What a cast. I can enjoy this movie for that reason alone, and the stars really strut their stuff.
The film is set in New York just after WW2. Jessie and Brandon Bourne (Barbara Stanwick and James Mason) a couple whose marriage has been jolted by his adulterous affair with Isabel Lorrison (Ava Gardner), try to put it behind them and move forward.
However Brandon has a tendency to hang around the Del Rio nightclub where he meets young model, Rosa Senta (Cyd Charisse). Unfortunately, it's just at that moment that Isabel Lorrison arrives back on the scene and back into Brandon's life, despite his attempts to stay true to Jessie.
At a party, Jessie meets Rosa's boyfriend, Mark Dwyer (Van Heflin), an intelligence operative and ex-cop turned novelist who has just returned from Europe. After a lot of musical chairs reshuffling of relationships, Rosa becomes the only one unseated while Jessie and Mark become an item, and Brandon can't help his attraction to Isabel. He explains to Jessie that his attraction is like a drunk who knows liquor will wreck him, but can't stop himself.
When a murder takes place, Mark Dwyer's instincts as an ex-policeman take over. He actually walks into the murder scene and virtually runs the investigation – I guess that's why crime scene tape was invented to stop things like that happening – the case is solved but a lot of relationships change before the end.
Although the story is pretty crazy, and would give any modern soapy a run for its money, "East Side, West Side" has a literate script with touches of wit, giving the stars plenty to work with. With that said though, Barbara Stanwick plays a role that she could put on like a dress straight from her wardrobe – she plays it well, but of course she did have plenty of practice.
James Mason, he of the mellifluous voice, was always a scene-stealer, and smooth-talking cads like Brandon were his forte. On the other hand, Van Heflin was at his best as the honest, understanding, tower of strength. Whenever he played bad, it was so against type that Academy Awards weren't out of the question à la "Johnny Eager".
Although their characters are different, the presence in the same film of both Ava Gardner and Cyd Charisse, two of the most beautiful women ever in movies, seems like overkill. On television shows like "MasterChef" and "Top Chef", when a contestant overdoes the spices, the dish can end up with just too many flavours, and that's what I felt when Ava and Cyd face each other in the same scene – you hardly know which way to look.
"East Side, West Side" has that indefinable MGM gloss plus a distinctive Miklos Rozsa score, but the stars make this movie; to paraphrase Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard", "They had faces then".
The film is set in New York just after WW2. Jessie and Brandon Bourne (Barbara Stanwick and James Mason) a couple whose marriage has been jolted by his adulterous affair with Isabel Lorrison (Ava Gardner), try to put it behind them and move forward.
However Brandon has a tendency to hang around the Del Rio nightclub where he meets young model, Rosa Senta (Cyd Charisse). Unfortunately, it's just at that moment that Isabel Lorrison arrives back on the scene and back into Brandon's life, despite his attempts to stay true to Jessie.
At a party, Jessie meets Rosa's boyfriend, Mark Dwyer (Van Heflin), an intelligence operative and ex-cop turned novelist who has just returned from Europe. After a lot of musical chairs reshuffling of relationships, Rosa becomes the only one unseated while Jessie and Mark become an item, and Brandon can't help his attraction to Isabel. He explains to Jessie that his attraction is like a drunk who knows liquor will wreck him, but can't stop himself.
When a murder takes place, Mark Dwyer's instincts as an ex-policeman take over. He actually walks into the murder scene and virtually runs the investigation – I guess that's why crime scene tape was invented to stop things like that happening – the case is solved but a lot of relationships change before the end.
Although the story is pretty crazy, and would give any modern soapy a run for its money, "East Side, West Side" has a literate script with touches of wit, giving the stars plenty to work with. With that said though, Barbara Stanwick plays a role that she could put on like a dress straight from her wardrobe – she plays it well, but of course she did have plenty of practice.
James Mason, he of the mellifluous voice, was always a scene-stealer, and smooth-talking cads like Brandon were his forte. On the other hand, Van Heflin was at his best as the honest, understanding, tower of strength. Whenever he played bad, it was so against type that Academy Awards weren't out of the question à la "Johnny Eager".
Although their characters are different, the presence in the same film of both Ava Gardner and Cyd Charisse, two of the most beautiful women ever in movies, seems like overkill. On television shows like "MasterChef" and "Top Chef", when a contestant overdoes the spices, the dish can end up with just too many flavours, and that's what I felt when Ava and Cyd face each other in the same scene – you hardly know which way to look.
"East Side, West Side" has that indefinable MGM gloss plus a distinctive Miklos Rozsa score, but the stars make this movie; to paraphrase Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard", "They had faces then".