Phone Call from a Stranger (1952)
Well, the studio system is crumbling, and the great Golden Age stars like Bette Davis are finding new kinds of roles, but veteran directors like Jean Negulesco are still able to use all the great talents of Hollywood to put together what is a classic kind of movie. It's not a great movie at all, but it's tightly constructed, filled with twists, is dramatic and poignant in turns (and funny, too), and all in all makes for an entertaining and interesting movie.
Not mind-blowing adjectives, I know, but appropriate.
The key player here is a strong and silent type, Gary Merrill, a really steady and impressive actor every time I've seen him, though he usually plays secondary roles. But he calmly holds together a series of stories (there are four main threads here, with a unifying link that is quite a surprise). All the other actors have brief roles, as the movie is really broken into sections a little like A Letter to Three Wives from three years earlier (a better movie, but sharing a nice sense of interweaving stories). But this means Bette Davis, whose name appears in big letters as a star, appears fairly briefly. But she's fabulous, even in this limited role.
There a some odd flaws, like an odd shift to soft focus on an actress for some close-ups of but not others. And the story for all its strengths feels a little forced, too, which you just go along with. But if you are glass half full person you'll see the strengths of acting and filming here (cinematographer Milton Krasner is among the best) as well as the music (Franz Waxman), and you'll really enjoy it start to finish.
Well, the studio system is crumbling, and the great Golden Age stars like Bette Davis are finding new kinds of roles, but veteran directors like Jean Negulesco are still able to use all the great talents of Hollywood to put together what is a classic kind of movie. It's not a great movie at all, but it's tightly constructed, filled with twists, is dramatic and poignant in turns (and funny, too), and all in all makes for an entertaining and interesting movie.
Not mind-blowing adjectives, I know, but appropriate.
The key player here is a strong and silent type, Gary Merrill, a really steady and impressive actor every time I've seen him, though he usually plays secondary roles. But he calmly holds together a series of stories (there are four main threads here, with a unifying link that is quite a surprise). All the other actors have brief roles, as the movie is really broken into sections a little like A Letter to Three Wives from three years earlier (a better movie, but sharing a nice sense of interweaving stories). But this means Bette Davis, whose name appears in big letters as a star, appears fairly briefly. But she's fabulous, even in this limited role.
There a some odd flaws, like an odd shift to soft focus on an actress for some close-ups of but not others. And the story for all its strengths feels a little forced, too, which you just go along with. But if you are glass half full person you'll see the strengths of acting and filming here (cinematographer Milton Krasner is among the best) as well as the music (Franz Waxman), and you'll really enjoy it start to finish.