The Good Die Young
A Romulus Picture 1954 / Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Blu-ray: MGM $19.95 (DVD $14.95)
This release was a surprise; nobody seemed to be clamoring for a one-off release of a strange hybrid American noir/British social drama, yet here we are.
Fate brings together four unlikely heist partners: Laurence Harvey is a war hero who sponges off his wife, a rich artist getting tired of his unfaithfulness; John Ireland is a Yank married to floozy actress Gloria Grahame (that is, a floozy actress portrayed by Miss Grahame, I don’t wish to cast aspersions on her personal character); Stanley Baker is a pug who’s fought his last fight, and when he loses is hand in an accident has no employment or dreams to fall back on; and Richard Basehart is an American businessman who married lovely Joan Collins but can’t take her home to the states because of her nasty, domineering mother. Four desperate men and one extremely flimsy Post Office that is getting a $100,000 shipment in small, unmarked bills.
The film has a lot going for it; we get to know the men and the women in their lives, but basic appreciation for the film is going to rely in great part on the viewer’s tolerance level, since well over an hour of a 101 min. film concerns itself with the setup. Thankfully, the payoff is well worth waiting for: the actual heist is filmed as a masterpiece of action, cinematography, and mood. (And a funny story: the original novel and script called for a bank heist, but the bankers financing the film kiboshed that and so they swapped out a Post Office instead.)
The four subplots, from most to least interesting: we genuinely like the boxer (British he-man Baker is best remembered, probably, for Zulu) and his wife (Rene Ray) and the sequences with them keep the film moving. Basehart and Collins have little chemistry (and her part is thankless to say the least) but Freda Jackson (Brides of Dracula) practically steals the film as the domineering old monster-in-law. I liked the Ireland-Grahame vignettes because who doesn’t want to see Gloria Grahame, and reportedly the scene where she gets “dumped” in the film (that’s all I’m going to say, no spoilers here) was as big a surprise to her as it is to us. That leaves Laurence Harvey – mastermind of the robbery – and his wife Margaret Leighton, and while they appear to be groomed as the “stars” of the film, they're the weak link and the story seems to stop dead whenever it’s their turn to take the screen. This would be a better picture if they could be edited out.
It’s interesting to note that for the U.K. release, about three minutes was removed, not for violence or sex but because the censor thought it went too far in criticizing British post-war life (the quote at the top of this page was excised, for example). Thankfully, this is the full international version without cuts.
Million-dollar Dialog:
The boxer, after losing a hand in an accident: “Seems there are plenty of jobs you can do with one hand, but they want two-handed men to do them.”
The MGM Blu-ray is a rather pedestrian release of the film with some artifacting early on and a 1.33:1 aspect ratio that clears a lot of space over the actors’ heads. The British Blu-ray of the title contains both cuts of the film and is in 1.66:1 ratio, which looks much better. 1954 was a year when films were frequently offered in both formats to suit theatres that hadn’t made the switch to widescreen yet.
The film is recommended for the cast, for the terrific and superbly atmospheric last three reels, and for an interesting slice of British crime drama history. There are no extras.
Director Lewis Gilbert would go on to direct three James Bond films, including You Only Live Twice, so there’s that.
