East Side, West Side (1949)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Isobel Lennart (screenplay)
Marcia Davenport (novel)

Release Date:

4 September 1950 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

I was married to a man other women pursued!

Plot:

A vain playboy puts strains his happy marriage to a rich, beautiful socialite allows himself be be seduced by a former girlfriend.

Plot Keywords:

Party | Airport | Uptown | Model | Playboy

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Jessie Bourne
James Mason	...	Brandon Bourne
Van Heflin	...	Mark Dwyer
Ava Gardner	...	Isabel Lorrison
Cyd Charisse	...	Rosa Senta
Nancy Davis	...	Helen Lee
Gale Sondergaard	...	Nora Kernan
William Conrad	...	Lt. Jacobi
Raymond Greenleaf	...	Horace Elcott Howland
Douglas Kennedy	...	Alec Dawning
Beverly Michaels	...	Felice Backett
William Frawley	...	Bill the Bartender
Lisa Golm	...	Josephine
Tom Powers	...	Owen Lee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorothy Abbott	...	Model (uncredited)
Mimi Aguglia	...	Grandma Senta (uncredited)
Joel Allen	...	Interne (uncredited)
Ernest Anderson	...	Redcap at Airport (uncredited)
Lee Anderson	...	Lee Party Guest / Girl in Cafe (uncredited)
Jean Andren	...	Saleswoman (uncredited)
Bette Arlen	...	Model / Lee Party Guest (uncredited)
Lois Austin	...	Saleswoman (uncredited)
Anne Beck	...	Model (uncredited)
Wesley Bly	...	Club Attendant (uncredited)
Ferike Boros	...	Rosa's Grandma Sistina (uncredited)
Rosalee Calvert	...	Model (uncredited)
Bob Canto	...	Sistina Son (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers	...	Charlie, the Doorman (uncredited)
Russ Clark	...	Detective (uncredited)
Tom Dillon	...	Dan, the Old Policeman (uncredited)
Geraldine Farmer	...	Lee Party Guest (uncredited)
Barbara Freking	...	Model (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	First Doorman (uncredited)
Suzette Harper	...	Maid (uncredited)
Fred Hoose	...	Reporter at Airport (uncredited)
Jimmy Horne	...	Lee Party Guest (uncredited)
Jane Howard	...	Model (as Betty Jane Howarth) (uncredited)
Jimmy Kelly	...	Detective (uncredited)
Meredith Leeds	...	Lee Party Guest (uncredited)
Lou Lubin	...	Chuck Snyder (uncredited)
Rita Lynn	...	Sistina Wife (uncredited)
Dwight Martin	...	Detective (uncredited)
Charles McAvoy	...	Cop (uncredited)
Frank Meredith	...	Cop (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Del Rio Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Wino (uncredited)
Ralph Montgomery	...	Reporter at Airport (uncredited)
Roger Moore	...	Reporter at Airport (uncredited)
Grazia Narciso	...	Mrs. Sistina (uncredited)
Stanley Orr	...	Bourne Chauffeur (uncredited)
Nino Pipitone	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
Norman Rainey	...	Butler (uncredited)
Paula Raymond	...	Joan Peterson, Bourne's secretary (uncredited)
Maria Reachi	...	Lee Party Guest (uncredited)
Jewel Rose	...	Del Rio Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Carl Saxe	...	Detective (uncredited)
Vito Scotti	...	Sistina Son (uncredited)
Jack Shea	...	Detective (uncredited)
Mario Siletti	...	Mr. Sistina (uncredited)
Stella Soldi	...	Sistina Wife (uncredited)
Sandra Spence	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Nick Stewart	...	Red Cap (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Fred the Doorman (uncredited)
Brick Sullivan	...	Detective (uncredited)
Betty Taylor	...	Reporter at Airport (uncredited)
Peter M. Thompson	...	Jock Ardley (uncredited)
Stanley Waxman	...	John, The Del Rio Headwaiter (uncredited)
Lillian West	...	Hannah, Nora's Maid (uncredited)
Frank Wilcox	...	Frank Belmar (uncredited)
Chalky Williams	...	Detective (uncredited)
Wilson Wood	...	Reporter at Airport (uncredited)

Directed by
Mervyn LeRoy

Writing credits
Isobel Lennart		(screenplay)
Marcia Davenport		(novel)

Produced by
Voldemar Vetluguin	....	producer

Original Music by
Miklós Rózsa		(as Miklos Rozsa)

Cinematography by
Charles Rosher		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harold F. Kress

Art Direction by
Randall Duell
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
Robert Ewing	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Betty Pedretti	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Howard W. Koch	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Arthur Krams	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor
A.N. Fenton	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Helen Rose	....	costumes: women

Music Department
Eugene Zador	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (as Loew's Inc.)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD) (Included in "The Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection")

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  DVD package design
• Warner Home Video  DVD package design

Also Known As:

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (certificate #14126) | Australia:G | Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Canada:14A (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Quotes:

Mark Dwyer:Don't worry Jess. I'm not nineteen. I've heard a rumor that people don't always get what they want, and that happiness isn't the natural state of man.

Movie Connections:

References The Seventh Victim (1943)

Soundtrack:

Blue Moon

Nothing new here, but professionalism of actors and director raise film above familiar material

A fairly standard-issue formula melodrama comes alive thanks to capable acting and adept direction. Sheer professionalism keeps the unremarkable story afloat, with all concerned more than equal to their assignments.

`East Side, West Side' is told from the point of view of a lady of leisure (Barbara Stanwyck) whose husband (James Mason) is a habitual adulterer. Despite his deep love for her, he is unable to resist temptation, comparing it to an alcoholic's need for the bottle. All his efforts to clean up his act are for naught, however, when former mistress Ava Gardner returns to town determined to win him back, and willing to stop at nothing to do so. Meanwhile, Stanwyck incurs the affections of a highly decorated police officer (Van Heflin), who shows her the other side of the tracks where he grew up, and is surprised to learn that she did too. Their relationship blossoms, but when Gardner turns up dead and Mason and Stanwyck are suspected, it falls to Heflin to sort things out.

There's nothing here that hasn't been done before, but it is handled with such style and finesse that it's impossible to dislike, and the story is surprisingly involving. Heflin is provided with a strong character and ample opportunities to showcase his acting capabilities. The roles filled by Stanwyck and Mason are more burdensome because they serve to drive the plot, but both actors tackle them skillfully. Gardner is given only a few scenes to establish and develop her character, but she nonetheless makes a strong impression. Veteran director Mervyn LeRoy knows just how to handle such material, and he does so with poise and surefootedness. The proficiency of involved participants raises routine material above the ground and makes for engaging viewing, and this film is a case in point.