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No Down Payment
Emotionally charged direction by Martin Ritt of a first rate ensemble cast make 1957's No Down Payment, a sizzling soap opera well worth the time.
The movie is set in a California suburb called Sunrise Hills where we find David and Jean (Jeffrey Hunter, Patricia Owens) move into a neighborhood where they meet their new neighbors whose homes are close enough to see into each other's living rooms: Troy (Cameron Mitchell) is a troubled war hero who is trying to get hired as the town's chief of police and his wife, Leola (Joanne Woodward) is unable to let go of issues in their past; Jerry (Tony Randall) is a womanizing, alcoholic used car salesman who is causing consistent heartbreak to wife Isabelle (Sheree North) who can't get him to stop drinking. Herman (Pat Hingle) is a store owner who is afraid to step up for his Japanese employee who is being refused housing in Herman's neighborhood and won't step up for Troy either when the opportunity presents itself.
This is cinematic soap opera at its zenith, that probably never got the attention it deserved due it being released the same year as acclaimed Best Picture Oscar nominee Peyton Place, but when you look at the two films side by side, this film is just as good, if not slightly better. The screenplay centers primarily on six characters, making it much more intimate than Peyton Place and making it a lot easier to follow since the six characters are effectively tangled together, especially in two well-directed party scenes that bring all the characters together and then methodically begins tearing them apart. David and Jean initially serve as our tour guides into this twisted tale of dysfunctional suburbia that we can't help but get wrapped up in as it becomes clear pretty quickly that none of the marriages in this movie are happy ones.
The story takes a lot of squirm-worthy turns that will rivet the viewer and might even have him talking back to the screen. Heartbreaking is the only way to describe the reveal of Leola's past and Jerry is one of the slimiest movie characters I have ever seen and suffers precious few consequences for his behavior. Herman really arouses emotions as well when it is revealed that he has an employee who he thinks the world of and can't do without, but will not lift a finger when the guy wants to buy a house in Herman's neighborhood. The subject of attempted rape is even broached.
Ritt always keeps this story in a realistic mode, evidenced by a clearly limited budget. Cameron Mitchell seems to be channeling Brando in the bully Troy and Owens brings a surprising allure to the initially uncomplicated Jean. Pat Hingle (who I've never seen so young) nails the conflicted Herman but the high drama in this film comes from Joanne Woodward as the pathetic Leola and Tony Randall, in the performance of his career that should have earned him an Oscar nomination as the slimeball Jerry. My jaw was consistently dropped as Randall, cast completely against type, brought this monstrous character to the screen. Well-acted, well-directed and apparently forgotten 1950's melodrama that had this reviewer mesmerized.
Emotionally charged direction by Martin Ritt of a first rate ensemble cast make 1957's No Down Payment, a sizzling soap opera well worth the time.
The movie is set in a California suburb called Sunrise Hills where we find David and Jean (Jeffrey Hunter, Patricia Owens) move into a neighborhood where they meet their new neighbors whose homes are close enough to see into each other's living rooms: Troy (Cameron Mitchell) is a troubled war hero who is trying to get hired as the town's chief of police and his wife, Leola (Joanne Woodward) is unable to let go of issues in their past; Jerry (Tony Randall) is a womanizing, alcoholic used car salesman who is causing consistent heartbreak to wife Isabelle (Sheree North) who can't get him to stop drinking. Herman (Pat Hingle) is a store owner who is afraid to step up for his Japanese employee who is being refused housing in Herman's neighborhood and won't step up for Troy either when the opportunity presents itself.
This is cinematic soap opera at its zenith, that probably never got the attention it deserved due it being released the same year as acclaimed Best Picture Oscar nominee Peyton Place, but when you look at the two films side by side, this film is just as good, if not slightly better. The screenplay centers primarily on six characters, making it much more intimate than Peyton Place and making it a lot easier to follow since the six characters are effectively tangled together, especially in two well-directed party scenes that bring all the characters together and then methodically begins tearing them apart. David and Jean initially serve as our tour guides into this twisted tale of dysfunctional suburbia that we can't help but get wrapped up in as it becomes clear pretty quickly that none of the marriages in this movie are happy ones.
The story takes a lot of squirm-worthy turns that will rivet the viewer and might even have him talking back to the screen. Heartbreaking is the only way to describe the reveal of Leola's past and Jerry is one of the slimiest movie characters I have ever seen and suffers precious few consequences for his behavior. Herman really arouses emotions as well when it is revealed that he has an employee who he thinks the world of and can't do without, but will not lift a finger when the guy wants to buy a house in Herman's neighborhood. The subject of attempted rape is even broached.
Ritt always keeps this story in a realistic mode, evidenced by a clearly limited budget. Cameron Mitchell seems to be channeling Brando in the bully Troy and Owens brings a surprising allure to the initially uncomplicated Jean. Pat Hingle (who I've never seen so young) nails the conflicted Herman but the high drama in this film comes from Joanne Woodward as the pathetic Leola and Tony Randall, in the performance of his career that should have earned him an Oscar nomination as the slimeball Jerry. My jaw was consistently dropped as Randall, cast completely against type, brought this monstrous character to the screen. Well-acted, well-directed and apparently forgotten 1950's melodrama that had this reviewer mesmerized.