Cash McCall (1960)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Absolutely the worst movie.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Starts well with some very trendy opening credits for 1959, then it quickly establishes itself in cardboard Hollywoodland with lots of dialogue to tell the story. (It seems like Warner Brothers were trying to make a movie star out of James Garner, who was the lead in their TV western series 'Maverick', but they've confined him to a low budget and lashings of TV-type dialogue.) He's suitably smarmy as a dodgy businessman, but not particularly convincing, neither are the sets. Much attention from wardrobe and make-up departments is lavished on Natalie Wood (his love interest) and she looks gorgeous. Her father Dean Jagger is supposed to be a successful businessman who has built up a plastics business from nothing, but he plays it (as written) like a sweet old uncle. Henry Jones is nicely ironic, and Nina Foch, as always, is delightful. There's a flashback encounter between Natalie and James: they meet at a dance in Maine; later she suddenly appears in Maine cabin, soaked from the torrential rain outside, he goes into the bathroom to get her a robe, and she takes off all her clothes - knowing that he's coming back. He sees her, likes what he sees; she's humiliated, puts on the robe, and dashes back into the rain, later claiming that he made her feel 'cheap'. Very silly. The rest of the film is not silly, just dull: well-paced business dealings, some romance,some pithy lines and tons of talk, in a completely artificial world.

A hot shot business man buys failing businesses and manages to sell them for profit. It seems the filmmakers were going for riveting drama about big business and acquisitions. What they end up with has all the excitement of reading stock quotes. There's endless discussion about business dealings that is not the least bit interesting, which is a shame because this one has a nice cast. Garner is well suited to the title role, although his wardrobe looks rather comical. As his love interest, Wood is not given much to do. The supporting cast features many familiar faces, including Foch, Jagger, Marshall, Jones, Kruger, and Platt.

This is a great, fun film with the feel of similar films of the era such as 1962's "That Touch of Mink," whose plot bears more than a passing resemblance to this film's.James Garner is great as usual, as is the radiant Natalie Wood. Dean Jagger's performance as the plastic company patriarch strikes just the right note and Henry Jones does his usual excellent job as the somewhat smarmy assistant.But one of the real stars of the film is its 1960 decor. It really sets the period but also has a very distinctive look that is now considered retro-"atomic chic" with more than a little "Googie" thrown in.I've no idea why this film hasn't been released on DVD (it's perfect for anamorphic DVD at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio). If you don't want to rent or purchase the VHS tape, your only recourse is to await its very infrequent showings on cable (most recently on Encore's "Love" channel some six or so years ago.)

Natalie Wood drives a beautiful white, 1959 Mercury convertible with the top down and at the end of the movie, she and James Garner drive off in a more beautiful, white 1959 Lincoln Continental also with the top down. As a vintage car collector, I love spotting those beauties in those old films. Hollywood always used convertibles when they could so the actors could be seen on camera much easier without obstructions. Hollywood was also very hard on automobiles over the last 100 years. The director would say, "Ok, when we cut to the chase, I want to run the Duesenburg SJ Roadster off the cliff at the end of the scene. Don't worry, I've allotted for it in the budget." Katharine Hepburn once said, "Getting old is like driving an Edsel with a flat tire."