Feature number three in the Dark Crimes collection is brought to us by way of Westinghouse Studio One, a hybrid radio-television anthology series created in 1947 by Fletcher Markle for CBS Productions.
Produced for television in 1950, The Man Who Had Influence is a by-the-numbers melodrama starring Robert Sterling as David Grant, a charming but irresponsible playboy who finds himself accused of manslaughter after a drunken night out culminates with the death of the coat check girl with whom he'd left the bar.
Enter David's father, J.C. Grant, played by Stanley Ridges. J.C. is a political fixer who is accustom to getting what he wants, when he wants it. In the wake of his son's arrest, J.C. sets out to ensure that the Grant family name remains nice and shiny, regardless of who he has to plow over to achieve this goal.
I've got to be honest here, I'm not entirely sure why The Man Who Had Influence is a part of the Dark Crimes collection. Nothing that happens in the story screams "Film noir classic!" The premise is about as straight forward as it gets. I kept expecting a third act twist that never came, which is especially weird given how heavily the story plays up David's inability to remember what happened after he left the bar. Character motivation is implicitly stated but somewhat questionable, and the whole situation is wrapped up exactly as you'd expect: with David giving an impassioned speech to the court, and the judge being fair.
This wasn't a gritty film noir, it was a melodramatic morality tale about taking responsibility for one's actions. That's all fine and well, but tonally, it doesn't really fit with the theme of the collection. There's also a slight problem with pacing. Given that it was made for TV, there are a lot of spots where it fades away for a commercial break. This wouldn't be a problem, except the DVD has retained several of the Westinghouse advertisement bumpers. It's kind of interesting to see how they went about advertising kitchen appliances in the 1950s, but it really kills the forward momentum of the show.
The film's cast is a mixed bag. Robert Sterling gives a perfectly serviceable performance as the charming-yet-disgruntled David Grant, and his interplay with King Calder's Jimmy O'Rourke is the highlight of the film. There's a playfulness to O'Rourke's interactions with Grant that masks a darker undercurrent; a justifiable hostility that comes bubbling through in the final act. Whenever these guys are on screen together, it's easy to forget just how dry and stiff the scenes between Stanley Ridges and Robert Pastene are.
Speaking of Stanley Ridges, I'd be remiss not to comment on just how poorly he delivers some of his dialog in this film. There's a stop-and-start jerkiness to the way he reads his lines that is further exacerbated by the many times he stumbles over the dialog entirely. I realize that old school television often had to make do with long, unbroken takes, but it's surprising just how often he drops the ball here. It stands out a mile against the rest of the cast, who are far better at spitting out the massive amounts of dialog they've been given. Considering his importance to the overall plot -- he is The Man Who Had Influence -- it's a real shame that his performance is less than stellar.
The direction is occasionally weird, too. Being a fan of classic Doctor Who, I understand how a lot of these studio-based productions were blocked and shot. But director Franklin Schaffner seems to have a passion for filling the foreground up with things that obscure the main action. For example, he shoots a conversation through the rails of a stairway banister, and then later shoots another conversation through the bars of a jail cell. In theory this is fine, but he never seems to be able to get his actors to stand perfectly in frame. At least one of them tends to be obscured from view by the foreground business. It's really distracting.
Produced for television in 1950, The Man Who Had Influence is a by-the-numbers melodrama starring Robert Sterling as David Grant, a charming but irresponsible playboy who finds himself accused of manslaughter after a drunken night out culminates with the death of the coat check girl with whom he'd left the bar.
Enter David's father, J.C. Grant, played by Stanley Ridges. J.C. is a political fixer who is accustom to getting what he wants, when he wants it. In the wake of his son's arrest, J.C. sets out to ensure that the Grant family name remains nice and shiny, regardless of who he has to plow over to achieve this goal.
I've got to be honest here, I'm not entirely sure why The Man Who Had Influence is a part of the Dark Crimes collection. Nothing that happens in the story screams "Film noir classic!" The premise is about as straight forward as it gets. I kept expecting a third act twist that never came, which is especially weird given how heavily the story plays up David's inability to remember what happened after he left the bar. Character motivation is implicitly stated but somewhat questionable, and the whole situation is wrapped up exactly as you'd expect: with David giving an impassioned speech to the court, and the judge being fair.
This wasn't a gritty film noir, it was a melodramatic morality tale about taking responsibility for one's actions. That's all fine and well, but tonally, it doesn't really fit with the theme of the collection. There's also a slight problem with pacing. Given that it was made for TV, there are a lot of spots where it fades away for a commercial break. This wouldn't be a problem, except the DVD has retained several of the Westinghouse advertisement bumpers. It's kind of interesting to see how they went about advertising kitchen appliances in the 1950s, but it really kills the forward momentum of the show.
The film's cast is a mixed bag. Robert Sterling gives a perfectly serviceable performance as the charming-yet-disgruntled David Grant, and his interplay with King Calder's Jimmy O'Rourke is the highlight of the film. There's a playfulness to O'Rourke's interactions with Grant that masks a darker undercurrent; a justifiable hostility that comes bubbling through in the final act. Whenever these guys are on screen together, it's easy to forget just how dry and stiff the scenes between Stanley Ridges and Robert Pastene are.
