Scandal Sheet (1952)

The editor of an exploitation newspaper commits a murder and assigns his protégé to investigate hoping to divert attention away from himself.

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Eugene Ling (screenplay)

Stars:

John Derek, Donna Reed, Broderick Crawford

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Broderick Crawford	...	Mark Chapman
Donna Reed	...	Julie Allison
John Derek	...	Steve McCleary
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Charlotte Grant
Henry O'Neill	...	Charlie Barnes
Harry Morgan	...	Biddle (as Henry Morgan)
James Millican	...	Police Lt. Davis
Griff Barnett	...	Judge Elroy Hacker
Jonathan Hale	...	Frank Madison

Storyline

The editor of a New York exploitation newspaper meets the wife he had abandoned years ago, while using another name, at a Lonely Hearts ball sponsored by his newspaper. She threatens to expose him as a wife-deserter, wife-beater and an impostor, and, in anger, he pushes her and accidentally kills her. Later, when her body is found, he assigns his protégé reporter to the story, as a good, exploitable follow-up story to the ball. And, then, he is forced to sit back and watch while the reporter slowly tracks down the killer.

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | newspaper | wife beater | tabloid | murder | 

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Taglines:

The Man From "The Mob" Is Making Another Killing!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Dark Page

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Samuel Fuller was in litigation against Famous Artists Corp. According to the news item, Fuller sold his novel, The Dark Page, to H-F Productions for $15,000, and director Howard Hawks spent $25,000 on pre-production for producer Jules Furthman. Monterey Productions later purchased the novel, then sold it to Motion Pictures Investors, Inc., which then sold it to Columbia for $10,000. In his suit, Fuller claimed the novel's worth was $100,000. A 1951 Hollywood Reporter item indicates that Fuller's successful production of The Steel Helmet (1951) revived interest in producing The Dark Page.

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Goofs

At the very beginning of the shot where Grant bends over to retrieve the 'Lonely Hearts Club' badge from his dead wife, the untouched corpse's head moves slightly.

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Quotes

Biddle: You know that wasn't a bad looking dame. Too bad the guy used an axe on her head. Spoiled some pretty pictures for me.

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Connections

Featured in The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera (1996)

User Reviews

This Scandal Sheet is a Must 'Reed'!

As great a Film Noir as there is! I LOVE Film Noir and often search them out by auditioning titles. And with one like "Scandal Sheet", what else could it be? Fronted by Broderick Crawford and co-starring Donna Reed and John Dereck with Rosemary DeCamp and Harry Morgan, the cast is as first rate as any Film Noir could hope for. It even has Columbia's master (future) Oscar Winning B&W cinematographer Burnett Guffey on board for lots of wonderful Noir shots. One more "Big Name" anywhere would have ruined it! And there's a GREAT turn by the much underrated Henry O'Neil as Charlie Barnes, a washed up drunk of a former great newspaper man. His role is small but by far the most important. Wow. Nothing more satisfying than a great Film Noir with all the clichés in tact and WORKING FOR the picture instead of against it. You absolutely know how it will end up, but there's still lots of high powered tension. And at about 80 minutes, it doesn't feature any unnecessary padding. Low budget pictures never do and it only makes them tighter. I caught it on TCM. Keep an eye out for it. A truly satisfying Film Noir in all respects! There's even a comical (I'm convinced it was definitely meant to be) bit in the opening scene with Derek pretending to be a cop and doing a "Joe Friday" in telling a distraught woman "I know it's rough lady, but I only want the facts!" Moments later in walks Harry "Bill Gannon" Morgan! A little icing before you even have at the cake. As the headlines in the picture itself might have said in a self review: Terrific! Fantstic! A MUST SEE!