User reviews

Just watched this movie that I first read about in one of Pauline Kael's books of collections of her movie reviews. I can't remember what she said about it but I don't remember her panning it either. Anyway, it stars Lola Albright-who was one of the stars of the TV show "Peter Gunn" at the time-as a stripper who lives in a good apartment and Scott Marlowe as the 17-year-old kid who has an affair with her not knowing anything about her profession. They both are quite good, especially Ms. Albright, though like some of the other reviewers here, I did think Marlowe seemed a little old to play a late teen. Part of me also thought the ending seemed a little abrupt though that might have been due to the low budget nature of the film and that it's adopted from a novel that probably had a few more additional passages after that end. Still, director Alexander Singer guides the drama fairly well with the help of the jazzy score by Gerald Fried, melodramatic though it may have seemed at times. And Ms. Albright sure turns up the steam every time she appears, doesn't she? So on that note, I highly recommend A Cold Wind in August.

Impressive and bold B movie with a fantastic performance from a glowing, Lola Albright. A name that meant nothing to me and although I see she is still working today, her medium has mainly been TV, but why? Maybe this film was just a bit too strong for the time and she never got the attention she should have from it. The story of a young guy with an older woman, nothing new but here dealt with particularly well with no moralising. Much is clearly low budget stuff with some pretty poor 'teenage' scenes but all the scenes involving the gradual seduction and those of the later striptease are shot with astonishing attention to detail and sizzle before you. From her very first advances with the naked foot upon his hand to the startling, aforementioned, strip, these are some of the most sensually shot scenes I have seen in film. Ending is uncompromising too, which comes as a relief.

I was not yet alive when A COLD WIND IN AUGUST made its initial theatrical go-round, but I suspect that it generated a magnitude of criticism during those less permissive times(in response to its ostensibly unprincipled premise and erotically-charged underpinnings). It's a rather prurient melodrama, but far too gracefully formulated to come off sleazy or sexually exploitive in its portraiture of a brassy mid-life burlesque queen who finds herself in a fiery romantic entanglement with a giddy seventeen year-old boy.

Considering that this film is a product of a far less lenient America, it smolders with audacious sexual intimations which surely raised more than a few eyebrows in '61. Still, it generally approaches its subject matter with sincerity and sensitivity...this is a film of uncommon veracity for its time, and could be mentioned in the same breath as BABY-DOLL, LOLITA, and THE NAKED KISS, films which their era's more priggish types may have found to be of questionable social graces. The makers of these and similarly polemical films should be admired for their fortitude in the face of stifling puritan objection.

Commanding performances are provided by two criminally under-appreciated talents, Albright and Marlowe. They have a unique and entirely believable chemistry on screen which is keynote to the film's success. Joe DeSantis shines as well in the role of Marlowe's cautious but understanding widower father.

A COLD WIND has its share of forgivable blemishes, and it may come off rather stilted, possibly even campy to some with its fifty-year vintage...regardless, it was/is a brave undertaking, professionally appointed and deserving of greater appreciation.

7.5/10

Lola Albriight had a way about her. Physically, she wasn't unlike the two other most intriguing second-string sex symbols of the period, Angie Dickinson and Sheree North. But what set Albright apart from all the rest was her humor. Humor in a woman is rarely considered as seductive a quality as it is in a man, with L.A., however, it happened to be the case. And what made her (and it) so truly special was that as an actress she made the audience see that it was a defense mechanism for her character as well - a protection against her deepest, darkest emotions.

This is what made her the most smoking hot of Hollywood's post-WW II actresses. And the most criminally under-utilized. And underrated.

Rating: The Movie gets a 6

In her best role: L.A.'s contribution is a 10 for all time.

Composite: 7.5

Lola, if you're out there, I hope you're listening.

