The_Tattered_Dress Knowpia

The Tattered Dress
The Tattered Dress
	Film poster by Reynold Brown
Directed by	Jack Arnold
Written by	George Zuckerman
Produced by	Albert Zugsmith
Starring	Jeff Chandler; Jeanne Crain; Jack Carson; Gail Russell; Elaine Stewart
Cinematography	Carl E. Guthrie
Edited by	Edward Curtiss
Music by	Frank Skinner
Distributed by	Universal-International Pictures
Release date	March 14, 1957;
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.43 million (US rentals)

The Tattered Dress is a 1957 American CinemaScope film noir crime film released by Universal Pictures and directed by Jack Arnold. It stars Jeff Chandler, Jeanne Crain, Jack Carson, Gail Russell and Elaine Stewart.^[2]

Plot edit

In a California resort community, the wealthy Michael Reston is charged with the murder of a man he claimed attacked his wife, Charleen.

Reston hires a high-priced lawyer, James Gordon Blane, a man known to do anything it takes to win a case. Blane makes few friends because the victim was a popular figure in the community while the Restons are not popular with anyone. But his skillful cross-examination of the local sheriff, Nick Hoak, results in Reston being found not guilty.

Hoak decides to get even. He fabricates evidence that Blane bribed a woman on the jury by pressuring her to perjure herself. Now it is Blane who goes on trial, with only his estranged wife, Diane, and his friend, Billy, coming to his aid. While defending himself, Blane begins to feel remorse over having won acquittals for so many guilty clients.

Blane ultimately is found not guilty due to the obvious possibility that the sheriff framed him in retaliation for his successful defense of Reston. The juror, Carol Morrow, who only lied about the bribery because she was romantically involved with the sheriff, becomes distraught when he rejects her out of fear his manipulation will be discovered. Enraged by the acquittal, the sheriff watches Blane going down the Court-House steps. Standing in the shadows he draws his gun intent on murdering Blane in cold blood. He is stopped when Morrow gets some revenge of her own by shooting him. As she is arrested for her actions, the Blanes reconcile and leave town for good.

Cast edit

Jeff Chandler as James Blane
Jeanne Crain as Diane Blane
Jack Carson as Sheriff Hoak
Gail Russell as Carol Morrow
Elaine Stewart as Charleen Reston
George Tobias as Billy Giles
Edward Andrews as Lester Rawlings
Phillip Reed as Michael Reston
Edward Platt as Ralph Adams - Reporter (as Edward C. Platt)
Paul Birch as Prosecutor Frank Mitchell
Alexander Lockwood as Paul Vernon
Edwin Jerome as Judge David L. Johnson
William Schallert as Court Clerk
June McCall as Girl at Slot Machine
Frank J. Scannell as Cal Morrison - Blackjack Dealer (as Frank Scannell)
Floyd Simmons as Larry Bell
Ziva Rodann as Woman on Train (as Ziva Shapir)
Marina Orschel as Girl by Pool
Ingrid Goude as Girl by Pool

Production edit

Chandler's casting was announced in June 1956.^[3] Zugsmith later recalled Chandler "was becoming a bit difficult and he was their (Universal's) second biggest star at the time. I guess one of the reasons was he was their biggest, and then Rock Hudson came along!"^[4]

Filming started on August 13, 1956.^[5] Shooting took place in Palm Springs.^[6]

Reception edit

The Los Angeles Times wrote that Chandler "does the best acting job of his career" in the picture.^[7]

Critical appraisal edit

Biographer Dana M. Reemes in Directed by Jack Arnold (1988) writes that the production provided “opportunities for considerable directorial creativity…The best example of this is without doubt the film’s prologue, which is very cinematic and utterly without dialogue.”^[8]

A sports car convertible speeds along a winding hillside road at night, driven by an attractive blond in a cocktail dress — “an expression of cynical self-satisfaction” on her face. She pulls into the driveway of a ranch-style estate and enters the house through a poolside portal. The exchange with her husband is visible but inaudible. Apparently enraged by her remarks, he arms himself with a handgun and the couple depart in the car. The sequence cuts to a lone young man walking on a dark city street, who has fingernail scratch marks on his face. As he lights a cigarette, a sports car turns onto the street and races towards him. Facing the oncoming vehicle, the man is shot down, collapsing under a lamppost. The car speeds away.^[9]

Reemes writes: “It is a gripping scene, relying entirely on careful, intelligent staging and camera work. It is an example of Jack Arnold at his best.”^[10]

References edit

^ "Top Grosses of 1957", Variety, 8 January 1958: 30.
^ The Tattered Dress at the American Film Institute Catalog.
^ Oscar Godbout (July 17, 1956). "Warwick To Make 2 Films In Africa: Company Plans Productions of 'Adamson of Africa' and 'Golden City,' a Musical M-G-M Misses One of Four". The New York Times.
^ Flynn, Charles; McCarthy, Todd (1975). "Albert Zugmsith". In Flynn, Charles; McCarthy, Todd (eds.). Kings of the Bs : working within the Hollywood system : an anthology of film history and criticism. E. P. Dutton. p. 417.
^ Thomas M. Pryor (July 25, 1956). "Warners Readies Incentives Policy: Stockholders to Vote on Film Company Plan to Grant Options to Executives M-G-M in Full Swing Of Local Origin". The New York Times.
^ Dorothy Manners (August 19, 1956). "It's Matter Of Degrees -- 113 Of Them". The Washington Post and Times-Herald.
^ Philip K. Scheuer (March 3, 1957). "'Tattered Dress' Chandler's Best". Los Angeles Times.
^ Reemes, 1988 p. 88-89
^ Reemes, 1988 p. 89-90
^ Reemes 1988 p. 91-92