Imagine if Dana Andrews, the detective in "Laura", had been homely. Suppose he'd had a pock-marked face, a long pulpy nose, a raspy voice, and was utterly lacking in charm. And he fell in love with the supernally gorgeous-beyond-redemption Gene Tierney. Would she have paid him the least attention? Right.
I understand this is a remake of "I Wake Up Screaming" but it tries very hard to resemble "Laura." Behind the opening credits, for instance, we see a large portrait of Jean Peters in the same pose that Tierney adopted for her portrait in "Laura." Like Tierney, Peters has a menial job. Then she runs into a man of some influences who takes a shine to her and squires her about town so she can meet patricians. She becomes a famous model and receives an invitation to go to Hollywood and, with any luck, some day leave in a cement square the imprint of her spaghetti shoes. Before she can do it, she's murdered.
Richard Boone, in his menacing mode, insists on handling the case. Several men are immediately suspected. There is Elliott Reid as the promoter who discovers her behind the counter, in the Clifton Webb part, except that he's heterosexual. There is the drama critic, Max Showalter, who is obviously attracted to her. There is the flighty famous actor, Alexander D'Arcy in the Vincent Price part, who secretes a pen knife she once gave him. And there is Aaron Spelling as the loopy switchboard operator and factotum at Peters' hotel. He has a great face, with pronounced exopthalmia, but he can act only about as well as his daughter, Tori. You and I have as much in the way of acting skills, but we don't have their portfolio.
That's about as much as "Vicki" owes to "Laura." The rest sets out on its own without going very far. Elliott Reid is a fine comic actor but really doesn't belong in dramatic roles. Even when crushed, he looks about to smile. Showalter and D'Arcy have small roles, and the former's is confusing. He's supposed to be a good friend of Reid's, yet when Reid is on the run from the police, Showalter pulls a gun on him with the remark that he just wanted to be the first to take Reid in.
Jeanne Craine is the star. She's Peters' nice sister. Her job seems to consist of being browbeaten by the men around her, especially the nasty and brutish Richard Boone. She was positively magnetic as Gene Tierney's younger sister in "Leave Her to Heaven" but by the 1950s she seems to have lost interest in her career. She doesn't make a false move throughout the movie, nor an original one. The same, alas, can be said of Jean Peters' performance. She's supposed to be a striking beauty -- and she IS beautiful -- but she's unpleasant in some ways too, ambitious and self indulgent. Maybe that's okay though. People adore media images, whereas they must tangle mano a mano with real individuals.
I saw it years ago and enjoyed it far more than I did this time around. It would have been an improvement if it had been shot on location in New York instead of on sound stages but this wasn't yet a common practice. It's a competent murder mystery with one genuinely pathetic figure -- Boone's -- but it's also pretty routine stuff.
I understand this is a remake of "I Wake Up Screaming" but it tries very hard to resemble "Laura." Behind the opening credits, for instance, we see a large portrait of Jean Peters in the same pose that Tierney adopted for her portrait in "Laura." Like Tierney, Peters has a menial job. Then she runs into a man of some influences who takes a shine to her and squires her about town so she can meet patricians. She becomes a famous model and receives an invitation to go to Hollywood and, with any luck, some day leave in a cement square the imprint of her spaghetti shoes. Before she can do it, she's murdered.
Richard Boone, in his menacing mode, insists on handling the case. Several men are immediately suspected. There is Elliott Reid as the promoter who discovers her behind the counter, in the Clifton Webb part, except that he's heterosexual. There is the drama critic, Max Showalter, who is obviously attracted to her. There is the flighty famous actor, Alexander D'Arcy in the Vincent Price part, who secretes a pen knife she once gave him. And there is Aaron Spelling as the loopy switchboard operator and factotum at Peters' hotel. He has a great face, with pronounced exopthalmia, but he can act only about as well as his daughter, Tori. You and I have as much in the way of acting skills, but we don't have their portfolio.
That's about as much as "Vicki" owes to "Laura." The rest sets out on its own without going very far. Elliott Reid is a fine comic actor but really doesn't belong in dramatic roles. Even when crushed, he looks about to smile. Showalter and D'Arcy have small roles, and the former's is confusing. He's supposed to be a good friend of Reid's, yet when Reid is on the run from the police, Showalter pulls a gun on him with the remark that he just wanted to be the first to take Reid in.
Jeanne Craine is the star. She's Peters' nice sister. Her job seems to consist of being browbeaten by the men around her, especially the nasty and brutish Richard Boone. She was positively magnetic as Gene Tierney's younger sister in "Leave Her to Heaven" but by the 1950s she seems to have lost interest in her career. She doesn't make a false move throughout the movie, nor an original one. The same, alas, can be said of Jean Peters' performance. She's supposed to be a striking beauty -- and she IS beautiful -- but she's unpleasant in some ways too, ambitious and self indulgent. Maybe that's okay though. People adore media images, whereas they must tangle mano a mano with real individuals.
I saw it years ago and enjoyed it far more than I did this time around. It would have been an improvement if it had been shot on location in New York instead of on sound stages but this wasn't yet a common practice. It's a competent murder mystery with one genuinely pathetic figure -- Boone's -- but it's also pretty routine stuff.