Losing herself in alcohol and New York City, sexy stripper Lola Albright (as Iris Hartford) gets hotter than hot after her air conditioner "craps out" in the middle of summer. When seventeen-year-old Scott Marlowe (as Vito Perugino), the superintendence's handsome Italian son, is sent to fix her busted switch, Ms. Albright seduces him with liquor and lipstick. The couple enjoy their "older woman, younger man" romance, but Albright keeps her "dirty" profession on the back burner. Mr. Marlowe thinks she's a model or actress. All goes well until Albright accepts a stripping job from one of her ex-husbands. Cued in by a streetwise pal, Marlowe goes to see his lover swivel her bikini-clad hips for a mob of horny old men...

The "strip show" makes Marlowe reconsider his feelings for Albright, but she wants to keep "going steady" with the younger man. This ridiculous story is strengthened by the fact that the co-stars play it straight. Albright is sexy and serious, even when exclaiming lines like, "I want him, I want my baby!" Marlowe is clearly too old for the part, but stays in character. The unbelievable "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" teenager Skip Young (as Al) actually makes Marlowe look younger. There are sensitive supporting performances from Herschel Bernardi as one of her castaways, and Joe DeSantis as his understanding papa. Debuting director Alexander Singer and cameraman Floyd Crosby give "A Cold Wind in August" a fresh look.

******* A Cold Wind in August (7/26/61) Alexander Singer ~ Lola Albright, Scott Marlowe, Herschel Bernardi, Joe DeSantis

Kael in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," Waters in (I think) "Crackpot." Ever since I saw Kael's comment (circa 1970), I've wanted to see this. I finally tracked down a DVD pirated from TBS. And it was worth the wait. Yes, it's florid and overstated, but so is opera, and this is the film equivalent of "Traviata": older, "experienced" woman, young man who can't deal with her experience. It reminded me of "Who Killed Teddy Bear?" in that it's another film that is much better than it should be. I can't really say that Albright gives a good performance, but it is a great one, at least in its impact. Her lack of depth feels right for this character, more right than a more subtle performance would have been. It's a paradox of this kind of film.

The film is also surprising frank for 1961. No euphemisms here. Even the boy's father understands what's going on, and is amazingly understanding about it. It's adult, not just in its subject matter, but in its refusal to be coy about it.

I do want to point out one problem with the film. Scott Marlowe's character is supposed to be 17, but Marlowe was about 29 when he made this. Albright was only 7 years older, so you don't get the effect of the age difference, and Marlowe just feels too old to be so innocent. But it's not a killer problem.

This isn't a movie loaded with big name stars, although Lola Albright and Scott Marlowe both had busy enough careers, but it has a pretty good story to get your interest, and Albright and Marlowe are both pretty good in their roles. This is an "older woman romances younger guy" story. Albright's Iris is a lonely 30-something woman who happens to work as a stripper at a burlesque club. Marlowe's Vito is the 17 year old son of her building's superintendent who enters her apartment one day to fix her air conditioner, after which sparks fly between the two.

The sparks are well portrayed. Albright was excellent and quite captivating as the sultry, sexy seductress who sets her sights on Vito. I doubt any normal 17 year old guy could have resisted her. Marlowe was marginally less convincing as Vito, but still good enough. The evolution of their relationship from what seems to be a mere fling to a full blown love affair is believable (although it seems perhaps a bit abridged) as is Vito's angst when he finds out that his new love is a stripper, and as is Iris's pain when Vito dumps her afterward. The burlesque scenes were - in the context of 1961 anyway - fairly graphic (although tame by today's standards) and the whole movie had an overtly erotic feel to it from beginning to end.

It's a bit grainy at times, and it has the feel of its era, but in subject matter it's ahead of its time and was probably shocking to many when it came out. It's a very enjoyable and interesting movie to watch.

This is Lola Albright's all- time greatest work. It is in fact, a work of B-movie brilliance...an art masterpiece if there ever was one. Lola Albright gave the best performance of her career in this movie about the seduction of a younger man. She is at all times believable and convincing...a stripper who can be loving and kind one moment, and a pleasure-seeking, self-centered older woman the next. To be honest, when she is seen on stage in a devil's costume, I thought that the rug was pulled out from beneath me. Talk about provocative, alluring, and extremely beautiful, Lola Albright is "all of the above" and then some. This movie should go down as one of the very best B movies of the 20th century...a title that it justly deserves.

