East Side, West Side (1949)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

What a cast. I can enjoy this movie for that reason alone, and the stars really strut their stuff.The film is set in New York just after WW2. Jessie and Brandon Bourne (Barbara Stanwick and James Mason) a couple whose marriage has been jolted by his adulterous affair with Isabel Lorrison (Ava Gardner), try to put it behind them and move forward.However Brandon has a tendency to hang around the Del Rio nightclub where he meets young model, Rosa Senta (Cyd Charisse). Unfortunately, it's just at that moment that Isabel Lorrison arrives back on the scene and back into Brandon's life, despite his attempts to stay true to Jessie.At a party, Jessie meets Rosa's boyfriend, Mark Dwyer (Van Heflin), an intelligence operative and ex-cop turned novelist who has just returned from Europe. After a lot of musical chairs reshuffling of relationships, Rosa becomes the only one unseated while Jessie and Mark become an item, and Brandon can't help his attraction to Isabel. He explains to Jessie that his attraction is like a drunk who knows liquor will wreck him, but can't stop himself.When a murder takes place, Mark Dwyer's instincts as an ex-policeman take over. He actually walks into the murder scene and virtually runs the investigation – I guess that's why crime scene tape was invented to stop things like that happening – the case is solved but a lot of relationships change before the end.Although the story is pretty crazy, and would give any modern soapy a run for its money, "East Side, West Side" has a literate script with touches of wit, giving the stars plenty to work with. With that said though, Barbara Stanwick plays a role that she could put on like a dress straight from her wardrobe – she plays it well, but of course she did have plenty of practice.James Mason, he of the mellifluous voice, was always a scene-stealer, and smooth-talking cads like Brandon were his forte. On the other hand, Van Heflin was at his best as the honest, understanding, tower of strength. Whenever he played bad, it was so against type that Academy Awards weren't out of the question à la "Johnny Eager".Although their characters are different, the presence in the same film of both Ava Gardner and Cyd Charisse, two of the most beautiful women ever in movies, seems like overkill. On television shows like "MasterChef" and "Top Chef", when a contestant overdoes the spices, the dish can end up with just too many flavours, and that's what I felt when Ava and Cyd face each other in the same scene – you hardly know which way to look."East Side, West Side" has that indefinable MGM gloss plus a distinctive Miklos Rozsa score, but the stars make this movie; to paraphrase Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard", "They had faces then".

Having just watched "BUtterfield 8", I saw this movie as an earlier attempt to tell the same story from the wife's point of view. Same story, basically: seemingly happily married couple deals with issues concerning a rather "loose" woman (a former fling, now back in town) with few (if any) morals. Instead of Elizabeth Taylor, the "other woman" is Ava Gardner (like Taylor, one of MGM's genuinely beautiful as well as talented stars), and in place of Laurence Harvey and Dina Merrill are James Mason and Barbara Stanwyck. "BUtterfield 8" told the story from the other woman's point of view, but "East Side, West Side" focuses on the long-suffering wife (Stanwyck). It is very apparent here that Gardner has no scruples when it comes to going after a married man, so is it any wonder she ends up a corpse? But the film is not about the murder; It is about the wife's fight for her marriage and how she manages to find herself in the process.If you can get past the fact that Barbara Stanwyck was only 8 years older than Gale Sondergaard (cast as her mother!), you can enjoy this lavish soaper, made for MGM's 25th Anniversary. James Mason (like "BUtterfield 8's" Laurence Harvey) is what Lucile Watson described to daughter Norma Shearer in "The Women"; the type of man who can't do his hair or redecorate his office when he's going through a change of life ordeal. He has to find himself in the arms of a younger woman. Unlike Taylor in "B-8", Gardner doesn't show any vulnerability or motivation for her loose lifestyle, certainly no apologies to either Mason or Stanwyck. I found it interesting that when Stanwyck finds out about Gardner's death, she is as stunned as if it were a neighbor or an old friend. Like she later did in the brilliant thriller "Jeopardy", Stanwyck provides an opening narration that seems unnecessary.Certainly, there is no realism in a lot of the movie, so you have to take it from an entertainment point of view. I was surprised by the performance of Cyd Charisse as a model who helps Mason out of a predicament and later befriends Stanwyck to explain a picture in the newspaper. Usually, Charisse seems distracted by something in her acting, but here, she was amazingly on the ball with everything she did. I was not surprised by the outstanding performance of Van Heflin as Gardner's friend who becomes Stanwyck's confidant when they pick him up at LaGuardia Airport. I do not recall seeing Heflin in anything where he was less than inside the role. Whether it was a musical ("Presenting Lily Mars"), film noir ("Act of Violence") or his award worthy performance as the man with the bomb in "Airport", Heflin was simply outstanding.I like Sondergaard in her two scenes; As a Broadway star from long ago (even though she's only 55-in real life only 50), she gave an interesting speech on society how in her day you couldn't just become a stage star to get into "Cafe Society". Sondergaard, a veteran of playing chilly characters, is nice here, although she has a moment alone with Mason where he gets to feel that chill. I liked the interaction between Stanwyck and her stepfather, one of mutual respect and affection. Nancy Davis (Reagan) gives a nice quiet performance as Stanwyck's pal who makes sweet observations about women's friendships going beyond cattiness and jealousy. You won't quickly forget Beverly Michaels as a mannish (yet well dressed) femme fatale. She may look like Diana Dors but has the masculinity of Hope Emerson! Veteran character actors and soon-to-be TV stars William Conrad and William Frawley have nice bits. This isn't a film that will be regarded as an all-time classic but is a fairly enjoyable "women's picture", made long after Hollywood really stopped making them.

