubversive and shocking (it still packs something of a punch). It's thestory of a career woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who, tn middle age, marries a cop(Sterling Hayden) who forbids her to work, condemning her to a life ofluncheons and card games. The triviality and emptiness of this life is sosoul-destroying, the Stanwyck character essentially goes crazy, and themovie ends with Hayden arresting his wife for murder. The budget is morethan modest, even by 1957 standards, and it's hardly the most cinematicmovie in the world, yet it would have worked beautifully on a double billwith socially critical melodramas of the day like Douglas Sirk's "All ThatHeaven Allows." It's only fair to see "Crime of Passion" in that context.

Claudio Carvalho

(2013-05-06 11:15:11)

Ambition and Murder

The successful columnist of The San Francisco Post Kathy Ferguson(Barbara Stanwyck) is an independent woman that has the intention ofnever getting married. However, when she meets the LAPD Detective Lt.Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden) during the investigation of Dana Case thatis resolved with her support, they immediately fall in love for eachother and get married. Kathy quits her job and moves to Los Angeles tobe a housewife. Bill is very close to his colleagues and their wives,and they have frequent dinner parties at his home, and the boredom ofthe conversation with other wives and the lack of ambition of Bill inthe Police Department make Kathy to plot a scheme to push Bill's careerto a higher position. Kathy forces the encounter with his superiorPolice Inspector Anthony Pope (Raymond Burr) and his wife Alice Pope(Fay Wray) and destroys the friendship of Bill with his immediatesuperior Police Capt. Charlie Alidos (Royal Dano); then she has onenight stand with Tony to get the promise that he will recommend Bill tohis position since he is planning to retire. When Kathy realizes thatTony's promise was just pillow talk, the ambitious woman takes adecision with no return.The film-noir "Crime of Passion" is quite dated today but I believethat it was ahead of time in 1957 with an engaging and amoral story ofambition and murder. Barbara Stanwyck plays Kathy Ferguson Doyle, anambitious woman in the 50's not tailored to be a conventional housewifethat loves her husband that is a man that prioritizes his family overhis career. The emptiness of her life associated to the lack ofinterest of her beloved husband in his career drives Kathy insane andcapable of committing a murder and destroy her family and certainlyBill's career. Just as a curiosity, the wife of Police Inspector TonyPope is Fay Wray, the unforgettable Ann Darrow from "King Kong". Myvote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Da Ambição ao Crime" ("From the Ambition to Crime")

(2013-05-02 08:13:28)

Criminal Intent

This movie might have single-handedly brought on woman's lib. When middle-aged San Francisco reporter Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) meets hunky middle-aged LA cop (Sterling Hayden), she chucks her career for love. This lands her in the San Fernando Valley in the dining room listening to the unbearably grating chatter of her husband's cop buddies wives. Naturally, this drives Kathy completely bonkers (If I heard the words "cream cheese and olive" one more time, I might have gone bonkers with her), and she becomes determined to get her husband to the top at any cost! Naturally, mayhem ensues. This movie is only saved by the performance given by Barbara Stanwyck. She manages to make Kathy Ferguson a real person; she shows the real longing, desire (Barbara eyes Sterling Hayden like the prime slab 'o beef he is, and makes her intentions very clear), and smarts this woman has, and how frustration at being sidelined by society can bring out fierce competition in someone (today she'd be called manic-depressive). What's funniest about this movie is that it's so subversive. On the surface, we are supposed to be shocked, shocked I tell you, that Kathy does what she does in the name of her husband's career. On the other hand, life in the valley in the 50's is painted as so soul-destroyingly vapid, you wonder how she managed not to go on a killing spree. A really seldom seen gem that any fan of film noir should check out.

moonspinner55

(2013-05-02 01:58:05)

Colorful, implausible modern-era melodrama offers Stanwyck another meaty role...

Career gal and avowed bachelorette falls for a ten-year veteran on theLos Angeles police force; they marry, but his low-level status at thedepartment--and the bottom-drawer company they must keep on the socialset--brings up the wife's ambitious, scheming nature. What begins as aninteresting study of a woman columnist quickly turns into a potboiler,with Barbara Stanwyck as the newly-christened suburban housewife withdiscontent in her eyes. This change of direction nearly doesn't work,though Stanwyck and Sterling Hayden (and Raymond Burr as Hayden'ssuperior) are very good at keeping the scenario engrossing. Barbara'ssmudgy face and puffy mouth are just the right ingredients tokick-start a frantic modern 'noir' (complete with a '40s-style score byPaul Dunlap), and the actress is really something to behold when shegets hysterical. The plot takes a few twists which replace thepotential for irony with flat-out melodrama, yet it remains tart andabsorbing on a minor level. **1/2 from ****