Before 'The Graduate' there was 'All That Heaven Allows' and 'A Cold Wind in August'. The latter is not surprisingly one of John Waters' favourite movies, in which the sex is sweatier and more passionate than in either of the other two (it's also in black & white - which may be a factor - and Gerald Fried's music score is more like that for a crime movie than a romance).

Ironically, like 'The Graduate' there is far less of an age difference - eight years - between the actual actors; but unlike Mrs Robinson we are expected to care what the woman is experiencing (although her disregard for the feelings for her of her plain-looking 'old friend' Juley (Herschel Bernardi) while blubbing her heart out to him over her infatuation with her "baby" is depressingly typical).

Seven years later in the TV episode 'Batman Displays His Knowledge', Julie Newmar as The Catwoman proposes to The Caped Crusader that they would make great partners in life; and uses the exact same line that Iris did: "you and me against the world!". Iris also wears a mask and gloves similar to Catwoman's as part of her stage routine. Coincidence? Maybe she would have enjoyed a brighter future with Robin...

I shall never forget my excitement at first viewing this probably never revived film. Scott Marlowe and Lola Albright were both excellent.There was a general feeling around New York that we were seeing the birth of a new star in Scott Marlowe and that Lola Albright was definitely moving out of TV detective films into a much higher bracket.Instead the director moved into a lifetime of steady but highly inconsistent popular TV productions and Marlowe made only one more film, which had virtually no distribution, before disappearing for over a decade.

I admit this low budget effort,at times,strives too hard for slice of life realism. There is a really awful scene with Albright, her older boyfriend and a neighbor where everybody tries so hard to make it look as if they were not acting that they don't.

But that is neither here nor there.I can not remember a Spring-September romance that carried more impact.That the gritty protagonists are an Italian-American street kid and a stripper adds to the incredible and unexpected poignancy of the situation.Too bad Marlowe and Albright weren't allowed to shoot five more when they were on a hot winning streak but they needed only one such performance to insure that some younger generation will feel the answering cord.This should do really well on DVD reissue and high time.

Looking every bit the 29 years old he actually was when A Cold Wind In August was filmed, Scott Marlowe plays a 17 year old who lights the fire of a stripper who lives in his building. It would have been more realistic had they gotten someone closer to the age of 17, but I'm betting even this independent production wasn't going to get that one through in a film industry still dominated by the omnipresent Code.

Lola Albright plays the stripper whose air conditioning goes on the fritz and she calls the building superintendent Joe DeSantis for help. DeSantis sends young Marlowe up who gets the education of his life from Lola. Pretty soon Marlowe and Albright are getting it on hot and heavy and causing no small amount of gossip.

A Cold Wind In August, groundbreaking in its day hasn't really aged well. Marlowe's miscasting doesn't help. Albright does deliver a good performance and the ending which she owns is unforgettable. Too bad the rest of the film wasn't as good.

This is a movie that was in it's time full of meaning for teenagers and young men. Lola Albright gave a stunning performance as the"older woman" and this film was as good as the book for a change. If and when it becomes available on video I will certainly buy it and hope that it still gives the same thrill as it did in the 60's

A randy Brooklyn youth, the 17-year-old son of an apartment-house janitor, is seduced by one of the tenants, an older woman he thinks is an actress but who really makes her living stripping in burlesque joints. Burton Wohl's novel becomes a low-budget, sexed-up melodrama with neurotic underpinnings. The picture gets quite far on its modest means--farther than, say, Stanley Kubrick managed to get with his "Lolita". The performances are overworked, although Lola Albright gives the picture some guts as Iris, the stripper with a tender heart. Alexander Singer's direction, unfortunately, is like sub-par Delbert Mann, with scenes of teenage street-life that fail to convince; he even gives us one of those Old World Italian papas who imparts to his son the dangers of growing up too fast. It's "Playhouse 90" for adults only, though some of the emotions are played out honestly and the finale is uncompromising. **1/2 from ****

