Jerry, an atrisk young man, uses his knife as an equalizer to solve his frustrations stemming from his unhappy home, which is dominated by his stepmother. Stock photo eddie albert, jack palance, attack, 1956. It was, however, championed by french film critics, awarded honors at the 1955 venice film festival, and has since amassed a cult audience due to its highly stylized nature and the. Screenplay by james poe, based on the play by clifford odets. The big knife 1955 cast and crew movie star charlie castle jack palance draws the ire of hollywood producer stanley hoff rod steiger when he refuses to sign a new sevenyear contract. A lot of people like the movie, but i personally think it is one of the most hilariously overacted movies ive ever seen. Directed by lee strasberg, who had worked with odets at the group theatre, and starring fellow group theatre alumnus john garfield.
The big knife 1955 starring jack palance, ida lupino. The first of aldrichs three movies with the film world as backdrop the others being. This is a scene from one of my favorite movies, the big knife from 1955. He completed two years at the university of pennsylvania, and left in 1927 to join jasper deeters hedgerow theatre repertory company. See more ideas about jack palance, robert aldrich and western movies. A boy on the wrong path finds a trusted mentor and group of friends to guide back on his way. The best extra is a full commentary by critics and film writers glenn kenny and nick pinkerton, who cover the actors, aldrich and. Fun to watch, with rich language, it sort of works but doesnt really take off and could have done with some judicious editing. Taken from a recent 2k restoration of the films fine grain positive element, the film.
Big knife definition of big knife by merriamwebster. The film also includes performances by shelley winters, jean hagen, and everett sloan. The big knife by robert aldrich jack palance, ida lupino. At age seven he played puck in a play at manhattans public school 46 and decided to become an actor.
The play debuted at broadways national theatre on 24 february 1949 before closing on may 28th after 109 performances. He subsequently signed a contract with united artists, and his first film for the studio was the boxoffice hit apache 1954. One response to big knife, the 1955 david csontos, on august 18th, 2008 at 8. An educational film from 1956 about jerry and his gang of juvenile delinquents and a group worker who helps them. It is easy to see why the us army refused to cooperate in the production of attack. Complete film service photographic effects complete film service title effects glen glenn sound company recording as glen glenn sound co. Mack the knife or the ballad of mack the knife german. This has led to the return of his wife, marion ida lupino, who had left him due to his womanizing and a willingness to kowtow to hoff in doing bad movies only for.
Marilyns 27th picture with yves montand with whom she had an affair during filming, and her last completed film was director john hustons troubled production of the misfits 1961. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. Robert aldrich, michael luciano, clifford odets, james poe. The big knife has an early main title design from saul bass, and another extra is a halfhour documentary by bass on his famous title sequences. Sami knife, sami for big knife, a long, wide blade traditionally used by the sami people. With richard widmark, mae clarke, chuck connors, tommy ivo. The bit rate is a bit light at first the stylized titles, with charlie perhaps already in his bathtub, are rathy buzzy but clears up mostly later on. Mgms dvd of the big knife is a decent transfer that looks all right flat, but has lots of dead space top and bottom meant to be cropped away by theater masking. Ida lupino and jack palance in the big knife 1955 classic hollywood.
One of the most overdone, overwrought scenes in movie. Charles castle is a big film star who wants nothing to do with the major studio run by the wicked stanley hoff, despite the offer of a bigmoney contract. Actor charles castle jack palance is a star in the purest sense of the word. Charles castle, one of hollywood s biggest stars, looks like he has it all. While the big knife was never positioned as a commercial film for the masses, it still failed to find an appreciative audience at the time of its release in the u. In their audio commentary, film critics glenn kenny and nick pinkerton offer an erudite discussion of the big knifes significant contributors. The big knife is a dramatic film about a big time movie star that refuses to sign a long term studio contract. The film stars jack palance, ida lupino, wendell corey, jean hagen, rod steiger, shelley winters, ilka chase, and everett sloane.
The taxicab scene took eleven hours to shoot and was heavily scripted, despite brando fuelling the popular myth. After all, no one in his right mind would dare to criticize the movie industry, after all, it was the studio and its ruthless executives that were exposed as the bad guys, even at the time where the old studio system was disappearing. The big knife 1955 original trailer hd 1080p youtube. The big knife is a 1955 film noir directed and produced by robert aldrich from a screenplay by james poe based on the 1949 play by clifford odets. Engrossing film that shows jack palance in perhaps his finest role. Big knife definition is an american colonist especially of virginia used originally by american indians to distinguish established settlers from the englishcalled also long knife. Its a riveting movie from start top finish with one great line after another. The big knife is an american play by clifford odets. This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title knife. Arrow academys bluray release of the big knife is an enormous upgrade over the previous mgm dvd release, which was full screen with noticeable film damage leftover. Streaks and tip from an aerosol can were used to make their coats darker. Attack 1956 where he dramatizes the complete breakdown and. Mere months after delivering one of the definitive examples of film noir with kiss me deadly, robert aldrich brought a noir flavor to hollywood with his classic adaptation of clifford odets stage play, the big knife. The film was a japaneseamerican coproduction, with the original footage produced by toho, and the new footage produced by jewell enterprises.
Film writer leo braudy wrote that the incessantly repeated images of its taxicab confrontation between brando and rod steiger have made the film iconic. Mere months after delivering one of the definitive examples of film noir with kiss me deadly, robert aldrich brought a noir flavour to hollywood with his classic adaptation of clifford odets stage play, the big knife. Aldrichs first feature film, big leaguer 1953, was a rather clumsy baseball drama with edward g. The song has become a popular standard recorded by many artists, including a us and uk number one hit for bobby darin in 1959. A pretty good hollywood story movie, but i saw it on tv and didnt get to watch the whole thing, so i cant say much about it. Jack palance stars as charlie castle, a major film star who has refused to sign a longterm contract for big money with a studio run by the tyrannical stanley hoff rod steiger. Jack palance, ida lupino, wendell corey, jean hagen. Film history of the 1950s part 1, part 2, part 3, part. On bluray david hare gives the big knife robert aldrich, usa, 1955. The original trailer in high definition of the big knife directed by robert aldrich and starring jack palance, ida lupino, wendell corey, jean hagen and rod. Based on the norman brooks play the fragile fox, this searing war film is a powerful indictment against a. Based on a play by clifford odets, this scathing look at the moviemaking industry offers a memorable group of loathsome producers, egomaniacal actors, spineless agents, betrayed wives, and amoral starlets as embodied by rod steiger, jack. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film. Big knife provincial park, a small provincial park in central alberta, canada.
Discussion of themes and motifs in clifford odets the big knife. The film has been given an all new 2k restoration, scanned from an original 35mm finegrain positive and is presented in. It is a heavily reedited american adaptation, commonly referred to as an americanization, of the 1954 japanese film godzilla. The big knife is a movie that defies easy classification. It is billed as a crime picture, a drama, and a filmnoir. The big knife 1955 directed by robert aldrich, starring jack palance, ida lupino, and rod steiger. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Sloane was born in manhattan october 1, 1909, to nathaniel i. Eventually laddie won a patsy award for his performance in this film. The big knife, 1949 american play by clifford odets. Yet the big knife contiues to fascinate at the same time it annoys. Even though this film is narrated by richard widmark and stars chuck connors as bud williams, the social worker, its too much of a melodrama.
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