Patterns (1956)

 

When Fred Staples is recruited onto the board of a high-powered New York corporation, he finds his ethics and ambition at odds. 

Electrifying business drama based on an excellent Rod Serling play convinces with its intensity and high-class performances.

Halliwell***: "Tense little boardroom melodrama with domestics asides, one of the best of the filmed TV plays of the mid-fifties."

Maltin***1/2: "Trenchant, masterfully acted drama of greed and abuse of power in corporate America..."  

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

A man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband, who believe he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.

High-pitched melodrama with Noir elements takes its intricate plot to its bitter ending; the star cast make it work.

On rewatching: Indeed a pretty good Noir melodrama with a superb cast.

Halliwell**: "Irresistible star melodrama which leaves no stone unturned; compulsive entertainment of the old school."

Maltin***: "Gripping melodrama..."

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

A man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband, who believe he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.

High-pitched melodrama with Noir elements takes its intricate plot to its bitter ending; the star cast make it work.

Halliwell**: "Irresistible star melodrama which leaves no stone unturned; compulsive entertainment of the old school."

Maltin***: "Gripping melodrama..."

Airport (1970)

A bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.

The movie that started the 70s series of all-star disaster movies and one of the best; sturdily produced, old-fashioned, with multiple plotlines, suspense, melodrama and some comic relief.

Halliwell***: "Glossy, undeniably entertaining, all-star version of a popular novel, with cradboard characters skilfully deployed in Hollywood's very vest style."

Maltin***1/2: "GRAND HOTEL plot formula reaches latter-day zenith in ultraslick, old-fashioned movie that entertains in spite of itself...Plastic performances dominate, with down-to-earth Kennedy, touching Stapleton, and nervous Heflin standing out."

Madame Bovary (1949)

A provincial doctor's wife's romantic illusions about life and social status lead her to betray her naive husband, take on lovers and run up ruinous debts.