I've watched some curious movies in my day, and still this one has me scratching my head a bit. I recognize in 'A cold wind in August' the cheeky, winking sensibilities of a sleazy B-movie: Gerald Fried's music is unquestionably over the top; Lola Albright's portrayal of Iris Hartford is one of unfettered sensuality, Scott Marlowe's Vito is as hopelessly excitable as a puppy that hasn't been trained, and as the length progresses they both just totally abandon even these guidelines. The performances of the supporting cast are mostly either wildly over the top or pointedly dull and limp, with no middle ground and yet just as much purposefulness to that end as Albright's and Marlowe's acting. The dialogue and scene writing are emphatically overdone and unsubtle, almost painfully inauthentic. Between the screenplay, Alexander Singer's direction, Floyd Crosby's cinematography, Alvina Tomin's costume design, and all these other bits, there's a playful, deadpan sense of tomfoolery that flits between a few different types of movies. This hovers somewhere over an intersection of the Very, Very Serious and very, very Outrageously Overblown crime films like 1936's 'Reefer madness' or 1954's 'Girl gang'; low-brow exploitation flicks of the 60s and 70s, even those as far removed from this as Nazisploitation or "women in prison" titles; and abjectly insincere and melodramatic romps like the early movies of John Waters ('Multiple maniacs,' 'Pink flamingos') the most hilarious bombast of Lifetime's original movies (see 'My killer client' or 'Wheels of beauty'), or even soap operas.

And still, for all this, 'A cold wind in August' nevertheless mostly keeps itself well within the boundaries of an earlier era of film-making sensibilities. Save for that some scenes toe the line with depictions of Iris and Vito's intimacy, the fundamental appearance of the feature more closely resembles the 1950s in terms of obeisance to censorial standards, especially those concerning skin or otherwise interaction between genders. There's an odd duality here in which the picture wants to both push limits, and respect them; to be as outlandish as it can in some ways, while coloring strictly within the lines in others; to embrace the zeal we'd see more of in the years to come, and to check impulsiveness with the strictures of preexisting notions of cinema. Already applied unevenly from one moment to the next, this dichotomy becomes more severe as the movie progresses. The first half mostly comes across with that blustery oddball energy, and is decidedly bewildering at first for the fact of it - while the second becomes a more straightforward, almost earnest drama. The tonal shift is off-putting, to say the least, and comes while it's still hard to get a grasp on exactly what the feature is trying to do, and whether or not it's something that's enjoyable.

For what it's worth, weird as all this may be, I also think 'A cold wind in August' is well made such as it is. Albright gives the best performance of the film; Fried's music is sometimes peculiar, but always appreciable. The direction and cinematography are actually just splendid, as they are, and the production design and art direction are quite fine - and so on, and so on. This is fun, despite the conflicting flavors. Whatever entertainment we may or may not derive from other titles in the suggested genres, however, I'm not convinced that this rendition is able to pull it off with the same level of success. Maybe it's just the coincidence of both hyperbolic and restrained approaches, but I think 'Cold wind' rides a lines between adjacent but exclusive spheres of "I get it, and it works" and "This is, after all, just a lot of ungenuine hot air." On the balance it's more worthwhile than not, yet if you're looking for a total lark, the more plainly honest facets countermand such strains; if you're looking for a proper drama, the more ridiculous aspects countermand any search we might undertake for Themes, Major Statements, or Investment. When all is said and done 'A cold wind in August' can be a good time, but given the study in contrasts that it represents, I'm not even sure who I'd recommend it to. One way or another, watch with tempered expectations.

This emotionally painful film to watch directed exceptionally well by Alexander Singer is more or less lost today, and that is a pity. It was made at the beginning of the 1960's and I do not feel it has dated. Lola Albright is a revelation as a burlesque stripper who falls in love with a much younger man played with equal force by Scott Marlowe. I do not want to give away spoilers only to say that the stark black and white works well set against the emotional complexity of the film's scenario, and the use of close ups draws the viewer in with the same expertise as Ingmar Bergman. I think it deserves a revival of interest, and is in my opinion not that erotic but an analysis of a possibly impossible love affair. There is a scene towards the end when the two lovers face each other and fight each other which proved to me how good the two leading actors were. A deserved 9.

