SLIGHTLY SCARLET

Rhonda Fleming and John Payne

SLIGHTLY SCARLET (1956). Director: Allan Dawn.

June Lyons (Rhonda Fleeming), who is secretary and more to mayoral candidate Frank Jansen (Kent Taylor), brings her sister, Dorothy (Arlene Dahl) home after the latter gets out of prison. Both women get involved with Ben Grace (John Payne), who is the brains behind a criminal outfit run by Solly Caspar (Ted de Corsia), who has had to take it on the lam. Now Ben tries to take over and get all his ducks in a row, including Jansen, the police chief, and the two attractive ladies -- although things get a bit dicey when Solly suddenly returns from Mexico ...

Such devoted sisters? Dahl and Fleming

Slightly Scarlet is entertaining enough but it has a script that goes all over the place, and Allan Dwan's direction is not strong enough to make up for it. What we're left with is some vivid emoting from Payne, going through his bad guy (but not that bad) film noir phase, a solid Fleming, a vivacious and sluttish Dahl making the most of her scenes, and de Corsia also making an impression as the decidedly nasty and nearly psychopathic Solly. Although Payne does a good job in playing Ben, the screenplay never seems to get a true handle on the guy, so there doesn't really seem to be anyone to root for in this mess. Kent Taylor has a few scenes as the man who becomes mayor but he isn't developed enough to be much of a factor. June seems overly devoted to her sister, a trampy shoplifter and worse who doesn't even seem to care when Solly makes it clear that he's going to murder June.

Payne and Dahl at that beach house

Other players include Ellen Corby as June's very pleasant housekeeper, Roy Gordon [War of the Colossal Beast] as a crusader against Solly who meets a horrible fate, George Wallace [Radar Men from the Moon] as a sullen member of Solly's gang, and Myron Healey [Hot Rod] as another colleague who tries to ventilate Ben to his regret. Solly owns a beach house that can best be described as "fabulous." This is based on as novel by James M. Cain. An RKO-Radio production, it was filmed in "Superscope."

Verdict: Not as much fun as the plot might suggest, but fun enough if you're in an undemanding mood. **1/2. 

BUTTERFLY

Pia Zadora and Orson Welles -- in the same movie!

BUTTERFLY (1982). Director: Matt Cimber.

In 1937 at the Arizona-Nevada border Kady Tyler (Pia Zadora) comes to live with the father she never knew, a man named Jess (Stacy Keach), who is the caretaker for an abandoned silver mine. Despite their biological connection, Kady and Jess are drawn to one another, something which bothers Jess but doesn't seem to bother the much too free-spirited Kady. Kady's dying mother, Belle (Lois Nettleton), comes calling, along with the man Belle ran off with, Moke Blue (James Franciscus). Then there's Wash Gillespie (Edward Albert), the son of the owner of the mine, and the father of Kady's baby and her fiance. How far will Jess go to get Kady for himself -- and is she really his daughter? Butterfly certainly holds the attention with its intriguing if bizarre situations, as well as some very good acting. Keach takes top honors, with Nettleton a close second, and Franciscus [Youngblood Hawke] also scores in some emotional scenes inside the mine. Pia Zadora [Hairspray] is not bad at all, although one couldn't necessarily call her a great actress -- her pouty looks and attitude fit the part. Orson Welles, of all people, shows up as a judge at two separate trials involving Kady and Jess, and is very effective and amusing. Edward Albert [Galaxy of Terror] is fine as Kady's boyfriend, and in one brief scene June Lockhart and Ed McMahon [!] play his parents -- McMahon is no actor. Stuart Whitman, however, makes his mark as a preacher. This forgotten movie is based on a novel by James M. Cain.

Verdict: Twisted, but interesting, love story. ***.

DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1973)

Samantha Eggar

DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1973 telefilm). Director: Jack Smight.

