The Big Knife (1955)

Charles Castle is a successful Hollywood actor who has opted for screen success over art. He must make critical decisions regarding his career, his marriage, his art & morality. In this ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

James Poe (adapted for the screen by), Clifford Odets (stage play)

Stars:

Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jack Palance	...	Charles Castle
Ida Lupino	...	Marion Castle
Wendell Corey	...	Smiley Coy
Jean Hagen	...	Connie Bliss
Rod Steiger	...	Stanley Shriner Hoff
Ilka Chase	...	Patty Benedict
Everett Sloane	...	Nat Danziger
Wesley Addy	...	Horatio 'Hank' Teagle
Paul Langton	...	Buddy Bliss
Nick Dennis	...	Mickey Feeney
Bill Walker	...	Russell
Michael Winkelman	...	Billy Castle (as Mike Winkelman)
Shelley Winters	...	Dixie Evans (as Miss Shelley Winters)

Storyline

Charles Castle is a successful Hollywood actor who has opted for screen success over art. He must make critical decisions regarding his career, his marriage, his art & morality. In this screen adaptation of a Clifford Odets play, Castle is pressured by his studio boss and manipulated into a potentially murderous cover-up to protect his career. An indictment of the amoral world of 50's Hollywood and its corrosive effect upon the artist.

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Plot Keywords:

hollywood | marriage | actor | gossip columnist | estranged wife | 

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 November 1955 (France)

Also Known As:

Hollywood-Story

Filming Locations:

Sutherland Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original Broadway production of "The Big Knife" by Clifford Odets opened at the National Theater on May 24, 1949, ran for 109 performances and closed on May 28, 1949. 109 performances in four days is perhaps a record.

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Goofs

In the living room, as Hoff begins "We all love you..." his hands are clasped in front of him. But on the cut, in mid-sentence ("...you're a great artist...") his arms are spread wide.

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Quotes

Charlie Castle: [to Marion] "You swat the fly from my face with a hammer"

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Connections

Referenced in Mulholland Drive (2001)

User Reviews

Powerful fifties' drama

The Big Knife is a mostly good adaptation of a Clifford Odets play about a Hollywood actor who's being blackmailed into studio servitude while trying to patch up his failing marriage. This is a movie for which the word powerful was truly invented. Most of the film takes place on one set and places heavy emphasis on speeches from the individual characters for its really riveting moments (as I would expect from a stage play), but those moments definitely get across. The whole cast is good, but Jack Palance in a nuanced and fiery performance as the actor Charlie Castle, and Rod Steiger, giving a deeply felt and passionate realization of the corrupt studio boss are nothing short of superb. The screenplay is full of smart, incisive, biting dialogue as well. Except for a melodramatic turn at the end, that, for me, takes a lot of the edge off the story, this is a well-acted film that is solid, though not spectacular, entertainment. 3*** out of 4