"A Cold Wind in August" is a very strange and difficult movie to categorize. While on the surface the movie appears to be an exploitation picture, the movie often goes in directions that such a film wouldn't. Odd....that's really the best way to describe it!

Iris (Lola Albright) is a sexy 30-something lady who has a past...she used to be a stripper. Inexplicably, she's got the hots for 17 year-old Vito (Scott Marlowe)....and, apart from sex, it's hard to understand why she's interested in him. Odd also is the reaction from Vito's father--who knows about his son having an affair with the lady. He is NOT angry nor does he insist his boy stop seeing the lady. Where does this eventually go...especially when she returns to her old line of work?

There were a few things about this film I did not like. The biggest was due to a common problem back in the day...the 17 year-old was really nearly 30. So many old films about high schoolers feature kids old enough to begin receiving Social Security benefits....and it totally takes you out of the film. In reality, there was about 8 years difference between the two...and such a relationship is NOT unusual nor salacious like it would have been had the casting been better. Marlowe was just way too old for the part. There also is ONE line when she cries out "I want my baby" (referring to Vito)....but they really don't follow up on this odd cougar-like comment. Another problem is the ending...or, what appears to be a non-ending...it's awfully anti-climactic, that's for sure.

Overall, the actors give it their best and the story never is dull...but it also doesn't quite work either. A time-passer...and not much more.

This is a brilliantly made close-up film of the ( perhaps ) inevitability of reaching a certain age, and feeling that cold wind of August of oncoming years. Lola Albright gives a fine performance as a woman who has gone through a failed marriage, and discovers ' love ' in the arms of a 17 year old youth. Like all people who are afraid to assess their lives she believes in the illusion that this youth played equally finely by the underrated Scott Marlowe can get her out of the loneliness trap she is in. No spoilers but the outcome is inevitable, and because of Alexander Singer's excellent direction I for one felt every painful step of her predicament. It is one of those films that shows in minute detail the pitiful path that many people take in their downhill struggle for an impossible happiness, when deep down they fully know they are in a cold place they have not the force to get out of. Albright and Marlowe wound each other badly, but youth can temporarily escape from pain when a slowly ageing person cannot. The camera swoops in catching every gesture like an avenging angel, and the aesthetics of the film only accentuates in harsh black and white the futility it is recording. An independent film, at a time when they rarely received praise, was quite rightly praised in certain critical quarters, and quite rightly so, but the myth that this is an exploitation film or an erotic one is in my opinion false. It is a film about emotional pain, and the pain outweighs the elusive pleasures of the flesh. The one remaining question is why both Albright and Marlowe were not given equally fine roles ? Even the fringes of Hollywood hold their punishing secrets.

This title tends to promise material of a profound nature but was wasted on this ultra low budget, semi-exploitation flick from the 60s. I never understood why it was rarely screened but after finally getting an opportunity to view it - now understand the lack of general interest. Lola Albright, best remembered as a sultry TV beauty, tried hard to inject passion into her role of a 30 something, toughish ex-burlesque stripper, who's still good looking enough to attract most any man but, begins a torrid affair with a lad near half her age. The lad, awkwardly played by the somewhat intense Scott Marlow - who was actually too old (at 29) to make the age difference fully convincing. Director, Alexander Singer who seemed overly attracted to stories about ageing women toying with younger men (Love Has Many Faces '65) had very little budget to develop anything more than a superficial examination of the doomed relationship. Acting honours go to the reliable Joe De Santos who scores as the thoughtful father of the young lad. Herschel Bernardi also impresses as Lola's rejected, caring friend - these two bring a tad more class to an otherwise disappointing cheapie. This attracted some mild attention for the sensationalistic approach to its subject in this era but, offered little more. It now seems pathetic that cinemas ran these low budget productions as main features and charged the same price as 'Lawrence of Arabia'! - No wonder audience numbers trailed off at this time. Prolific TV and 'B' movie composer Gerald Fried dishes up an overly jazzy score, while the often under-utilised cinematographer, Floyd Crosby (High Noon '56) supplied the interesting but limited images. It offers one or two moments but overall, tawdry (and not in a good way). Some of the other supporting performers failed to convince and tended to need lessons.

