The Hollywood sterotypes are strictly Odets, but it's viciously done and features a
tour de force performance from Palance as a tinseltown hunk with a dark, dishonest secret. Director Aldrich's unflinching use of a candid, almost documentary style results in a devastating mirror image of Hollywood at its most ruthless. It's entirely grim vision, uncompromising and without compassion, irrespective of the name-dropping of real personalities (Kazan, Wilder, Wyler, etc.) to authenticate the atmosphere. The script blares the philosophy that it is not only windy at the top but also lethal.
Released:
1955
Rated:
NR
Length:
111 mins