Cultured Pearl

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 2008)

This has just aired on television some fifty-five years after the initial release so it has a license to appear dated yet it holds up surprisingly well. Burt Lancaster and Monty Clift would appear to be the only choices for the roles of Warden and Prewitt respectively; if we consider who else was working in 1953 Paul Newman hadn't really established himself and even if he had he would not have brought Clift's vulnerability to the role and Lee Marvin and Neville Brand, both very possible possible Wardens had little or no marquee value. It's difficult to see how Donna Reed rated an Oscar although there was absolutely nothing wrong with her performance whereas Sinatra was a revelation and thoroughly deserved his. On the whole screenwriter Dan Taradash made a decent fist out of an 'unfilmable' novel and Fred Zinneman got the best out of his actors. Still around seven or eight out of ten.