As I recall the film created quite a buzz on first release. No doubt the explicit relationship, plus the age difference, had a lot to do with audience interest. Iris (Albright) is an aging stripper who spies the landlord's handsome young son and sets about seducing him in un- subtle fashion. Teen-age Vito (Marlowe) is quite a ladies man himself, though confined to girls his own age. So, when Iris puts the moves on him, he doesn't know how to respond. Marlowe's performance gives little hint of why he shies away from the sultry Iris-- but he does, at least at first. Trouble is that the two fall in love, but she doesn't want him to know she's a stripper. So the relationship has its limits.

The story's pretty much a one-note plot, well conveyed by Albright and acceptably so by Marlowe in a difficult role. Old time TV fans, no doubt, will recognize Peter Gunn regulars Albright and Herschel Bernardi from that PI series. Not so obvious is Skip Young, the pudgy wise-cracker from the iconic Ozzie and Harriet series. (I kept expecting David and Ricky to turn up any moment.) Casting the white-bread Young here as a tenement kid amounts to real going against type. Nonetheless, the limited-budget production does a good job of portraying the confining nature of tenement neighborhoods. It almost looks like the stick-ball kids are in prison.

Anyway, the movie amounts to a Lola Albright showcase, along with a now obscure Scott Marlowe. Taken as human-interest, the movie survives pretty well. Of course, the initial novelty seems tame by today's far looser standards, but those scenes are still pretty steamy, while the performances should still hold interest.

What's impressing about this film is its perfect naturalness. It's like taken directly from reality. Everyone's acting is 100% convincing and real, it couldn't be less, it couldn't be better, it's just perfect. And it's Alexander Singer's first film and very impressing as such, but there seems to have been no real follow-ups. Scott Marlowe as the young vulnerable but perfectly normal young man had acted in many films before this one, but afterwards went all for TV. Lola Albright, almost as lovely as Hedy Lamarr, was 37 years old in this film, that is 20 years older than her lover Vito Pellegrino, and makes an unforgettable portrait of a beautiful woman at the top and falling helplessly for a love that can't be good for her and can't last or end else than badly; but fortunately Vito's character is not as risky as it could have been, she will survive, but with a husband she only wishes dead and no great expectations ahead, she will cry.

The father, Joe de Santis, adds some extra charm to the film and is actually indispensible, guiding his son like a wise knowledgeable pilot. The fact that Vito has no mother and Lola no father spices the melodrama further, constituting a truly fascinating story in all its humdrum ordinariness but with great and even profound humanity, almost like an episodal short story by Anton Tchekhov - that's the character of this wonderful insight in what could and often happens to just anyone.

Maybe this film 'had meaning' for those that saw it in 1961 but the only cold wind blowing in this film is on the viewer. It represents many of the morals of a time when people were labeled and became one dimensional. C'mon 3-time loser/older lady/stripper in a devil's suit beds horny/ 17 year old/ Italian? Watch it only if you want to see a bunch of hacks in a b- movie. On the bright side, the viewer is treated with dazzling interiors filmed in gray. The rooftop make out scene will go down as one of the greatest teenage kissing scenes of the 20th century. It seemed so real and I wished: 'why couldn't it have been me'? There is a reason nobody has heard of this trash.

I love moves with unconventional relationships, and story lines. And when I first watched this film. I loved it. The older women getting into a relationship with a younger man, and best of all she's not a wealthy widow, but a stripper. Awesome. And Albright, is the driving force behind why this movie is so great. Her acting in A Cold Wind in August, is simply breath taking. For a low budget film, this one did amazingly well for itself. And the best part of the movie is that we are seeing the independent liberated woman. Women are in charge and it must have been power full to see for ladies back then. Ohh and the director does a wonder full job of showing the seduction of the young man without showing nudity, just from placement of the camera at key moments