Smooth as Silk

Not a heavy-duty noir but close enough for the purists not to be totally outraged at my classification of this obscure sleeper, SMOOTH AS SILK is a fast paced crime drama featuring sexy Virginia Grey heartlessly romancing three gents at the same time to advance her career. She has a field day with great bitchy remarks and retorts thanks to writer Dane Lussier who previously gave Stephanie Bachelor great lines in PORT OF FORTY THIEVES. The viewer is expecting her to get her just desserts for three-timing her prey, but twists in the story keep one guessing how it will all end. The producer Jack Bernhard directed/produced DECOY and directed BLONDE ICE.

"Smooth as Silk" is a B-movie from Universal Studios. Rarely have I seen a film where the characters are so obvious and one-dimensional...particularly Susan. I think the writing is the problem here...as the story idea is good...but the dialog and characters really needed some improvement.

The story begins with Mark Fenton (Kent Taylor) winning a big case. It seems the man was incredibly guilty but Mark's defense was immaculate. Immediately after the trial, you see Mark with his fiancee, Paula...and Paula is about the most obvious and poorly written character I've seen in some time. She's obviously an evil narcissist...yet NO ONE seems to notice this! Soon, she dumps Mark even though he adores and dotes after her. Why does she dump him? To try to bag the man who was just aquitted of killing a woman...because he's rich. Sure, he's a drunk and a total jerk, but Paula wants a sugar daddy...one more successful and rich than Mark. Plus the drunk's uncle is a producer...and she desperately wants to be in his next show. What's next? See the film...or don't.

Paula (Virginia Grey) is just impossible to believe and incredibly annoying. Now I know that in a B-movie the plot must be hurried a bit, but she, the director and the writer all fell down on this part of the film. She's so shallow and annoying that you can't help but think everyone around her is addle-brained in not noticing what a godawful piece of work she is...a HUGE problem for this film...HUGE.

Another problem is Paula's sister, Susan...who just seems to be there for no particular reason. In fact, nearly everyone seems to just be there and few seem like fully realized characters...more caricatures.

Overall, a good story idea and one that manages to lose every bit of good it should have had just minutes into the story. A time-passer at best.

This film's obscurity and lack of big names in the cast led me to expect an ultra-low budget offering from an unheard-of studio. While not an extravaganza, it turned out to be a B-movie from a major studio.

Better yet, it's a fast-paced crime drama with elements of humor in a clever script. I have not seen many of the over 100 films in which Virginia Grey appeared but I'm reasonably confident this was the high point of her career. She plays a Broadway actress on the make with little or no regard for the truth or the people she uses on the way up, much like Eve in the more famous All About Eve. Anyone who's ever dealt with a compulsive liar (most of us, I believe) will enjoy "seeing" the wheels spinning in her head while coming up with one quick-witted excuse or cover story after another. Since the two main men in her life, a defense attorney and a Broadway producer, aren't totally trustworthy either, and yes, there is a real crime involved too, there's a lot going on in a 64 minute film. If it were remade today it would probably be twice as long without adding anything. And that's why I watch movies from this era.

Bonus point for those like myself who enjoy such films yet are dismayed by their casual racism, or simple exclusion of non-white performers: the lovely Theresa Harris, an African-American actress whose Hollywood career consisted mostly of playing maids, here plays .... Virginia Grey's maid. But they're also friends and confidantes, much like the role Harris played opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the pre-coder Baby Face.

I confess I know little about Charles Barton's directorial gifts, but he certainly pulls off a solid job in SMOOTH AS SILK. Relying on superb cinematography by Elwood Bredell, this picture runs fast and smooth, with a credible script by Ryerson and fitting background music by Ernest Gold.

When I first considered watching it on the Internet, I was not overly impressed with the cast. I had never heard of the leads Kent Taylor, Virginia Grey. Or Milburn Stone - but I had no reason to fear. They all contribute toward a riveting flick. Taylor is cucumber-cool, Grey plays the remorselessly opportunistic gold digger with elegance, Stone is effective as DA Kimble, and Litel and Trowbridge complete the main set with aplomb.

SMOOTH AS SILK is no masterpiece, even within the confines of film noir, but I rate it very professionally done and gripping entertainment, even if anyone can spot some holes, like the rather convenient and predictable trap DA Kimble sets, which an astute criminal would hardly fall for - that said, all criminals make mistakes...

Must-see for film noir lovers. At 65' long, you won't waste your time and it's well worth it!

It starts out as a tale of leading lady Virginia Grey, her kid sister Jane Adams, and two men: John Litel, a theatrical producer, and young heir Kent Taylor, who has just been acquitted of a manslaughter rap, and who is guardian of his estate. There's not of catty remarks and angling for position, but it comes down to this: Litel wants Grey to marry him, and Taylor is jealous. So he shoots Litel and calls the lawyer who got him off, to confess.

It's a nice set-up, but unfortunately, despite the rather interesting premise, there isn't that much in terms of the dialogue, and Miss Adams seems rather superfluous to the plot.

This looks like it might have been a moderately successful programmer for director Charles Barton at the time, but given that ALL ABOUT EVE, even with no actual murder, would show up in a few years' time, it has aged very poorly