This was on TV about twelve thousand times when I was growing up. I can only assume that its copyright fell into the public domain for a couple of decades. It's common-ness meant I always managed to avoid it. But I've been on a British film kick and rented it. It's "drama" as drama is not done anymore, from a period that rejected the previous eras stagey, formulaic, dramatic conceits (a la Tennesee Williams) in favor of more finely observed filmic derangement. Kim Stanley is off her rocker here, but she's still presented as being in a delicate, pitiable state. Though you can see utter failure coming about one minute into things, the character study is intended to be of greater interest. I just didn't agree. In real life no one seeks out two hours with a passive-aggressive harpie like Stanley, so unless you're an extraordinary film-maker you've got a very difficult trick to pull off.
The story in which it's clear from the get-go that the criminals are fatally flawed was familiar and modern by 1960 (The Killing, Bob le Flambeur) but is retro and outdated now. The failed crime movie is absolutely one of my least favorite genres, usually taking the form of a failed heist (Bottle Rocket, Rififi, Gun Crazy, Lavender Hill Mob) forcing audiences to sit through every last detail of a crime for no discernible reason, or worse; to learn a lesson in morality (ugh!). Which is probably why I was overjoyed at the multiple successful getaways in the Thomas Crowne remake.
Some of the cinematography is very nice, but the movie is as dreary and exhausting as a two-hour visit to a nursing home.
The story in which it's clear from the get-go that the criminals are fatally flawed was familiar and modern by 1960 (The Killing, Bob le Flambeur) but is retro and outdated now. The failed crime movie is absolutely one of my least favorite genres, usually taking the form of a failed heist (Bottle Rocket, Rififi, Gun Crazy, Lavender Hill Mob) forcing audiences to sit through every last detail of a crime for no discernible reason, or worse; to learn a lesson in morality (ugh!). Which is probably why I was overjoyed at the multiple successful getaways in the Thomas Crowne remake.
Some of the cinematography is very nice, but the movie is as dreary and exhausting as a two-hour visit to a nursing home.