Tony Maietta:
Hello. I'm film historian Tony Maietta.

Brad Shreve:
And I'm Brad Shreve, who's just a guy who likes movies.

Tony Maietta:
We discuss movies and television from Hollywood's golden age. We go behind the scenes and share our opinions too.

Brad Shreve:
And of course, being the average guy, my opinions are the ones that matter.

Tony Maietta:
As does your self delusion. Welcome to going Hollywood. 

Brad Shreve:
Tony, you know, when it comes to giving my opinion about movies that I always hold back and wait till we get into it a little bit, a little discussion before I tell you how I felt about the movie. But I'm gonna tell you, when you told me to watch The Razor's Edge and I sat there, my eyes glazed over at the screen trying to get through this slog of a film, wanting— I'm like, what was he thinking? I can't believe he's having me watch this garbage. And when it ended, I'm like, did I miss something? Did I miss something? So, I went to look at the reviews and lo and behold, I found out that the movie I understood, The Razor's Edge in 1984 starring Bill Murray, the only one I ever knew existed, I saw next to it a 1946 version. And I'm like, wait a minute, wait a minute, don't tell me.

Tony Maietta:
Oh no. That's so funny. That's so funny. Well, yes. And listen, a little peek here into the behind the curtain. So, Brad texts me yesterday and goes, did you mean the 1984 version or the 1946 version? I was like, oh my God, don't tell me you sat through the '84 version of The Razor's

Brad Shreve:
Edge. I did. I did.

Tony Maietta:
He did. He did. He's had a whole lot of Somerset. He's had a whole lot of Somerset Maugham this weekend. He's had a whole lot of Somerset Maugham.

Brad Shreve:
I watched it midday, so I had to stop for siesta. I took my siesta, and when I got up and I turned it back on, I'm like, I looked, I'm like, oh my God, shit, I'm not even halfway through.

Tony Maietta:
God, see, you're, you're a better man than I am to sit through that crap. So no,

Brad Shreve:
but you

Tony Maietta:
know what, I'm able to comment on it.

Brad Shreve:
I will. And actually, I will say I have things to compare the two. I normally don't like to do so, but where I think one is weak, the other is strong and vice versa. So I look forward to that.

Tony Maietta:
Well, good. I'm glad. This is— so as we started to talk about it, we are talking about The Razor's Edge today from 1946.

Brad Shreve:
1946.

Tony Maietta:
From 20th Century Fox. And I want to say right now, this is a request This is a listener request from, again, one of our lovable, most lovable and loyal listeners. And it's also a birthday. So, uh, it is indeed my Italian mama, Antoinette Spina in Palm Springs, California. Happy birthday, Antoinette. I love you. Uh, you wanted us to do The Razor's Edge and we're doing The Razor's Edge for you. And also because it's a, well, it's a fantastic movie in my opinion, but we'll, we'll see what Brad thinks.

Tony Maietta:
But so that's also true. We're also, this is also a request from, from Antoinette.

Brad Shreve:
Happy birthday, Antoinette.

Tony Maietta:
Yes. I'm gonna see you soon. I'll be out soon. So now that we are— now that you watched the correct film, Brad, do you wanna, do you wanna tell the people a little bit about what do you wanna talk about? The cast of The Razor's Edge, of the correct version, uh, who's in this movie, uh, and what this movie's about?

Brad Shreve:
Sure. Well, um, I'll start with what the movie's about. This is, uh, it's based on a W. Somerset Maugham novel of the same name. I think it came out 2 years before. It was the early '40s. This is a 1946 film. As we said, a young World War I veteran named Larry rejects conventional life and travels the world searching for meaning.

Brad Shreve:
And he leaves behind struggles with love, loss, and privilege.

Tony Maietta:
Good.

Brad Shreve:
And that's basically what it's about.

Tony Maietta:
That's a good synopsis.

Brad Shreve:
Or at least what it should be about, we'll say. The cast is incredible. Uh, yeah, we have Tyrone Power as Larry Darrell, the gentleman that we just spoke of. Jean Tierney, gorgeous, as Isabel Bradley, who actually, when she first came on, I thought, oh, Kate Hepburn's in this?

Tony Maietta:
Oh, really?

Brad Shreve:
Yeah. Because there's certain angles. Yeah, only certain angles.

Tony Maietta:
There's a Hepburn-esque quality.

Brad Shreve:
Even during the movie.

Tony Maietta:
I can see that. I can see that.

