maryszd

An extraordinary dark film about three strangers who share a sweepstakes ticket. All their shabby personal secrets are shown in the course of the film. The instigator Mrs. Shackelford, a cold, manipulative, psychotic woman is brilliantly played by Geraldine Fitzgerald. Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet are well-cast as the other two ticket holders. Other reviewers have pointed out that that this film is a companion film to the Maltese Falcon. It's a better, more sophisticated film and more adult in its resolution. Although the film was made in 1946, it was intentionally set in 1938. This gives the film an air of foreboding; we know, but the characters don't, about the horrors of the world war that lies ahead of them. Peter Lorre, in particular is excellent as Johnny West, an alcoholic and small-time criminal who gets framed by one of his cronies. He even has a girlfriend (which I've never seen him with on screen before). And Fitzgerald is lethal as the crazed Mrs. Shackelford. My god, she's irritating in the way only narcissistic crazy people can be.

This truly charming film is marred by the casting of Gary Cooper as Frank Flanagan, the roué who falls for the daughter of the private detective who is investigating him. A young Audrey Hepburn plays Ariane, the daughter and her infatuation with Flanagan reminded me of the girls' obsession with the sleazy pianist in "The World of Henry Orient." How could someone as creative as Billy Wilder be so tone-deaf about such an important casting decision? There certainly were enough younger male actors around who could have turned this film around (Jack Lemmon, perhaps?). To make it worse, Cooper is not only old, he looks like death warmed over. Too bad, this had the makings of an absolutely wonderful film.