Vicki (1953)

Film Noir at its Most Stylish

The thing caught my attention about this film was how stylish it is. The use of shadows, the lighting, the composition of the scenes; everything about it has a beautiful sense that it flows seamlessly and effortlessly from one thing to the next. The photography is excellent. Everything that should be clear and crisp is. Depth of field is used to great effect. The composition of each scene is excellent. The narrative flow between scenes is seamless because each shot leads the eye to the next. The lighting is just as good. Use of shadows is effective but never excessive. Highlighted areas enhance the shadows and create a 'larger than life' effect. The entire film gives a clinic on cinematography at its best.

The main characters are very engaging as well. Jean Peters shines as the night waitress caught up in the magnitude of her own ambition. Jeanne Crain is even better as the sister who tries to guard her against both herself and the people driving her. Her character has more depth than the one played by Peters because she's allowed to show vulnerability as well as the restraint of the 'older' sister. The standout performance however, comes from Richard Boone. His presence and character is, literally, mesmerizing. His grasp of the character's nuances is frightening, compelling and utterly complete. He owns every moment he's on the screen.

The rest of the cast doesn't fare as well. Whether the fault lay with the actors, the direction, or the writing is hard to determine. Whatever the reason, the performances of the supporting players range between bland and excessive and nonchalant. They weren't given much to work with though. Eliot Reid is kept at the forefront simply because he has a lot of time on the screen. Apart from that he's about as exciting as unsalted butter. Aaron Spelling, by contrast, has almost nothing to do. His character would be forgettable if it weren't for his Ham on Pumpernickel performance continually reminding the audience that he's weird. Between all of this Carl Betz is basically a suit with lines.

Still, none of this really hurts the picture much. The supporting characters have little depth but they serve the story well. The narrative itself is engaging and tightly wound. The flow of that narrative, thanks to the splendid cinematography, is superb. The acting is solid enough and the players (even in their 'Pumpernickel' moments) never seem like they're forcing their lines. The restoration and transfer to DVD is excellent and the packaging is tasteful.

This film is, apparently, a remake of "I Wake Up Screaming". According to other reviews "Vicki" is not as good as the first one. I can't comment on that because I haven't seen the first version (at least not recently enough to remember it anyway). This film however, is a good one. It stands well on its own and is an excellent one to spend an evening watching. August 24, 2008

Good Not Outstanding

This is worth watching to pass time but it is not one of the greatest movies. A beautiful model is murdered (Jean Peters, once married to Howard Hughes in real life). Her sister and one of her friends join forces to find the murderer. The case detective rasies more questions than he solves... May 31, 2008

Enjoyable movie; good ending

Richard Boone (the cop chasing after Vicki's murderer), is interesting to watch. Younger folks especially will be surprised at how the police are portrayed "way back when", and what they could get away with. Aaron Spelling was great in the film; I had never seen him in an acting role before. The ending is a nice little surprise--at least for most people I think it will be. Well worth watching, especially if you haven't seen the original "I Wake Up Screaming". March 30, 2008

VICKI

I LOVED THIS JEANNE CRAIN CLASSIC!! I LOVE OLD CLASSICS AND I'M PLEASED TO HAVE THIS ONE TO ADD TO MY COLLECTION OF BLACK & WHITES AND CLASSICS!

CECELIA P.
LOS ANGELES, CA. January 8, 2008

Terrible, just terrible

'I Wake Up Screaming' was a tightly written, well directed, thoroughly intriging film noir with great performances from all it's leads. In contrast this lame remake boasts a lousy talky script completely in lacking in structure or even common sense together with decidely wooden performances from all concerned. Special mention must be made of the leading man who can't wipe the idiotic smile from his face even when facing a murder rap. One wonders what insanity prompted the studio to put out this out especially when the original had been a runaway success at the box office. If the basic premise excites you then for heaven's sake check out the original and avoid this drivel. August 30, 2007

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