Michael_Elliott

(2013-04-30 23:07:02)

Strong Performances but Weak Story

Crime of Passion (1957)** (out of 4) Sussessful woman Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) gives up her careerwhen she falls for a police officer (Sterling Hayden). The two areeventually married but the wife grows tired of her husband not workingharder to accomplish more so she decides to strike up a relationshipwith his superior (Raymond Burr) in hopes to help the husband's careerbut everything backfires. CRIME OF PASSION struck me as a ratherfar-fetched and over-dramatic story that never really grabbed myattention. There's no question that the entire cast is in fine form butat the same time I just couldn't get caught up in their story simplybecause I found it to be rather silly and at times poorly handled. Ithink one of the biggest issues for me was the Stanwyck character andthe various things she does throughout the picture. I mean, it seemslike this hard-working woman wouldn't have thrown her job away to beginwith and it seems like she would have realized that this man wasn'tgoing to be her match. The entire plot with the Burr character is justso far-fetched that I had a hard time believing such a smart womanwould sink this low and be fooled so badly. Stanwyck is certainlybelievable in the part but then again she's always strong in these typeof roles. Hayden was also very believable in his part and it was niceseeing Fay Wray in her supporting bit. The standout is clearly Burr whoseems to be having a great time playing this low-life character.

Doghouse-6

(2013-04-30 04:01:28)

An interesting, and even worthwhile, misfire

CRIME OF PASSION - never mind the generic title - exhibits much that'srecommendable, but never quite jells as it might have under moreimaginative direction and, much as I hate to fault powerhouseperformers such as Stanwyck and Hayden, with different casting.What we have here is really a sort of suburban "All About Eve:" theportrait of a manipulative schemer who'll stop at nothing in service toambition, even when that ambition is to be simply the dutiful womanbehind the successful man. Another reviewer aptly calls the film "subversive," and this elementcould have provided its most interesting facets had it been more fullyexplored. By the mid-to-late 50's, some films were taking a hard-edgedsecond look at the established conventions and revered institutions ofpostwar American life, and while this one appears at times to aspire toa similar examination - in this case, of the potentially stiflingnature of traditional gender roles - it trips itself up in execution,leaning to heavy-handedness when subtlety is called for, and ultimatelysurrendering to a too-conventional presentation of a "woman at thebreaking point" theme that was such a staple of players like JoanCrawford - and Stanwyck herself - during this period.The been-around-the-block maturity of Stanwyck at this stage of hercareer is squeezed into a rather tight fit: that of a career woman who,on the brink of long hoped-for advancement, sacrifices all for love andtransfers her personal ambition to the professional betterment of hernew husband. Likewise, Hayden's normally brusque and self-assuredpersona seems uncomfortably constrained in the role of a pedanticpolice professional who cares little for departmental politics andcareer success, and is more comfortable with a solicitous passivitytoward both his working and personal relationships.One casting bulls-eye is scored with Raymond Burr as the departmentalchief who misses nothing, and immediately spots - and appreciates -Stanwyck for the kind of woman she is. As a sort of counterpart to"Eve's" Addison DeWitt, Burr silkily embodies both graciousness andmenace, and his sly underplaying projects true power not only ofcharacter but of performer, easily dominating every scene in which heappears. With this approach, he seems the only cast member with ahandle on what a rich film CRIME OF PASSION could have been.If undemanding, it's diverting enough, and would certainly be worthseeing for Burr's multi-dimensional work alone, but it's also worthpondering, while one watches, the fascinating possibilities at which itall too briefly hints.

Bryce David

(2013-04-30 02:06:20)

Cool little film

This seldom seen film is one of the best Noirs from the 1950s. It neverlooks down on the audience which is refreshingly different than mostfilms made during that decade. What makes this so good is thebelievability of the dialogue and the settings. Nothing too glam or toodreary. It's just right. The actors are all good, with Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden andRaymond Burr all in top form. The Stanwyck - Hayden pairing isfascinating and it works beautifully. One of the more interestingcouples I've seen on screen. Hayden is a great overlooked actor who hasamazing screen presence. Always believable in all his roles. Stanwyckis equally good, with this being one of her most fascinating roles.Many have said that Stanwyck was too old for this role but I disagree.Her age/look is what makes her role interesting. Had her role beenplayed by an average 1950s screen beauty, it wouldn't have worked.Stanwyck's dilemma is greatly accentuated by the "possible" agedifference. It's brilliant casting. But what's really interesting inthis film is Raymond Burr. He's surprisingly good here. So believablein his slimy contemptible character that one feels sorry that Burr'scareer ended up playing the same character over and over again on TVfor the rest of his life.The story is grounded and never becomes ludicrous. Some of the policestuff is actually fascinating to watch. But the threesome betweenStanwyck - Hayden - Burr is what makes the movie so cool. WatchingStanwyck and Burr pining for each other is great, on so many levels!Arf. Crime of Passion is a film I enjoy watching over and over again. Checkit out.

