Eddie Muller, in his outro, dissed Ryan Murphy's "Feud" for the way it depicted Robert Aldrich, which is ironic since this Aldrich film kinda resembles that steamy, lurid mini series. Certainly Aldrich, like Murphy, knows that if you're going to make an anti Hollywood picture then you'd best populate it with fine actors all doing good work. And plenty of sex and scandal for the fine actors to wallow in. Most folks will rave about Steiger, Palance and "Miss" Shelley Winters, as she's referred to in the credits (letting rich older men know she's on the market?), and rightly so, but I want to take this opportunity to extol what I feel to be the finest acting turn in the film, that of Wendell Corey playing the movie's most ambiguous character, the self hating fixer for Steiger's Harry Cohn. What an intriguing combination of menacing and sad! (with the ironic name, Smiley) In the space of one scene he can go from dolefully asking Palance what he's reading to announcing a murder for hire scheme. And his referring to everyone but his boss as "Kitty" is both breezy and creepy. I also like it that Corey does the foregoing without the scenery chewing of Steiger and Palance. Naturally, such subtlety went unrewarded. Rod and Jack and Miss Winters got all the ink. But Corey's the best in the cast, in my opinion.
So, a fun film about the industry. And maybe if it had soft peddled Clifford Odets' laments about poor, put upon Charlie, the sensitive, art loving, once great actor brought low by the vulgar studio boss it might have been a great film. But at no point in this very long work does Charlie accept even a scintilla of responsibility for his rather shabby behavior toward wife and best friend. Everything is Hoff's fault or The System's fault or Show Biz's fault. Which, of course, renders Charlie's suicide extra gratuitous. And this film a bit too whiny in tone. B minus.
So, a fun film about the industry. And maybe if it had soft peddled Clifford Odets' laments about poor, put upon Charlie, the sensitive, art loving, once great actor brought low by the vulgar studio boss it might have been a great film. But at no point in this very long work does Charlie accept even a scintilla of responsibility for his rather shabby behavior toward wife and best friend. Everything is Hoff's fault or The System's fault or Show Biz's fault. Which, of course, renders Charlie's suicide extra gratuitous. And this film a bit too whiny in tone. B minus.