Review: The Big Knife
Blu-ray: The Big Knife (1955)
Charlie Castle (Jack Palance) is a big Hollywood star and it seems he has it all, but his wife has left him and he has a terrible secret he needs to keep covered up, no matter what the cost.
Winner of the Silver Lion at the 1955 Venice Film Festival, The Big Knife also boasts a stellar cast list including Rod Steiger hamming it up to the max as Hoff, plus a voluptuously permed ‘actress/tart’ Shelley Winters as the girl who shares his secret and Ida Lupino as his wife.
Based on Clifford Odets‘ 1949 Broadway play, this remains ‘play like’ and focuses on a two day period in the life of film star Castle following the conflicted actor as he is tortured and agonizes over his successful acting career, which is based on keeping a horrific secret from the public.
Rod Steiger’s character Hoff is the studio boss and manipulates Castle but keeps his secret…for now. Castle’s wife agrees to reconciliation as long as he leaves Hollywood, but his own self-destructive impulses and refusal to sign a new seven year contract will lead to a downward spiral instigated by Hoff. Blackmail, tabloid scandal, infidelity, and a betrayal of his own standards all contribute to Castle’s bleak final decision.
Palance is a bit of a revelation in this movie, moving away from his usual ‘tough guy’ roles he plays Castle with plausible angst and alongside Shelley Winters as Dixie, Hoff’s ill-fated personal secretary, they over shadow Steiger’s overacting and scenery chewing performance. At the time Aldrich believed he’d made a mistake casting Palance, but for me, he makes the film.
However, despite his fine performance this film still smacks too much of a film that should have really remained as a stage play.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
• Brand-new 2K restoration from original film elements produced by Arrow Films exclusively for this release
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p)
• Original English mono audio uncompressed LPCM
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Commentary by film critics Glenn Kenny and Nick Pinkerton, recorded exclusively for this release
• Bass on Titles – Saul Bass, responsible for The Big Knife’s credit sequence, discusses some of his classic work in this self-directed documentary from 1972
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Nathalie Morris
The Big Knife is released on 28th August 2017, and you can buy it by clicking HERE. ALL money raised by purchasing from Amazon via our website is given back to our listeners and followers in upcoming competition prizes. The more people buy, the bigger our prizes!
Review by Tina (co-host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Arrow Films via Fetch Publicity.
