The Story on Page One

This movie is pretty disappointing. Rita Hayworth and Gig Young are, each in a different way, completely unconvincing in roles that portray characters so dumb and passive that it would be hard to play them really well. The long denouement, their trial for murder, is boring and inferior to a standard Perry Mason. How Odets did a movie this trite is a puzzle. For a while I had hopes of a surprise ending, a la "Witness for the Prosecution" -- but Tony Franciosa is not Charles Laughton and the heartwarmingly straight ending is so unsurprising that I was surprised by it.

As a long time criminal/civil trial lawyer, I think most films/TV shows about trials are pretty bad. I thought this one was was good in that the trial procedures, in particular the direct and cross examinations of the witnesses, were highly realistic (as they are in the better known " Anatomy of a Murder"). Sanford Meisner's cross examination of Gig Young was very well done as was Franciosa's of Young's meddling mother. Hugh Griffith also did a good job as the judge. The police and prosecution were not portrayed in a very favorable light which was unusual during that era. I'm surprised that it's not out on DVD as yet. I caught it on FMC when that station was still running good movies. This film gives a far better picture of a trial than those in most TV shows which tend to show actors making speeches for the jury.

I finally had a chance to see this film from beginning to end. I first came across the movie one Saturday afternoon in 1997 and never knew its title. After a couple of years of searching, I gave up. Just last week, a librarian referred me to a video store in North Hollywood that had the title. Rita Hayworth is Prozac-like and convincing in her portrayal as a sensitive, yet withdrawn woman. Her husband, played by Alfred Ryder is as insensitive and abusive as they come; especially that he carries a gun. I thought Gig Young's character would have stood up to his mother, played by Mildred Dunnock, more sooner than later in life. Dunnock's, Mrs. Ellis was superbly overbearing, manipulative and snobbish. Tony Franciosis performed magnificently on cross of the character when questioning her undue and unwanted influence over her son. Once Defender Santini took his seat after questioning, one could see the flames of anger and disdain flow from his nostrils. This movie is a definite must-see for classic movie lovers. All those years were worth the wait and anticipation.

Clifford Odets possibly only foray into courtroom drama is a most successful one as evidenced by The Story on Page One.

Anthony Franciosa, (many MST fans will remember him as being the star of the 80's ABC series The Finder of Lost Loves) stars at what first seems to be a similar character to Paul Newman's in The Verdict, a drunk, down on his luck, lawyer getting the case of his career that will either make or break him.

But Odets subverts our initial belief as the story actually focuses on the illicit love affair/murder, whose participants include the ever, great character actor Gig Young and Rita Hayworth, the Lady from Shanghai herself, only to deceptively lull the audience into the intimate details of the backstory, seeing how the bored wife could easily be enticed to look outside of her marriage for the love she sorely needs, and the emotionally scarred CPA who could provide that love.

At the 45 minute mark we get the whole sordid affair in triplicate and one wonders why Odets decided to relate the story in such in way but as the rest of the film plays out at the trial, we see he shrewdly grounded the defendants' sympathies in our hearts whereby every setback and revelation resonates as much for us as for the protagonists.

Coming out in the same year that the topical, yet ultimately sloppily made Anatomy of the Murder, The Story on Page One manages to trump the former just from sheer acting chutzpah and deliberate yet intelligent pacing.

Another facet I found fascinating was Odets use of natural, everyday faces to populate this meller. From the middle-aged insurance seller with his hearing aid, to Katherine Squire's craggy teeth, one sees this is a story that could possibly be culled from a newspaper, relating the plight of the ugly, common man and not some glamorpuss Hollywoodized actor playing him.

Playwright Clifford Odets wrote and directed the absorbing courtroom drama, "The Story on Page One," starring Rita Hayworth, Tony Franciosa, Gig Young and Mildred Dunnock. Lovers Larry Ellis and Josephine Brown (Hayworth and Young) are accused of killing her sometimes violent and verbally abusive husband (Alfred Ryder). Josephine's mother (Katherine Squire) begs the down and out Harvard law school grad Victor Santini (Franciosa) to take the case. Josephine insists to Victor that the killing was an accident.

You'll never see a movie with such long scenes again. It's a shame, because they were very absorbing, with Franciosa really ratcheting up the fireworks. This is especially true in his cross-examination of Ellis' mother (Dunnock).

As good as the courtroom part of the film is, there are a few problems with the rest of the script. There isn't enough character fleshing out of Franciosa's character - seemingly within minutes, he goes from a broke lawyer with a hangover to this handsome, confident, sharp lawyer in a suit. We learn precious little about Young's character either, for instance, why is he still a mama's boy in his thirties. Strangely we know most about two supporting characters, Ellis' mother and Josephine's husband. Franciosa, Dunnock, Ryder and the well-known drama coach Sanford Meisner, as the prosecuting attorney, hand in the best performances.

Rita Hayworth actually began to show signs of Alzheimer's only a few years after this film and suffered from it for the next 25 years. People who knew her say she was much like the character of Josephine - quiet, shy, insecure and sweet. The sex goddess is gone; in her place is a good-looking woman wearing a frumpy house dress, her hair worn off of her face. Hayworth doesn't exhibit much personality in this, but then, probably the unhappy Josephine wouldn't have either.

One other problem with the script is the killing itself. If in fact Josephine's husband's hand never came off of the revolver, why wouldn't a fingerprint test show that Ellis never touched it? Actually the evidence of the gun is never mentioned, so maybe Josephine got rid of the gun. Also, the wild shot fired while the men were fighting landed somewhere in the kitchen and would at least have helped Ellis' story a little. That isn't mentioned either.

Nonetheless, the courtroom segments make for great drama. Recommended.