In one of television's more pointless exercises, this TV movie is a remake of the Billy Wilder 1944 classic. The story, based on James Cain's novel, remains the same. Insurance salesman Walter Neff (Richard Crenna) and Phyllis Dietrichson (Samantha Eggar) conspire to do away with her husband (Arch Johnson), hoping to invoke a double indemnity clause in his insurance by making it look like an unusual accident. If you've never seen the original movie, or even if you have, this version will still prove entertaining because of the suspenseful storyline, but compared to the Wilder version with Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson, this is like a high school production. The actors aren't bad, with Eggar making a suitably sociopathic Phyllis and Lee J. Cobb as good as ever in the Robinson role [if not as good as Robinson, whom he apes to some degree]. As for Richard Crenna? He rushes through the opening and closing scenes like a complete amateur [possibly he was directed that way as this telefilm is only 75 minutes long!] but for the rest of the movie he's okay, and was probably cast for the same reason MacMurray [who was much better] was, that likability factor that makes the unpleasant character more palatable. Jack Smight's direction is strictly by the numbers, completely devoid of style, and he does nothing to increase the tension. The murder scene itself might as well be  a trip to the supermarket. It also has to be said that this kind of noirish material plays better in the right time period, the forties, than updated to the seventies.

Verdict: Stick to the original. **1/2.

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)

Garfield and Turner

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946). Director: Tay Garnett.

Cora Smith (Lana Turner) and her husband Nick (Cecil Kellaway) run a combination gas station and cafe, but their placid lives become unsettled when Nick hires a drifter named Frank (John Garfield) to help around the place. Cora and Frank are attracted to one another, and suddenly she can't see herself spending the rest of her life with her much older and unattractive husband, especially when he abruptly tells her that they're selling the restaurant (for which Cora had a lot of plans), moving in with his sister, and Cora will have to be nursemaid for the paralyzed woman for the rest of her life. (In other words, Nick is almost begging to be killed. His complete disregard for his wife's feelings makes him quite unsympathetic). What happens next is a black comedy of errors, accusations, recriminations -- and murder. Although Lana Turner gave some good performances in later years, such as in A Life of Her Own, she's a little too unseasoned to make the most of Cora, although she isn't terrible. Garfield and Kellaway come off much better, of course (although they're hardly as pretty!) and they have some solid support from the likes of Leon Ames as a D.A., Hume Cronyn as a lawyer, and Audrey Totter as a gal who briefly dallies with Frank. The Postman Always Rings Twice is a good, entertaining picture -- much better than the dreadful remake with Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson -- but somehow it's not quite a classic like the superior Double Indemnity, which was also taken from a James M. Cain novel. This Hollywood version takes a lot of liberties with the plot and characters, the usual case with Cain. For instance, in the novel the lovers were practically kids.

Verdict: Not the best adaptation of a Cain novel, but certainly not without merit. ***.

MILDRED PIERCE (2011)

Kate Winslet as Mildred

MILDRED PIERCE (2011 HBO mini-series. Director: Todd Haynes.

"I am never coming back to this hovel as long as I live!" --Veda Pierce.

This mini-series is adapted from the same James M. Cain novel that was the basis of the Joan Crawford movie of the same title. This version is much more faithful to the novel, as the Crawford version added a murder sequence that was not in the book and turned the original Mildred Pierce into a classic piece of film noir, which this version is definitely not. In the mini-series Mildred is played by Kate Winslet, who doesn't have Crawford's presence but gives a good performance, although it lacks spontaneity. The story begins in 1931 California where Mildred splits from her husband and is left to take care of their two daughters. As in the original movie, the proud Mildred gets a job as a waitress, bakes pies, opens her own restaurant -- and has to contend with her haughty older daughter, Veda [first played as a child -- and quite well -- by Morgan Turner, who might even have been able to handle the later sequences]. As in the novel Veda is studying piano, but discovers she lacks distinction. In the book she becomes an opera singer in a rather ludicrous fashion, so the mini-series wisely has her talking about it instead of showing it. The other major character is gigolo Monty Beragon, played by a credible Guy Pearce. Mildred Pierce has some fine performances and memorable sequences, such as a tragic death scene for a young character; an interview for a housekeeping job that Mildred has with rich bitch Mrs. Lenhardt [uncredited but very good]; Mildred's reaction when she first hears Veda's singing voice on the radio; and an explosive climax in a bedroom when Mildred sees her daughter's true colors in the cruelest way possible. The adult Veda is played by Evan Rachel Wood, who isn't bad in the part, but she just can't compare to the vicious brilliance of Ann Blyth in the original version [and Pearce can't quite erase memories of smarmy Zachary Scott as Monty]. Mare Winningham, James LeGros, Melissa Leo, Brian F. O'Byrne, and Quinn McColgan are all notable in important supporting roles. Nice music from Carter Burwell. Veda's gorgeous soprano singing voice is supplied by the very talented Sumi Jo.

Verdict: Pretty classy cable mini-series. ***1/2.