Compelling. This film took me by surprise - I couldn't resist it. Stanwyck is always 100% watchable and moving and she's smart and Van Heflin is a man's man and a very subtly intense actor. Ava Gardner was outstanding and Cyd Charisse is excellent. Mason is not my cup of tea but he pulled it off. These are actors who move with fluid grace and attack their lines and we just don't have American actors like this at present. I watched it a second time because it was seamless and sexy in a very subtle way. The clothes are gorgeous too. All of the intimacy between Heflin and Stanwyck and the easy way he had of just declaring himself was exciting. I was too young to appreciate this actor before, but I'm old enough now to want men to be men in films again.

Manhattan in the forties was the center of the so-called Cafe Society, in which people from high society mixed with show biz types, and others, less richer folks, in the clubs and watering holes that were the places where a party atmosphere was a requirement. Brandon and Jessica Bourne, a couple of well to do New Yorkers, are seen as the story unfold. They had a rough time when Brandon had an affair with a lovely playgirl, Isabel Lorrison, who had been out of the way, but she returns to the scene with the idea of reviving her fling with the man that she never was able to get out of her heart.Jessica, who watches in horror as Bran's picture in the tabloids after being punched by Isabel's new beau, realizes Isabel's intentions in reappearing in her life. At the same time, the arrival of an admired war veteran, Mark Dwyer, who has come to interview for a job as a newspaper reporter, gets her attention because he is everything her husband is not. Mark's attraction for Jess is evident, but she is an honest woman who will stick by her man, no matter how rotten he is.When a murder brings all the principals together, it takes Mark only a moment to figure out who is the culprit, thus clearing Brandon of any wrong doing. Jessica's resolution to support her playboy husband reaches an impasse when she realizes his betrayal. Unfortunately, she doesn't make up her mind about Mark, the only hope she knows about a possible happiness.Mervyn LeRoy directed this MGM 1949 film. It was based on a novel by Marcia Davenport and adapted for the screen by Isobel Lennart, the writer of many films in her prolific career. Mr. LeRoy shows his affinity to this type of melodrama, which capitalized on the excellent cast that was put together for this project. Charles Rosher's crisp black and white cinematography works well for the picture, while Miklos Rozsa's musical score contributes to the enjoyment of the picture.Barbara Stanwyck appears as Jessica giving the character her usual intensity. Ms. Stanwyck was a reliable player no matter the vehicle she was entrusted with. James Mason, although being top billed, was not exactly the main attraction. That honor went to Van Heflin, an excellent actor that was a versatile performer who appears as Mark Dwyer, a man who falls in love with Jessica silently. Ava Gardner's contributes to create heat in the film with her sultry good looks. Cyd Charisse is Rosa, a kind young woman who helps Jessica. Nancy Davis, who went to be the First Lady, after marrying Ronald Reagan, appears as Jessica's friend. Gale Sondergaard has a couple of good scenes in the film.