La robe déchirée

"The Tattered Dress" is an excellent mystery and crime story that will keep one on the edge of her or his seat from halfway through to the end. And, what a tremendous cast of top actors of the day. The leads all gave great performances - Jeff Chandler as James Blane, Jeanne Crain as his wife, Diane, and Jack Carson as Sheriff Nick Hoak. And a supporting cast of well known actors who also shine - George Tobias as Billy Giles, Gail Russsell as Carol Morrow, Edward Platt as Ralph Adams and Edward Andrews as Lester Rawlings head up that bunch.

I don't recall ever having seen this film as a teenager when it came out, or on late night movies after that. The plot is very original and very interesting. The only fuzzy thing about this is the portrayal of the murder case that big city attorney James Blane wins in getting his wealthy client, Michael Reston (played by Phillip Reed) acquitted. The film just has Blane cross examining the sheriff and pretty much making a fool of him. The next thing is a jury verdict of innocent. But that then opens onto the meat of this movie when Blane is served with a summons for a grand jury trial.

Anyone who enjoys good mystery films should like this one from way back in the middle of the 20th century. Here are a couple of favorite lines from this film.

Michael Reston, "You sound like a prosecutor." James Blane, "Another acute observation. You're cleverer than I imagined."

Charleen Reston, "I'll pick you up at the courthouse at eleven." James Blane, "Slight correction - I'll see you in court Monday morning."

Big-shot trial lawyer Jeff Chandler gets a client off for a murder in Nevada. The murdered man had been a friend of sheriff Jack Carson. Carson frames Chandler for bribing a juror. When the attorney Chandler and long-suffering ex-wife Jeanne Crain hire begins to talk about plea deals, Chandler fires him and conducts his own defense.

It's directed by the under-rated Jack Arnold, who is best remembered for some fine, subtext-laden monster movies of the era. With Chandler's dramatic, rumbling voice, however, it turns into a well-told soap opera, with undertones of danger from Carson, who is very good in his part. I'm afraid I was put off by the slovenly-lawyered courtroom scenes, in which attorneys accepted hearsay evidence without a whimper, and verdicts that seem unlikely. Other cast members include Edward Platt as a reporter whose job seems to be to follow around Chandler, George Tobias as a not-too-funny comic, Gail Russell as the woman who accuses Chandler of bribery, and Elaine Stewart as a rather dumb blonde.

When hired gun New York lawyer James Blane (Jeff Chandler) is brought in to Desert View, Nevada to defend Michael Reston and his vampy wife Charleen (Phillip Reed & Elaine Stewart) on murder charges, he finds himself accused of jury tampering. Blane, a less than exemplary role model with a dubious past, must fight over local prejudice and the town's political power-broker Sheriff Nick Hoak (Jack Carson) to prove his innocence. With the help of his estranged wife Diane (Jeanne Crain)Blane works to unearth the town's secrets and unravel the crime.

"The Tattered Dress" is one of the many medium budget releases cranked out to fill growing demand in the 1950's created by the expansion of the drive-in movie. Universal International Pictures was a major player in that space. Universal International was able to assemble casts of slightly off the A-list and presumed over-the-hill stars into some very good movies. "The Tattered Dress" is one of those. The cast of this movie is excellent. After watching a few movies with Elaine Stewart it's hard to understand why she never quite made that transition to major stardom. She had a screen presence as did Gail Russell who carries her part off to perfection in one her last big screen appearances.

Since this movie shows up in Film Noir titles it will get criticism from purist Noir Fans, which is unfair to this movie. By 1957 visually classic Film Noir Movie was a thing of the past. "The Tattered Dress" is a 1950's style, slightly salacious, crime melodrama. The style of this movie lies somewhere between The Postman Rings Twice and Peyton Place. Taken for what it is, "The Tattered Dress" is 93 minutes of decent entertainment.

The Tattered Dress is a very under rated film that I wish would be broadcast more often. I saw it many times during the sixties and seventies and haven't seen it for years. But the performances do stand out.

The one who stands out the most is Jack Carson. This is no doubt his best screen dramatic performance. Carson usually was cast as amiable blow hard types who usually meant well, but could be very dense. In The Tattered Dress as the mean sadistic sheriff he really should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in this one.

Jeff Chandler plays a high price defense attorney who's come to Carson's town to defend a married couple accused of a murder that has generated national headlines. Chandler is usually well paid for his services and this is no exception.

