The Damned Don’t Cry
Directed by Vincent Sherman
Written by Harold Medford and Jeronme Weidman from a story by Gertude Walker
1950/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Amazon Instant
Ethel Whitehead: Don’t talk to me about self-respect. That’s something you tell yourself you got when you got nothing else.
Joan Crawford sleeps herself to the top in this melodramatic noir.
Ethel Whitehead (Crawford) hates her life. Her family, a blue-collar worker husband and young son she adores, still lives with her parents. The husband is so mean he won’t even let her buy a bicycle for the boy. She does anyway and her son is killed while riding. That’s Ethel’s cue to walk out.
Before long, our heroine’s looks and figure are noticed and she starts working as a model for a dress manufacturer. One of the model’s jobs is to entertain the buyers in the evening which earns them some extra cash. Ethel initially is reluctant to do this but ends up more hard-bitten than the colleague who broke her in.
Ethel meets Martin Blankford (Kent Smith) an accountant. She gets interested before she finds out he actually doesn’t make much money. So she introduces him to the owner of a fancy restaurant she frequents. His accounting skills impress the owner and pretty soon Martin is called for an interview with a syndicate. It turns out the syndicate is a front for various vice rackets and Martin doesn’t want anything to do with them. Ethel persuades him to go along.
Then George Castleman (David Bryan), the boss, makes his move on Ethel. As part of her advancement she gets a fancy apartment and wardrobe and a new name, Lorna Forbes. She easily passes in the ritziest of circles. Martin is understandably peeved but persists in hanging around.
Finally George sends Lorna out west to find out what’s up with his West Coast man Nick Prenta (Steve Cochran). Lorna gets in deeper than George intended.
I thought this was OK. I never can buy Crawford as a man magnet but she is always convincing as a woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. The men surrounding her are, as always, pretty uncharismatic. There’s something I like about Steve Cochran’s heavies though.
Trailer
