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The Man Who Cheated Himself
A "classy" (yet forgotten) 1950 entry from 20th Century Fox.
San Francisco police Lt. Ed Cullen (Lee J. Cobb) is a grump who has gotten his younger brother Andy (John Dall) as a temporary partner. Ed's also v. secretive abt his personal life; he's been in a v. intense relationship with a rich (and married) woman named Lois (Jayne Wyatt). Now, Lois has what I'm gonna call a high-strung personality. She's in the middle of divorcing her second husband.
One night, while Ed and Lois are spending some time at her place, Lois' soon-to-be-ex-husband shows ups. Lois ends up shooting him dead. Let the troubles begin…
This is a v. solid movie. Tightly plotted, interesting (and doomed) characters, and the underlining theme of possessiveness (specifically from Lois toward Ed). I liked the acting. Cobb was PERFECT as Ed because he's got the ideal kind of taciturn delivery that makes Ed super believable in every situation. You'll feel for Ed cuz he's presented such a hard shell to everyone all of his life. He doesn't allow himself to express a lot of affection for his younger brother (even though we KNOW he cares abt him).
The approach to the idea that some kinds of love are toxic is an interesting one.
Do I have any criticisms?
I was SUPER ANNOYED with Lois. She was NOT my fave. I think part of it is that I never quite understood the attraction between them. For Lois, I could sort of see Ed's reserved personality as a way to keep herself grounded. But I'm confused as to what abt Lois' chaos is attractive to Ed.
OTOH, it's the wrongness of their relationship what kicks off the entire movie so there's that.
Do I recommend it?
I actually do. IMO, it's on the lower side of a B-level movie and that's fine. Sometimes a movie is the way a movie is. I'm giving it a 2.8 out of 5.. Worth watching even if I wasn't super moved by it.
It's on every free movie app. I've also seen it on and off on Hoopla and there are uploads on YT too.
Queerness level: V. low to the point of not being worth watching this movie thru any queer lens.
A "classy" (yet forgotten) 1950 entry from 20th Century Fox.
San Francisco police Lt. Ed Cullen (Lee J. Cobb) is a grump who has gotten his younger brother Andy (John Dall) as a temporary partner. Ed's also v. secretive abt his personal life; he's been in a v. intense relationship with a rich (and married) woman named Lois (Jayne Wyatt). Now, Lois has what I'm gonna call a high-strung personality. She's in the middle of divorcing her second husband.
One night, while Ed and Lois are spending some time at her place, Lois' soon-to-be-ex-husband shows ups. Lois ends up shooting him dead. Let the troubles begin…
This is a v. solid movie. Tightly plotted, interesting (and doomed) characters, and the underlining theme of possessiveness (specifically from Lois toward Ed). I liked the acting. Cobb was PERFECT as Ed because he's got the ideal kind of taciturn delivery that makes Ed super believable in every situation. You'll feel for Ed cuz he's presented such a hard shell to everyone all of his life. He doesn't allow himself to express a lot of affection for his younger brother (even though we KNOW he cares abt him).
The approach to the idea that some kinds of love are toxic is an interesting one.
Do I have any criticisms?
I was SUPER ANNOYED with Lois. She was NOT my fave. I think part of it is that I never quite understood the attraction between them. For Lois, I could sort of see Ed's reserved personality as a way to keep herself grounded. But I'm confused as to what abt Lois' chaos is attractive to Ed.
OTOH, it's the wrongness of their relationship what kicks off the entire movie so there's that.
Do I recommend it?
I actually do. IMO, it's on the lower side of a B-level movie and that's fine. Sometimes a movie is the way a movie is. I'm giving it a 2.8 out of 5.. Worth watching even if I wasn't super moved by it.
It's on every free movie app. I've also seen it on and off on Hoopla and there are uploads on YT too.
Queerness level: V. low to the point of not being worth watching this movie thru any queer lens.
