The Big Knife (1955)

Campy but substantial.

Ok, ok, I know, this movie is campy. And ok, I know, I know -- this movie is "over the top." But, still, it's a damn good movie.

Serious, well-acted and based on the work of Clifford Odets (not exaclty a slouch when it comes to writing and creating chartacters), this movie deserves a wide audience.

Note to any would-be Rich Little-wannabee ... This is the movie to see to get down pat the definitive Rod Steiger impersonation. ("Ho-ho ho-ho! If you don't start reacting out there, I'm gonna machine gun everyone of you. And-I'm-not-kidding. Oh-yes-I-am-kidding!")

Any movie that's a *serious* movie, has to be taken seriously, has to be respected. And this movie, with all its flaws, is a SERIOUS movie.

The production values are not great. The direction is choppy. The style is, as noted, campy and and over-the-top. But give me 10 of these movies for 10,000 of today's so'called "blockbusters."

More of a filmed "Playhouse 90" production than a movie, see it, you won't be disappointed. ... Or else, ho-ho ho-ho, I'll machine gun every one of you. August 14, 2008

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Who ever thought that Jack Palance could ever deliver an emotionally wrought performance at this stage in his career? He does just that. He gives such a performance that it is just heartbreaking to watch him. Jack Palance had more range than he was ever given credit for having. This is a brutally well scripted realistic film directed by Robert Aldrich. Wendell Corey also gives a rationally based, cold and detached, but curiously humane performance driven by the system and in too deep for his own good but his conscience reminds him that he really should know better. Perhaps all the characters actually do know better and know that there truly is no way out.
July 10, 2007

The Realist, the Philistine and the Idealist....You figure it out.

There is very much room for debate on The Big Knife. The casting of Palance and Steiger, good 'ol whinny Winters, the stage-related lack of locales, etc., etc. Each of these can be parsed to illuminate why the film works or doesn't. In a way that's a sign of a good film, one that has made bold choices, and risks it's essential qualities.
I liked it. The thing that stood out for me though, was the seeming-multiple-endings. About three times I felt an ending, only to have another character enter, another scene. This may be Odets the writer, or Aldrich the director.
In any case I loved Palance. I am a fan of his, and in a lead, a somewhat straight lead, his casting is inspired. I felt he was emotionally resonant, quickly rising and falling with the clipped Odets' poetics. I watched it last night on TCM, and Robert Osborne remarked in the opening that this was a film about "weird people, Hollywood types" (paraphrase). I think that poorly sells the story, limiting it's scope and personality. Palance as Charlie Castle is a wreck because of his life in Hollywood, sure, but he isn't weird for it. His close relationships with his trainer/masseur and his publicist, among others, highlights his isolation and need for loving contact. Which makes Ida Lupino, as his possibly-leaving wife Marion, and her dilemma such a good parallel to Charlie's wanting to leave Hollywood.
And Rod Steiger....Over the top? Yes. But it a beautiful thing to watch. I love his commanding physical presence, his melodramatic crying, his hand-wringing. It may be scene-chewing and distracting to some, but again, it works within the story and the character. His psychological make up is so apparent, especially when he fears Castle will strike him, how he crosses his arms and tucks in.
Ida Lupino, who looks like she could be Stockard Channing's mother, was strong and poised despite her rancorous life, and I appreciated her for it. Her character was winning because of the strength she debated having to exert. Again, a Hollywood consequence.
Character actors, one and all, Smiley, Connie, Shelley Winter's wonkie Dixie, Hank (who could be Grey Davis' father), Nat (his slapping of Stanley Hoff's glass was awesome) , they all embody the inherent lack of stability in Hollywood.
The message is clear, and the execution (pardon the pun), was dramatic and interesting. June 14, 2007

Stagy and poorly cast

I'm a great admirer of Clifford Odets, and I suspect "The Big Knife" worked very well on stage. But as a movie, no way. A film about Hollywood that confines itself to conversations in people's living rooms is not using the medium effectively. I'll concede that some of those conversations are well-written, and the supporting cast (notably Ida Lupino and Wendell Corey)mostly excellent. But beyond the staginess, the movie suffers from two monumentally bad casting choices. Jack Palance is nowhere near credible as a romantic-type Hollywood leading man; he's not comfortable even walking around (he shambles in an odd way). Palance is a character actor who played bad-guy parts memorably, but asking him to deliver ripe, soul-searching, theatrical monologues about integrity just doesn't work. And then there's Rod Steiger as the nasty, amoral studio chief, who is so over the top, it's hard to describe. Talk about scenery-chewing -- Steiger looks like he might literally rip up parts of the set and wolf them down at any moment. It's such a ludicrous performance as to be almost weirdly watchable, but sinks any chance the movie had at dramatic credibility. I can't understand why director Robert Aldrich allowed a non-A list actor (Steiger was just getting started on his great career at this point)to sabotage his film so thoroughly. June 13, 2007

The Old Movies

For anyone who likes old movies, made in the early 50's etc this is for you. Jack Palance is fabulous along with the other stars, Ida Lupino, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters. The story is believable and although it is in black and white it lacks for nothing. I was not dissappointed. March 14, 2006

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