Eric Chapman

(2013-04-29 11:48:27)

As Turgid And Dismal as They Come

Early on there is an excruciating scene where a completely unnecessary andextremely annoying office boy is invited to upstage Barbara Stanwyck andSterling Hayden with a painfully un-funny bit concerning who ordered whatsandwich. Nobody is claiming that last sandwich he went out and got and boyis he steamed! You would think that he was one of the stars of the filmconsidering how much the camera focuses on him, but he never appears againand you never do find out about that sandwich! And never mind that hisobnoxious whining drowns out crucial expository information that is supposedto set into motion the events that make up the remainder of the film. Thisis right on the heels of Stanwyck's advice columnist having a conversationwith a grumpy editor who mumbles his dialogue unintelligibly. For the firstten minutes, I was going "What?" and "Huh?" and "Who?" to no avail, and Iknew I was in for a real endurance test.Awkwardly scripted and filmed, and deadly dull, "Crime Of Passion" is sortof a pre-feminist tantrum about a driven career woman who unwisely falls fora hulking, middle class police detective (Hayden), quits her newspaper job,feels suffocated by her mundane suburban existence and conceives somebaffling scheme to improve their prospects. The movie is little more than aseries of drab parties and horribly unexciting phone conversations. Thehighlights would probably have to be the two thrilling scenes where a carpulls into a parking garage, the passengers climb out and then slowly walkaway from it.Though she was able to pull it off just a few years before in "Clash byNight" and "Jeopardy", by 1957 Stanwyck was now 50 years old and simply nolonger convincing as a sultry love interest. Uncomfortably brittle andhysterical, she is unable to meet the basic requirements of her role,although I guess you have to give her credit for trying at this stage of herlegendary career. At his worst, Hayden often looked like he was being forcedto act in this type of B grade fare against his wishes, as if perhaps aclose family member was being held hostage and wouldn't be set free untilthe final day of shooting.This is also incorrectly classified as a Film-Noir. In order to qualify asNoir, a film has to be of at least average quality. If it's anything lessthan average it's just a bad movie about crime. The only interesting thingabout this movie would have to be a few surprisingly bold alternativelifestyle references, considering the year it was made. (They come in thefirst 15 minutes and while never explicitly stated, they're pretty hard tomiss.)

(2013-04-28 09:52:54)

Crime of Passion

Ace San Francisco newspaper columnist Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) cracks a big murder case and is offered a prestigious job on a New York paper. Opting for love over ambition, she instead marries Los Angeles homicide detective Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden), leaving her, as she breathlessly tells him, with one ambition left - `to make you happy.' A tender sentiment, but Barbara Stanwyck rarely walked through any movie with a single ambition. Even if Stanwyck's newlywed avowal is as portentous as Arnie telling a police clerk that he'll be back, it's expressive of more ambition than her husband can muster. While the housebound Kathy is slowly melting down in the dining room, chatting stuffed olives and chiffon dresses with the girls, husband Bill is contentedly debating the merits of the retirement plan with his work pals in the kitchen. If Bill isn't going anywhere it's fine enough with him. Another fifteen, twenty years on the force and he'll be able to retire with full benefits. Enter Police Inspector Tony Pope (Raymond Burr). Enter the story, anyway. The Doyle's aren't quite in Pope's social set, and from the looks of it Pope doesn't go slumming too often. It's only when Pope goes a-knocking at a door that he ought to have stayed away from, sickly wife or no, that CRIME OF PASSION gains some last act momentum and lives up, or down, to its melodramatic title. CRIME OF PASSION is an indictment of suburbia and suburban values, including marriage. It's a portrait of a socially ambitious woman married to a behind-the-curve, slug of a husband. It's a star vehicle for femme fatale par excellence Stanwyck, ably abetted by a strong, understated cast.

(2013-04-28 01:29:13)

Suburbia is worse than Solitary if you ask Stanwyck!

The citizens of Dallas observed "Crime of Passion" on THIS Dallas 33.3 on Sunday July 8th 2012:When a tough female newspaper writer decides to try being a housewife, she finds that it's worst than prison! Barbara Stanwyck is at her best since "Double Indemnity", just not so rotten. In "Crime of Passion" the viewer sympathizes with her and her scheming. She thought she didn't need marriage or men or mortgages, and she was right! The mediocrity of married life might drive her to murder, but you'll have to watch "Crime of Passion" to find out! It's a great movie in general as well as for its classification (50's Film Noir).2.342