Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 30-March-08
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Sudden Fear (1952)

The basic plot of "Sudden Fear" is a solid one which I can imagine being reused with success today. But what I particularly like about the 1952 movie is the charisma of its stars, a quality which many modern actors cannot match. Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, and Gloria Grahame had faces and attitudes that are simply fascinating to watch. They smooth over the handful of implausibilities and superfluities in the script to deliver a genuinely entertaining experience.

The story begins strongly as a famous heiress and playwright (Crawford) brings about the dismissal of an actor (Palance) who is rehearsing for the lead in her new Broadway show. She admires his talent but feels that his looks do not fit a character who is supposed to make every woman swoon. The actor is of course upset at losing a role that might have made him a star. A few weeks later the two meet on a cross-country train trip during which the actor charms the pants off his erstwhile nemesis. By the time they reach San Francisco they appear to be in love. The heiress draws her beau into the swirl of dining, drinking, and dancing prevalent among her set, and after some self-doubt on his part — or is it gamesmanship? — they get married. The woman who only seemed to have it all is blissful for the first time in her life.

Knowing the title, you can be sure that the nuptial glow fades quickly. At a party one night the groom is surprised to see a certain saucy blonde (Grahame) on the arm of one of his new West Coast friends. She is his on-again/off-again lover who has followed him from New York expecting to share in the profits of what she assumes is a marital scam. They immediately fall into scheming (and bed), and their plans acquire urgency when he finds out that his wife is about to give her inheritance to charity. He wants to get his hands on the money before it slips beyond his grasp and before his wife can update her will, which may limit his claim to her wealth.

The fear arises when Crawford's beaming bride gets wind of her beloved's intentions. This occurs due to a device previously introduced in a scene that plays more like a setup than a foreshadowing. However, this device is minor compared with Crawford's Revenge To-Do List, which she actually holds up to the camera for a good long time after deciding to deal with the threat. (Nice of the filmmakers to enable the low-IQ folks in the theater to grasp what might take place.) It is very silly and also unnecessary, being accompanied by a visual blow-by-blow from the wronged wife's mind.

Yet as I said, the cast allows you to overlook such things and focus on the strains and stratagems of the wife, her husband, and his lover. Crawford and Palance volley false smiles and secret sneers at each other while she struggles to maintain her humanity. When the dust finally settles, nobody's plans have turned out as expected but a crude form of justice has prevailed. The fear may be sudden but the buildup and climax are sustained for maximum effect. This is a sign of a decent thriller; the names on the marquee (or DVD case) mark "Sudden Fear" as a cut above that.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.