kidboots After "The Moon is Blue" was released, when words like "virgin" and "pregnant" were spoken in it, movies seemed to enter a more permissive age and what better story to tell than one of the greatest sex scandal murders of the 20th century. The lurid romantic tangle involving an ageing lecherous architect and an insane wealthy playboy - the prize being one of the most beautiful showgirls of the age - Evelyn Nesbit. Gibson Girl and Flora Dora girl, Evelyn was also the victim of an unscrupulous mother who saw her daughter as a way out of the poverty that her husband's death plunged the family into. I agree with the other reviewer the movie could be remade today pulling no punches because however sumptuous the Technicolor and however flawless Joan Collin's beauty, the movie is just more Hollywood gloss, none of the principals were anything like their "real" characters (except maybe Farley Granger's interpretation of Harry K. Thaw).Within 10 minutes the characters are established - devoted husband Stanford White (Ray Milland)is dining with his wife (Frances Fuller) when erratic Harry Thaw creates a scene because his regular table is taken. Meanwhile sweet and innocent "Gibson Girl" Evelyn Nesbit (Joan Collins) has caught the eye of a stage manager and is put in the Flora Dora lineup. The real Evelyn Nesbit served as a consultant on the film and as she always claimed that Stanford White was the love of her life, he was always going to be portrayed as a benevolent, almost kindly uncle.Their affair begins when Evelyn takes a job jumping out of a pie at a stag party. White won't hear of her doing it (they had met before) and takes her back to his flat and the pleasures of a red velvet swing suspended from the dome like roof. White finds sexual pleasure from pushing Evelyn back and forth on the swing and the scene is one of the most eerie in the movie. Evelyn's mother is away and unaware in Pittsburgh but in reality Evelyn's mother created a scandal by leaving her in White's care (Evelyn was only 17 at the time) even though she knew what a womanizer he was. She was the original stage mother and treated her daughter horribly but good old Glenda Farrell played her in her usual tough, no nonsense way and made the audience feel a lot of sympathy for her. In one scene Mrs. Nesbit dismissed some flowers sent from "a young fellow named John Barrymore" - again in real life Evelyn and John had an affair and almost eloped but Evelyn's mother put a stop to it - she didn't think he had any prospects!!!Back to the movie - Stanford White looks upon her more as a daughter and doesn't want to have any more contact with her in "that way", so he enrolls her at an exclusive boarding school but she pines away and who should suddenly be there to pick up the pieces but Harry Thaw!!! He marries her to everyone's amazement as it is common knowledge among New York society that he is crazy. While he is charming beforehand, on their honeymoon the recriminations start - he tyrannizes her into revealing all the sordidness of her affair with Stanford White. Things come to a head when Thaw murders White at the Madison Square Garden (ironically one of the many buildings that White designed) for ruining his young wife as he proclaims to the crowd. The subsequent trial shows how the wealth and might of the Thaw family is able to help Harry avoid the death penalty by reason of insanity. Evelyn's taking the stand against advice of her friends and having her character blackened certainly helps his family in seeking a more lenient sentence but they soon desert her and at the end Evelyn is left with nothing but a seedy vaudeville contract to become the "Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" to leering patrons.Reading with horror that first Marilyn Monroe, then Sheree North, of all people had been considered for the role - Joan Collins at least looked similar to the real Evelyn Nesbit, although no star could match Evelyn's astonishing beauty.

jotix100 As if by coincidence, we had watched "La fille coupee en deux", directed by Claude Chabrol, last night, and lo and behold, this earlier Hollywood version of the same story was shown the following night on cable. This is the third version of the same story, the other came out in Milos Forman's "Ragtime", that we have seen about the life of Evelyn Nesbit, a beautiful woman, who at the turn of the twentieth century found herself at the center of a love triangle. That the real Ms. Nesbit was an adviser of this 1955 Hollywood version, lends one to believe the screenplay was tilted to show her in a better light, as is the case with this film.Stanford White, a famous New York architect, builder, among other things of the Washington Square Arch, was a man who loved beauty wherever he saw it. At the time when one first meets him, he was forty eight years old. Married to Elizabeth, who was his same age, he is left alone as Mrs. White departs for Baden-Baden because of her arthritis. This man falls for the gorgeous Evelyn Nesbit, a poor young woman, whose main talent was her beauty.Evelyn also breaks young Harry Kendall Thaw's heart. This young man about town, a rich heir to a large fortune, wanted Evelyn, at all costs. His passion was his downfall. His infatuation with the ravishing beauty proved to be fatal. Harry's mother had a lot at stake, as she tried everything to get his son away from the woman she perceived to be a threat to her son's well being.Joan Collins, who was at the height of her beauty, plays Evelyn. It was one of her earlier screen appearances, although not her first. Her take of Evelyn, perhaps influenced by the real Ms. Nesbit, shows us a naive young woman who falls prey to forces that were bigger than her. There was also a sexual undercurrent in the story, something that in those days was not dealt with reality. Ray Milland and Farley Granger play Stanford White and Harry Thaw, respectively. A good supporting cast was assembled for the picture. Luther Adler, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Glenda Farrell, Gail Robbins, and Phillip Reed, among others, are seen in the background.The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and based on the screenplay by Charles Brackett, long associated with Billy Wilder, and Walter Reisch. Milton Krasner's cinematography contributed to make this a better film.

