 |
| Laraine Day and Franchot Tone |
WITHOUT HONOR (1949). Director: Irving Pichel.
Jane Bandle (Laraine Day of
Foreign Correspondent) is a bored and neglected housewife whose husband, Fred (Bruce Bennett of
Smart Girls Don't Talk), frequently leaves her alone and who insists he wants no children. She enters into an affair with Dennis Williams (Franchot Tone), who claims to love her to such an extent that he wants to leave his wife, Katherine (Agnes Moorehead) and daughters. But when Dennis gets wind that Fred might be having him followed, he gets cold feet and wants to end his relationship with Jane. Things spiral out of control and who should show up but nasty Bill (Dane Clark of
Whiplash), Fred's jealous brother, who has reasons for despising Jane. He's also invited Mr. and Mrs. Williams to come over for a chat, but none of the players, including a clueless Fred and despairing Jane, realize that Dennis may be permanently out of the picture.
 |
| Day with Dane Clark |
One could quibble with certain aspects of
Without Honor, but on its own terms it's a credible and absorbing -- and certainly unpredictable -- melodrama with a good script by James Poe. The performances are quite good across the board, and while Pichel is no Hitchcock he keeps things moving and manages to build up a degree of suspense. Another "player," as usual, is composer Max Steiner, who provides good back-up for the goings-on, with some of the catchy music acting as counterpoint to the generally grim proceedings.
Without Honor has certainly gotten mixed reactions from viewers, with some hating almost every aspect of it and others finding it a bit unique and different. Count me in the latter camp.
 |
| When Ladies Meet: Agnes Moorehead with Day |
Bill hates Jane because years before he made a pass at her while she was dating his brother and she made a fuss about it, perhaps somewhat altering the relationship between the two men. Some viewers feel that Bill has incestuous sexual feelings for his own brother -- the notion that Bill is in love with Fred might make more sense if Bill was Fred's best friend and not his brother -- but while Bill does come off like a rejected lover (of Fred's) due to the intensity of Clark's performance, I don't think that was the film's intention (although Poe did deal with homosexual characters in his adaptations of plays by Tennessee Williams).
Verdict: Unusual and arresting film that never quite goes where you expect it to. ***1/4.
3 comments:
Good cast, I always like Moorehead and Bennett. Franchot Tone was certainly handsome, no wonder why Joan Crawford fell for him. I love the story that 40 years after their divorce, they remained friends and Joan would often have him over as a houseguest in her New York apartment. He seemed like a nice guy, too.
-C
Tone was a little odd-looking, but attractive. Crawford obviously forgave him for being a little rough on and with her at times. After Crawford, he married that little minx Barbara Payton, after he and Tom Neal essentially fought a duel over her outside a nightclub. Tone got the worst of it and wound up in the hospital. His marriage to Payton only lasted a few weeks and she went back to the brutal Neal!
Did not know that. He was a scrapper!
Post a Comment