This is a well-paced and intense tragedy, and another of Anthony Mann's excellent noir films. I had to get the DVD from France (where it is 'La Cible Vivante'), and watch it with French subtitles. I noticed that 'en haut de l'affiche' was given as the translation for both 'in lights' and 'higher billing'. What can they be thinking of? All the slang was lost, and this script is mostly slang, so the French have had the raw end of the deal. The star performance is by Mary Beth Hughes. She plays the most calculating, amoral, cunning and dangerous little vixen imaginable, and she does it with total conviction. (If I had seen this in the cinema, I would have looked to see if she had picked my pocket during the screening.) Poor von Stroheim, fifteen years without touching a woman and suddenly Mary Beth vamps him. Dan Duryea, who plays her alcoholic husband, has less acting to do than usual, partly because he is meant to be a victim this time instead of a heavy, and victims can coast in the movies, whereas villains have to work at it more. The musical score is terrible, except for the Mexican singer. Von Stroheim plays a super-marksman whose stage act consists of shooting cigarettes out of people's mouths, etc. He kept missing Mary Beth on stage, and that later turned out to be a mistake. We all need to be protected from gals like that. This is a fine film to add to a noir collection, but it is a sad, sad tale.
Review of The Great Flamarion