eamon_holley God, I've read the reviews.I know I'll be lambasted for accusing amateur critics for being totally rubbish. BUT can any one get to the realization that this movie (made in 1955) was based on real people with real lives over 100 years ago (as I write - 1 May 2008!!).That is amazing in it itself - Let's let a few things go. The movie was made 49 years after the murder. I'm writing about it after 102 years - and it's still a great, and terribly sad story. Who could tell it now!? We think we're the first generation to be totally liberated with sex scenes. We're so smart that we watch Sex in the City (and the amazing swing scene). However, this movie was made in 1955 and is based upon a very real and very sad story. Evelyn Nesbit was one of the first and greatest Hollywood actresses - up until 1930 she and others like her were sometimes freely allowed a sexuality that is still, to this day, considered sometimes pornographic.However, regarding this movie and (real) story in particular, what is most amazing is how a small town beauty in the first decade of the 1900's (correct - 100 years ago) allowed herself to be caught between two powerful men (infact there was a third - actually in the middle - John Barrymore) and that her life eventually became a Hollywood thriller. Only in the United States of America.Good God! Elizabeth Nesbit was 16 when she met the 47 year old Mr. Standford White - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Nesbit. She was a "silent actress" - never made a speaking role in her life. However perhaps she was the first sell out. She was special adviser to this film... why wouldn't she be - she was central to it. She IS it!!! But even by 1930 (yet alone 1955) Evelyn Nesbit was a total has been. According to Wikipedia, largely because of her third husband - the Mr.Thaw that killed Mr. White - her opportunities to act as the "Vamp" she once had, ended. The reason Thaw fell in love with her was the very reason she couldn't act on the screen that made her a 20th Century legend. Looking back however, even if the transition from the movies to the talkies allowed it (and it rarely did), Evelyn was always going to be something from a by-gone age - "The Vamp" - a segment from the curiosity shop - the "silents" - and, allegedly, a witness to a murder of a former lover - in a time when men still wore spats, and top hats and long tails... It all seems so romantic now - except that this was real, 102 years ago a man was shot in the face for love or lust or jealousy, somebody actually was really murdered. I doubt it was romantic - in any way, shape or form.What do you think - would a 2008 version do these people and especially Evelyn Nesbit more justice, or should we just let people rest? After all in 1955 the story was only 49 years old...

bob the moo In a magazine with some of his work in it, wealthy and influential Stanford White comments on the model on the cover. When he sees her in the flesh he asks that she be brought to his house. Meeting her there he talks to her and the two quickly kiss. He asks her mother not to bring her back but he cannot help himself and soon falls into an affair with her as she falls in love with him. The young and innocent Evelyn Nesbit also attracts the attention of the newly rich but arrogant Harry Thaw, who charms her despite herself. With the attentions of two so wealthy men, it is no wonder that Evelyn is affected by it and the two men are brought into conflict, neither particularly caring for the other anyway.The title made me think this film would be a light romantic comedy from the 1950's that would be distracting but not that interesting. Watching it proved to me why I should never turn away a film on the grounds of such sweeping judgements because I found it much more interesting, engaging and morally darker than I expected it to be. The plot is supposedly a true story and, not knowing the total truth of this I can only assume that it takes liberties in the way that any "true" film does – regardless though, it only adds to the value that it is based on a real case. It sees a sweet young girl be torn between two men who are both far beyond the level in society that she could have expected. The text after the titles give away that this story is leading up to a court case of some sort but the development is still good and I found the basic facts to be interesting and made all the better by the subtexts and character development that the script brought out. The character dynamics worked well but also the way the characters (specifically Stanford and Evelyn) grew and changed across the film.Responding to this the cast were surprisingly impressive. Well, perhaps that is unfair to paint them all with this brush because the person that surprised and impressed me was Joan Collins. Maybe it is because I am the "Dynasty" generation but I never really rated her as an actress, so here I was quite taken by her range, her subtlety and her awareness of her character. It is not a perfect performance but she is a big part of the material working at more than just the narrative level. Milland is not as good because his character isn't as good but he is still convincing and seems bought into his character. Granger is betrayed by the character and falters as a result – the script puts him in one place at the start and leaves him there with little to do – he is the "conclusion" to the story but other than that he is of little interest. Support is solid enough but the film belongs to Collins and, to a lesser degree, Milland, and both do well with it.Overall an engaging and interesting film that is a lot more morally complex that I expected from the period. The basic facts of the story are good but it is the character development that makes the film interesting and the main two actors respond well to it to produce a solid film that I found interesting, a bit melodramatic but well worth a look.