Brad Shreve:
There were certain angles I'm like, oh, that's Hepburn. And nope, nope, that's Jean Tierney.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
Uh, she plays his, uh, beautiful, um, socially ambitious fiancée who wants a traditional wealthy life. Then there's Sophie MacDonald, played by wonderful Anne Baxter, who is a childhood friend and a very tragic character in the film. We have Clifton Webb, who to me steals the film.

Tony Maietta:
Yes.

Brad Shreve:
Even though I don't necessarily think he always should, he can't help himself because he's great as Elliott Templeton, And he is Isabel's very flamboyant, not so coded or hiddenly coded, snobbish, socially obsessed uncle. And then we have W. Somerset Maugham himself, played by Herbert Marshall. He appears as the author himself and he kind of weaves in and out and tells what we just watched. Yeah. And then others I'll go through real quickly. Gray Maturin is Larry's friend, basically Isabel's eventual husband. Kind of a good guy.

Brad Shreve:
Uh, they hit hard times. That's played by John Payne. Uh, then we have Louisa Bradley who plays Lucille Watson. Uh, Lucille Watson is a career dowager. It's pretty much—

Tony Maietta:
she, we all know her.

Brad Shreve:
She, uh, so if you've seen her in this, you've seen her in most everything.

Tony Maietta:
Where else have we seen Lucille Watson?

Brad Shreve:
I can't think. I, you know, I know her from a million things, but off the top of my head, I can't think of where we've seen her.

Tony Maietta:
She's Norma Shearer's mother in The Women. She's the owl. Oh, she's Mrs. Moorhead in The Women.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, she's— if you've seen her once, she's— you've seen her in 100 things, and she's always wonderful. She's perfect at that role. And then another one I'm gonna bring up because she's very important to us, Miss Keith is played by Elsa Lanchester.

Tony Maietta:
Oh, very small part. Very small.

Brad Shreve:
Yes, very, very. But I was so excited when I saw her because we've talked about her in The Bride of Frankenstein, we've talked about her in Murder by Death. Uh, if you don't know her by those, you certainly know her from Mary Poppins. She was one of the maids. No, no, she was the nanny.

Tony Maietta:
She wasn't—

Brad Shreve:
she was the nanny who quit at the beginning.

Tony Maietta:
She was Katie Nana who left in the beginning.

Brad Shreve:
Katie Nana. Yes. So, uh, it was fun to see her. I, I was excited. I was sad that it was so short. So that, that's the main cast.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, this is, this is such an interesting cast. First of all, I wanna ask you, do you know what other film Gene Tierney and Clifton Webb appeared in? It's a very famous movie from 1944. And if you don't, if you need a hint, I'll sing it to you.

Brad Shreve:
Uh, I need a hint.

Tony Maietta:
For it was Laura. So they were together in a very famous film from 1944, Laura, with Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price.  So do you know Laura? You know the story of Laura, right? Of the painting? Oh, you don't know Laura? Okay.

Brad Shreve:
No, I don't. No, I don't.

Tony Maietta:
Um, and of course, no. Uh, we also have 6 degrees of separation here. We have Anne Baxter, who won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for this film, the only Academy Award this film won, uh, playing Sophie. And of course we know Anne from— cue Brad.

Brad Shreve:
Well, that's obvious. All About Eve.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, she's Eve. Eve Evil. Yes, Little Miss Evil. Yes, yes.

Brad Shreve:
She's very sympathetic here. She's not so sympathetic in Eve.

Tony Maietta:
Well,

Brad Shreve:
yes, well, she starts out actually kind of— she's very lovable in the

Tony Maietta:
Yes. She's wonderful in this film. This was truly, as you can imagine, this was a breakout performance for Anne Baxter. And then she went on to do many more roles. But this film in particular, she fought hard to get this part. And a lot of— and Darryl Zanuck did not want to give her this part. He wanted to get Jeanne Crane. He always wanted to get Jeanne Crane.

Tony Maietta:
But Anne Baxter fought for this and she proved herself a very, very dramatic Incredibly talented actress, and it kind of pigeonholed her, pigeonholed her as well. Uh, but we'll get to that. So this is an incredible cast. Plus we have Herbert Marshall, as Brad mentioned. Now let me ask you this. Do you remember when we talked about Herbert Marshall?

Brad Shreve:
No, this one I'm drawing a blank. I, I will say, no, this one I, I'm drawing a blank. I hope he played a better character than he did in this one, but I have a lot to say about Mr. Marshall.

Tony Maietta:
Well, he's, he's playing Somerset. Yeah, he's playing Somerset Maugham in this. He was in The Letter with Bette Davis. And remember we talked about Herbert Marshall and his prosthetic leg?

