It is very much part of Hollywoodland folklore that the character of megalomaniacal Smith Ohlrig is a thinly veiled version of Howard Hughes who had earlier fired director Max Ophuls during the first week of filming of the misbegotten and appropriately named 'Vendetta'. Always a pervasive force Hughes had recently purchased RKO and apparently gave contract player Robert Ryan permission to play the part as he and Ophuls saw fit but true to type he made an arrangement with editor Robert Parrish to secretly view the rushes.
Even by the standards of this brilliant actor, Ryan's performance as a deeply disturbed personality is utterly electric and for this viewer is matched only by that of Arturo de Cordova in Bunuel's 'El'. The character of Leonora is here less of a gold digger in Arthur Laurent's adaptation of Libbie Block's 'Wild Calendar' and in a demanding role Barbara Bel Geddes gives it her all. It is to be regretted that her subsequent film roles were sporadic thanks to the accursed HUAC. James Mason has the great good fortune to be cast by Ophuls in this, his first American film and went from strength to strength aided by his 'earthy' approach and his Huddersfield roots which meant he sounded neither too English nor too American. Perhaps with a nod to Ophuls the European there is a marvellous turn by Curt Bois as Ohlrig's steward-cum-factotum.
Although less vivid than in his European films his use of the camera marks him out as the master of 'fluid' film-making whilst every scene is meticulously choreographed and he is well served here by veteran cinematographer Lee Garmes. The Art Design by P. Frank Sylos is exemplary with Ohlrig's Long Island mansion a haunting presence. The narrative is pure melodrama but is transcended by a director who indisputably belongs in the hallowed company of what Andrew Sarris has called 'Pantheon Directors'.
The ultimate accolade came from Stanley Kubrick who considered him the director 'who for me possessed every quality'.
Even by the standards of this brilliant actor, Ryan's performance as a deeply disturbed personality is utterly electric and for this viewer is matched only by that of Arturo de Cordova in Bunuel's 'El'. The character of Leonora is here less of a gold digger in Arthur Laurent's adaptation of Libbie Block's 'Wild Calendar' and in a demanding role Barbara Bel Geddes gives it her all. It is to be regretted that her subsequent film roles were sporadic thanks to the accursed HUAC. James Mason has the great good fortune to be cast by Ophuls in this, his first American film and went from strength to strength aided by his 'earthy' approach and his Huddersfield roots which meant he sounded neither too English nor too American. Perhaps with a nod to Ophuls the European there is a marvellous turn by Curt Bois as Ohlrig's steward-cum-factotum.
Although less vivid than in his European films his use of the camera marks him out as the master of 'fluid' film-making whilst every scene is meticulously choreographed and he is well served here by veteran cinematographer Lee Garmes. The Art Design by P. Frank Sylos is exemplary with Ohlrig's Long Island mansion a haunting presence. The narrative is pure melodrama but is transcended by a director who indisputably belongs in the hallowed company of what Andrew Sarris has called 'Pantheon Directors'.
The ultimate accolade came from Stanley Kubrick who considered him the director 'who for me possessed every quality'.