L'ange de la violence

The Early Sixties was an Awkward Period for Movies. The Hays Code was Flirted with in the Fifties, but No One Seriously Challenged the Watchdog Behemoth. But when the next Decade Flipped Over things seemed Different and the Movie Industry started to take some Real Chances.

The Result was at first Subtle Inclusions but also some Daring Attempts to be Bold. You can find some of that here in the John Frankenheimer Directed and William Inge Penned Melodrama about a Dysfunctional Family.

The Strong Cast of Angela Lansbury, Warren Beatty, Karl Malden, Brandon De Wilde, and Eva Marie Saint are Actors Actors and Frankenheim lets Them Act, and boy do They. The Director Plays around with the Setups and the Camera and Cinematically makes this a Movie when by all that is Witnessed in the Story, it is Essentially a Play.

Heavy on Dialog and Emoting, Dramatics, and Personality the Film Plays Out on the Surface as a Domineering Mother, a Socialist Father, and an Innocent Teen Brother, all Worship the "Lady Killer" in the Family, a Cad and Narcissistic Hunk named Berry-Berry (you know, like a disease), and He Infects Anyone in Close Proximity.

Not Top Frankenheimer, but Worth a Watch for the Cast and the sometimes Uncomfortable Look-See at the Realities of Real Middle-Class Life, where the People are Beaten Down, Scarred, and Myopic. It's not a Fun Thing to Watch, it's all Nervous Tension and Gut-Wrenching, and this Type was Not Available to Watch on TV Screens at the Time.

This is exactly why I go to the library and rent movies. See all the movies you know about, watch the dreck that questionably pass for entertainment, and sometimes discover buried gems that nobody has heard of, yet stars people like Warren Beatty and Angela Lansbury.

'All Fall Down' is a tale of a family that are about to be ripped apart at the seams because of their oldest son. Warren Beatty plays Berry-Berry, a drifter if there ever was one. Going from town to town, from job to job, and usually winding up in jail, but this is all unknown to his family, who see him as a hero, mainly because he got away from town mostly. When his younger brother, played so achingly innocently by Brandon DeWilde, visits him in Florida only to wind up bailing him out of jail, he still loves him. Berry-Berry does wind up back home though, where Mom and Dad (played excellently here by Lansbury and Karl Malden) and unsettled house-guest Eva Marie-Saint await him diligently. His relationship with all 4 members of the household are all different, which results in the conclusion, which you're wondering what will happen to the family now.

I'm just amazed at Beatty's performance here, smoldering with machismo, yet unsure of everything else, Beatty easily wows everyone he sees, family included. Although Brandon DeWilde is largely ignored now, he was one of the brightest young stars in Hollywood once, and this is a great vehicle for him.

Find this one if you can!

Although this film is meant to be Beatty's showpiece, De Wilde actually carries the film. Lansbury & Malden chew the scenery more often than not, but their performances do eventually fall into place. Eve Marie Saint is wonderful, as are the actresses cast in several minor supporting roles - Evans Evans, Barbara Baxley and Constance Ford. While Beatty is at the height of his youthful beauty, his interpretation of "Berry-Berry" feels undeveloped.

The opening twenty minutes, filmed in Key West, establish a unique atmosphere that is quickly lost, when the film moves to "Ohio" scenes filmed on a studio back lot.

Contrary to a previous posting, Lansbury is thirteen years older than Beatty, who plays her son. Actor Brandon De Wilde died at age thirty, and one wonders what direction his acting career might have taken. His name has been forgotten by most, but his talent is obvious in this film.

I saw this one when it was first released, responding to some justly deserved positive reviews. Recently Turner Classic Movies showed it and my memories were confirmed: terrific cast beautifully responding to John Frankenheimer's astute direction; impeccable black-and-white cinematography by Lionel Lindon, especially that opening on-location sequence in Key West, Florida; one of Alex North's most apposite scores, not at all too florid (Was any Hollywood composer better at enhancing a story filled with neuroses in full bloom?); and a story whose downward spiral seems inevitable, despite some slight excesses on the part of the scriptwriter.

Minor reservations: Karl Malden's being required to vociferously refer to his son, Berry-Berry, as "The Big Rhinoceros" and as other assorted wildlife creatures (Why? Never really explained and seemingly inappropriate, given Warren Beatty's rather sleek appearance); the given names of the characters played by both Warren Beatty (Berry-Berry) and Eva Marie Saint (Echo O'Brien) - pure flights of fancy on the part of the writer(s), when compared to the more down-to-earth names given the other Midwesterners in the story; the frustration of seeing the doomed character, Echo, often expressing her affection for the younger brother, Clinton, while pathetically succumbing to the brutish abuse of his older brother, Berry-Berry.

But the interplay of all the cast (including some excellent supporting players) makes this somewhat forgotten gem a real must-see. It's one time when Angela Lansbury, running on all cylinders, is easily and compatibly matched by her fellow actors. This one's a keeper!

One forgets what a sensational actress Angela Lansbury was, is and always will be. Her success as Jessica Fletcher in TV's "Murder She Wrote" have distracted audience's attention from the real Lansbury. To see "All Fall Down" in 2009 is quite an experience. All the clues about Warren Beatty's complex character are discovered in Angela Lansbury's extraordinary cinematic face. We discover everything visually without any exposition. I don't want to spoil it for you so I'm not going to pinpoint the moments I mean because part of the pleasure is to discover them by ourselves. Brandon De Wilde is another shattering presence on the screen. He died at 30 years of age and I can't help wondering what he could have become. He was the young kid from "Shane" remember? But, let's got back to Lansbury, she plays Warren Beatty's mother, although in real life they are only a few years apart, she is fearless and enthralling as she was in another collaboration with John Frankenheimer: "The Manchurian Candidate" I keep thinking that Tilda Swinton won an Oscar for her performance in °Michael Clayton" and Angela Lansbury was not even nominated for this. I confess to you that I saw "All Fall Down" twice in a row. I was overwhelmed by Lansbury's performance and her strange and compelling chemistry with Karl Malden, her husband, Warren Beatty, her eldest son and Brandon De Wilde, her youngest son. I highly recommend it.