Scandal Sheet
Directed by Phil Karlson
Written by Ted Sherdeman, Eugene Ling and James Poe based on the novel The Dark Page by Samuel Fuller
1952/USA
Motion Picture Investors/Columbia Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Biddle: You know that wasn’t a bad looking dame. Too bad the guy used an axe on her head. Spoiled some pretty pictures for me.[/box]
It seems that the media was a favorite target of filmmakers in the 1950’s.
After Mark Chapman (Broderick Crawford) took over as editor-in-chief of a big city newspaper, he turned it into a tabloid and circulation skyrocketed. Feature writer Jullie Allison (Donna Reed) finds her new boss’s methods deplorable but ace crime reporter Steve McCleary (John Derek), who is sweet on her, is modeling himself on Chapman.
One of Chapman’s ploys is hosting a “Lonelyhearts” dance, with prizes, and reporting on the paper’s successful matchmaking. Unfortunately, the wife (Rosemary DeCamp) he abandoned over 20 years ago when he was known as George Grant is one of the lonely. She confronts him, threatens to expose him, and winds up dead in a bathtub.
McCleary is on the case and soon discovers it was murder. Like his boss has taught him, he follows up with dogged determination. Rummy ex-newsman Charlie Barnes joins in the fun. More murders follow but they do not dissuade the star reporter. With Harry Morgan as a photographer.
I really enjoyed the sheer energy of this one. It moves along at a nice clip and all the performances are very good. The plot has the flavor of Sam Fuller, who wrote the source material, but some of his excesses have been trimmed to the benefit of realism. Phil Karlson has been hit and miss for me but this was a hit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_JLUCIFBGs
Title sequence -cinematography by Burnett Guffey