Speaking of Stanley Ridges, I'd be remiss not to comment on just how poorly he delivers some of his dialog in this film. There's a stop-and-start jerkiness to the way he reads his lines that is further exacerbated by the many times he stumbles over the dialog entirely. I realize that old school television often had to make do with long, unbroken takes, but it's surprising just how often he drops the ball here. It stands out a mile against the rest of the cast, who are far better at spitting out the massive amounts of dialog they've been given. Considering his importance to the overall plot -- he is The Man Who Had Influence -- it's a real shame that his performance is less than stellar.
The direction is occasionally weird, too. Being a fan of classic Doctor Who, I understand how a lot of these studio-based productions were blocked and shot. But director Franklin Schaffner seems to have a passion for filling the foreground up with things that obscure the main action. For example, he shoots a conversation through the rails of a stairway banister, and then later shoots another conversation through the bars of a jail cell. In theory this is fine, but he never seems to be able to get his actors to stand perfectly in frame. At least one of them tends to be obscured from view by the foreground business. It's really distracting.
 |
| "A little further stage left, Stanley. Easy... easy does it... perfect!" |
Moving on to--
Say. Does anyone else have a powerful fierce desire to buy a Westinghouse refrigerator? If not, then you will in a moment. Check it out: it's the only one of its kind with a genuinely frost-free freeze chest! You never have to defrost it yourself, because it never allows frost to build up!!
The future is now!!!
And hey, when you visit your local Westinghouse dealer and purchase this state of the art waffle iron, your dividend item is this handsome electric percolator! A $3.99 value, yours for the asking while supplies last!!
--hrmph! That was weird. Not sure what that was. Where was I? Oh, right. The technical side of things.
It has to be said that The Man Who Had Influence is a mixed bag in the audio/video department. Given that this is an old episode of a CBS anthology series, I wasn't exactly expecting a restored presentation, but there are moments when the story can be hard to follow due to wacky audio problems.
About midway through the movie a repetitive clicking sound begins to overtake the soundtrack -- it's like you can hear the projector running away in the background -- and at one point it even begins to sound like someone's running a water hose onto a concrete floor at the back of the studio.
There are also instances when the dialog drops out entirely, and given how much of it there is in the film, that's bad news. It even happens during David's big speech at the end, and that's a shame because he delivers it with gusto.
It's pretty much a given that picture quality also leaves something to be desired, but unlike The Red House, it's not an utter train wreck this time. There's little in the way of damage to the film print, but it has the look of something that's been passed down through multiple generations of video tape. Given that it was probably shot on video to begin with, that's not surprising. The picture is fuzzy, there's the occasional dropped frame, and the lighting sometimes blooms around the actors in a way that creates cavernous clouds of darkness, but instances of this are few and far between.
So is The Man Who Had Influence worth watching?
Yeah. I suppose so. If you enjoy staged melodramas, you'll probably enjoy this. There are some decent performances and it runs under an hour, so it's a serviceable way to kill a little time while you're waiting for the pizza delivery guy to show up with your third annual cheat-day meal. I wouldn't suggest going out of your way to hunt it down, but I see no reason for you to avoid it altogether.
Star Rating: 3/5
It has to be said that The Man Who Had Influence is a mixed bag in the audio/video department. Given that this is an old episode of a CBS anthology series, I wasn't exactly expecting a restored presentation, but there are moments when the story can be hard to follow due to wacky audio problems.
About midway through the movie a repetitive clicking sound begins to overtake the soundtrack -- it's like you can hear the projector running away in the background -- and at one point it even begins to sound like someone's running a water hose onto a concrete floor at the back of the studio.
There are also instances when the dialog drops out entirely, and given how much of it there is in the film, that's bad news. It even happens during David's big speech at the end, and that's a shame because he delivers it with gusto.
It's pretty much a given that picture quality also leaves something to be desired, but unlike The Red House, it's not an utter train wreck this time. There's little in the way of damage to the film print, but it has the look of something that's been passed down through multiple generations of video tape. Given that it was probably shot on video to begin with, that's not surprising. The picture is fuzzy, there's the occasional dropped frame, and the lighting sometimes blooms around the actors in a way that creates cavernous clouds of darkness, but instances of this are few and far between.
So is The Man Who Had Influence worth watching?
Yeah. I suppose so. If you enjoy staged melodramas, you'll probably enjoy this. There are some decent performances and it runs under an hour, so it's a serviceable way to kill a little time while you're waiting for the pizza delivery guy to show up with your third annual cheat-day meal. I wouldn't suggest going out of your way to hunt it down, but I see no reason for you to avoid it altogether.
Star Rating: 3/5
Hello I am so delighted I located your blog, I really located you by mistake, while I was watching on google for something else, Anyways I am here now and could just like to say thank for a tremendous post and a all round entertaining website. Please do keep up the great work. buy dvd colony season 1
ReplyDeleteYou make so many great points here that I read your article a couple of times. Your views are in accordance with my own for the most part. This is great content for your readers. buy dvd the defenders season 1
ReplyDelete