While there Chandler makes the acquaintance of Carson. Carson's a local celebrity himself, his former gridiron exploits locally helped him first get elected sheriff. However Chandler's a real national celebrity and Carson fawns all over him.

What happens though is that Carson gives Chandler a confidence that when the trial comes, Chandler uses to impeach Carson's testimony and make him a figure of ridicule on the stand. Because of that his clients get acquitted.

Carson exacts his revenge by framing Chandler on a jury tampering charge and uses every avenue to close any loopholes Chandler might find as his own defense attorney.

The Tattered Dress is one of Jeff Chandler's best films, but as good as he is, Jack Carson gives us his career performance. He's an incredible study of pure evil in power. A person totally unable to deal with others professionally. Chandler was an attorney advocating for his clients, admittedly not a pair of the noblest creatures on earth, but in the final analysis was just doing his job. Carson can't separate that out. I've known some and worked for some people like that in real life. Bad when they get into positions of authority.

Elaine Stewart and Philip Reed are Chandler's wealthy clients who take a powder on him when he gets in a jackpot. Jeanne Crain is Chandler's estranged wife who still stands by him and Gail Russell in one of her last film roles is the woman who accuses Chandler of jury tampering. They all fill their roles nicely, but a special mention should go to George Tobias, a comedian who Chandler got off on a murder charge himself, but at the cost of his career. He serves as a gopher/confidante to Chandler and has a tragic end.

I truly wish The Tattered Dress was out on VHS or DVD. It's a terrific story that is well acted and written. Absolutely a must see for fans of Jeff Chandler and Jack Carson.

There seems to me as a writer and critic to be a bad tendency among U.S. reviewers to confuse their emotional and unaccountable reactions with information. For instance, I regard Jeff Chandler as a very good classical actor; I assert this because he has the vocal power, sufficient emotional voltage and the high intelligence to play characters in the distant past, future, positions of nobility and professions.  But I also claim to be able to tell among his strongest portrayals, and those which were less successful. In "A Tattered Dress", for instance, the dress referring to the robes which cloak the naked female statue of justice, I believe Chandler has one of his most fascinating parts in this film by anyone's standards.  And one of his best successes.He plays a lawyer who was refused employment as a poor student once he had been admitted to the bar in the Depression era; to overcome this injustice, he began taking clients who were criminals, who could pay him. In the years since then, he has become a famous and deeply- hated lawyer, because of those criminals whom he represents. The fascinating twist to this Jack Arnold directed noir is that he wins his original case. A husband had been accused of having killed his wife's lover, after she has come with "a tattered dress'. Then, thanks to collusion between the town's average-guy closet-dictator sheriff, and those supporting him, the lawyer finds himself accused of having bribed a juror during the case. His estranged wife returns to stand by him; he elects to be defended by the best lawyer he knows, himself. and this proves to alienate the townsfolk even further. He shakes the juror's testimony, but he must resort to a magnificent last defense, equating the tattered dress with justice itself that is thwarted, to plead his case as a human being who has been wronged more than he has wronged anyone. he is acquitted, which leads to a strongly-written climax and ending. This is a well-made and well-directed thriller; besides veteran Arnold's direction, this B/W drama features original music by Frank Skinner and Henry Mancini, fine cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie, outstanding art direction by Alexander Golitzen and Bill Newberry, set decorations by John P. Austin and Russell A Gausman. The very good costumes were the creation of J.A. Morely, Jr., with makeup being the work of Bud Westmore. Among the cast, Jeff Chandler's work as the lawyer accused is award level and memorable, varied in tone and nuanced. Others who brought to life George Zuckerman's finely-crafted script, drawn from a novel included Jack Carson as the sheriff, Jeanne Crain as the lawyer's wife, Gail Russell as the juror in question, Philip Reed as the husband, plus talented Edward Andrews Elaine Edwards, George Tobias, Edward Platt, Alexander Lockwood, Paul Birch, Edwin Jerome and William Schallert. This is a film that must be judged I assert by what it is, not what any observer wished it might have been. It is a very powerful indictment of U.s. societal justice as long ago as the 1930s; and of the citizens of a representative town who allow their prejudices to interfere with their judgment. Similar movies had been made, in the same era as this, about other democratically-elected governments and their statist countries, such as England and France. But the content of this scorching indictment of postmodernist truth-twisters and their all-too-willing victims is a very United States story, and one coming from the H.U.A.C era as well. A very strong film.