Ruthless (1948)

Director:

Edgar G. Ulmer

Writers (WGA):

Dayton Stoddart (novel) and
S.K. Lauren (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 May 1949 (Finland)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

Lovely! (Diana Lynn) Reckless! (Lucille Bremer) Loyal! (Louis Hayward) Power-Mad! (Zachary Scott) Vicious! (Sydney Greenstreet) Innocent! (Martha Vickers)

Plot:

Horace Vendig shows himself to the world as a rich philanthropist. In fact, the history of his rise...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel

Cast

Zachary Scott	...	Horace Woodruff 'Woody' Vendig
Louis Hayward	...	Vic Lambdin
Diana Lynn	...	Martha Burnside / Mallory Flagg
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Buck Mansfield
Lucille Bremer	...	Christa Mansfield
Martha Vickers	...	Susan Duane
Edith Barrett	...	Mrs. Burnside
Dennis Hoey	...	Mr. Burnside
Raymond Burr	...	Pete Vendig
Joyce Arling	...	Kate Vendig
Charles Evans	...	Bruce Endicott McDonald
Robert J. Anderson	...	Horace Vendig, as child (as Bob Anderson)
Arthur Stone	...	Vic Lambdin, as child
Ann Carter	...	Martha Burnside, as child
Edna Holland	...	Libby Sims

Also Known As:

Prelude to Night (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Arthur S. Lyons Productions

Trivia:

Terra Distributors VHS copy is a truncated version, running only 86 minutes, not the complete version.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Let's Go to the Movies (1949)

Edgar G Ulmer with an A production

I just returned from an American Cinemateque screening of a UCLA restored print of this movie. Here is ample evidence that Ulmer, the King of the B's, given bigger budgets might well have had a much bigger career. Detour may be his most famous movie, but this is his best. The Alvah Bessie screenplay about greed and the relentless pursuit of success has dated not at all. The cinematography is excellent, with strong noirish elements. The sets and costumes are very good. Zachary Scott, one of the screen's great cads, is somewhat toned down here if still fairly nasty. There is strong work by Diana Lynn, Lucille Bremer, and Martha Vickers as women who get used and discarded along the way. Sidney Greenstreet shows up mid film as an equally greedy and grasping character, dominating all his scenes. But the standout, unexpectedly, is Louis Hayward as a sympathetic boyhood friend and link to the entire storyline. Ulmer brings out more warmth in this actor that was usually seen. Raymond Burr has a small part early in his career when he seemed to be copying Laird Cregar as Scott's father seen in flashback. Ulmer's daughter this evening explained that the studio Eagle-Lion/Paramount cut some scenes just before release with a particularly anti-capitalist tone. I hope the footage still exists somewhere. That aside, it is thoroughly accomplished film that needs no explanation or apologies. The current recession gives it renewed meaning. Hopefully a DVD release will soon follow.