King Vidor (1894–1982)

The stifling oppression of poverty and the tragedy born from it is the subject of this mature film from King Vidor. Based on Elmer Rice's Pulitzer Prize-winning play this Samuel Goldwyn-produced film starring a young Sylvia Sidney is full of insight and maturity.

Though the entire film takes place on the steps of a tenement in New York where getting out is only a dream, only the first 15 minutes or so give evidence of its stage origins. Director Vidor, one of the greats who was always innovative, uses photographer George Barnes' camera and a fine early score — very early — from Alfred Newman to give the viewer a real feel for lives being led in sometimes quiet, and sometimes not so quiet, desperation. Soon you are lost in their world and begin to understand that much of what happens is simply born of poverty and having nowhere else to turn.

Much of the film consists of dialog between neighbors living in cramped and hot quarters. There are Jews and Germans and Irish, Rice's words and Vidor's direction letting their lives unfold through the street scene in front of their building during a scorching summer. A fire hydrant may offer some relief to the small children in the street but it will take more than water to cool down others.

At the center of everything is Mrs. Murrant (Estelle Taylor) and her daughter Rose (Sylvia Sidney). Taylor gives an excellent performance as a woman reaching out for any happiness she can find in the slums. Her husband, and Rose's father, provides food and shelter but is so caught up in his own unhappiness that he has no love or tenderness left to give.

Only trying to get more from life than just looking after someone else will lead the lonely mother of Rose into the other arms. Her actions are not lost on the other women in the building, especially the snide Mrs. Jones. Neither is it lost on her son Willie's friends. When Rose's father begins to suspect, tragedy cannot be far behind.

Sylvia underplays her Rose with sincerity and maturity. She sees both sides and understands that it is their environment which is at the heart of all their problems. She herself is loved by a young Jewish boy whose mother likes Rose but knows his focus on getting out falters whenever she is near. Rose will grow up in an instant, when her life and that of her brother Willie's will change forever.

There are some quietly powerful scenes in this talky but rewarding drama from the very early days of sound film. Rose attempting to cross the street while a young newsboy tries to get her to purchase his last paper, not knowing the sensational headline touches her personally, is quite moving. It is still a powerful scene as an ambulance pulls away from Rose, taking with it her youth in these slums.

There is a rich and mature ending with Vidor's camera following Rose toward the New York skyline of the time, offering hope, and perhaps a future born from tragedy. What begins as a somewhat dated early talkie eventually becomes a moving and touching film of real substance for those with patience.

King Vidor is all-too-often neglected when the subject of great directors comes up, but his body of work, spanning silent and sound pictures, proves he was a director who could handle even the most sensitive material and create something memorable. Beware of shortened and/or censored prints of this one.… (meer)

Coming on the heels of Garbo’s “Ninotchka” this film was somewhat dismissed as lightweight, but in retrospect it is a delightfully hilarious blend of political satire and slapstick comedy from King Vidor. The writing team of Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer gave Vidor a script which poked fun at Communism while still allowing its stars, Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr, to be themselves. The result was a film perhaps less sophisticated than Ninotchka, but funnier throughout and generally more entertaining.

Gable portrays a hard drinking and fun-loving American reporter named McKinley B. Thompson. Thompson has been secretly sending unflattering reports about the goings on in Russia back to the States as “Comrade X.” The Russian Chief of Police is desperate to expose him and shut him up for good. When Thompson gets a photo of that same police chief being knocked off by the soon to be new Chief of Police, who just happens to be the Communist guru of revolutionist Hedy Lamarr, he’s got a big story.

All that may have to wait, however. It just so happens that Thompson’s hotel valet, Vanya (Felix Bressart), knows McKinley is Comrade X. You can guess who his daughter is, and what he wants is for Thompson to get her out of Russia before she gets killed. She is in much danger, as Vanya tells Thompson, because Communist are being shot so that Communism can prosper! Thompson doesn’t have much choice and that’s when the real fun begins.

Even a stoic Communist can make your jaw drop if she’s Hedy Lamarr; even if she’s running a Russian street car. Gable and Lamarr are marvelous together, and how he convinces her he loves Communism and needs to take her back to America to educate the masses is a riot! Not even Russian tanks can keep Thompson from getting the story, and the entire Red Army couldn't keep him from falling for the cutest little Commie you’ve ever seen.

Eve Arden has a nice turn as Thompson’s fellow Foreign Correspondent gal-pal in director King Vidor’s hilarious take on apple pie vs. Communism. They don’t make stars or films like this anymore. The last two lines of this film are unforgettable.… (meer)