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
And how it really was an open secret in Hollywood that Herbert Marshall had a prosthetic leg. And watching him in this film, you would not— I mean, there are certain things like you never see him get into a car. He always walks out of the shot and then Tyrone Power follows him. And the next thing you know, they're both in a car. You see Tyrone Power get in the car. You don't see Herbert Marshall get in the car because he had a prosthetic leg. But that being said,

Brad Shreve:
you actually don't see him much. You see, you don't see him walk around much at all because typically you get a camera angle and there he is.

Tony Maietta:
Exactly. That's what I mean. He walks off, he walks out of camera range, he walks outta the shot, and then he's sitting somewhere. So, but I gotta tell you, watching him in this, you would, if you didn't know, about that, this about Herbert Marshall. It wouldn't be apparent to you from this film. I mean, he has a walking stick, but he's not in a wheelchair. He doesn't have a cane. And he's— yeah, he's— this is kind of a thankless role, the role of Somerset Maugham in this film.

Tony Maietta:
But I think he's pretty good. I think he's pretty good. But he's no— he's not our star. He's not Tyrone

Brad Shreve:
Swoon.

Tony Maietta:
Beautiful, beautiful Tyrone Power. Have you ever seen a Tyrone Power film?

Brad Shreve:
I have. I couldn't tell you what, but boy, he, he certainly made me swoon.

Tony Maietta:
Yes.

Brad Shreve:
Which I'm gonna tell, I'm gonna be right up front on here. It's one of the reasons why I think he, I, I think he was horribly miscast in this role.

Tony Maietta:
Well, we'll get to that. I just, and I want, we'll talk a, yeah, we'll talk a bit about Tyrone, but I, I just kind of wanna say that,

Brad Shreve:
but he, oh, he was dreamy.

Tony Maietta:
Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney are kind of like the '40s version or of Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, 2 of the most beautiful actors. that were working in Hollywood. And Tyrone, in his previous career, was a great swashbuckling star. Probably one of his most famous films is The Mark of Zorro. He remade The Mark of Zorro, and he also did The Black Swan. He did Son of Fury. So this was a real change of pace for Tyrone to do this film. Just like his character, he had just— he was in World War II.

Tony Maietta:
He fought in World War II, and he was coming back to a readjusted life. He looks a little bit different. And so that kind of is one beautifully, it goes along with Larry. It's interesting how the story that what Larry's going through is a little bit of what Tyrone Power was going through in his real life, readjusting to life after a war. With Larry, it was World War I, with Tyrone Power, World War II. So how do we want to approach this, Brad? Because this is an interesting film. This film is so deep we might get lost. So I'm not really sure how we This is like the first— I think this is the first film we've ever talked about which is a spiritual— which is on so many levels a very— it's a spiritual journey for this character.

Tony Maietta:
And there are so many levels of it from Mom's novel. You talked a bit about, you know, the plot of this film. Should we talk a little bit about the specific plot points, the specific scenes which stuck out to you, which illustrate Larry's journey or his relationship with with Isabelle, with Gene Tierney? How do you want to approach this? Um, but let's— you know, I'm going to answer my own question. Let's, let's do it this way, because this is a long film, ladies and gentlemen. A lot, a lot of our, a lot of our listeners, which I really love, after we talk about a movie, we'll go and watch it. So I just want to prepare yourselves. This is a long film, but it's incredibly engrossing. And what's, to me, is what's so amazing about it is who in 1947 was making a film about spiritual enlightenment.

Tony Maietta:
I mean, that's, it's, that's really kind of amazing when you think about it. You had I Was a Male War Bride and you had The Razor's Edge. And The Razor's Edge, the title derives from the— I hope I say this right— Katha Upanishad. And it's a spiritual teaching and it suggests that the path to spiritual enlightenment is as difficult to traverse as the edge of a razor. So what's happening in this film is they're coming back from World War I and Larry is very disillusioned.

Brad Shreve:
Mm-hmm.

Tony Maietta:
Larry's experiencing an existential crisis. This film is about an existential crisis from 20th Century Fox in 1946. The reason he's having this existential crisis is because right before the war ended, a fellow soldier basically gave up his life so Larry could live. So, the film opens at a party where Larry and Isabel, played by Jean Tierney, are meeting. They've known each other for a while. They're engaged, and she wants to get married, and he doesn't because his life is suddenly— he's suddenly in this existential crisis about what is the meaning of life. We've got to be here for a reason, which is more important than just getting married, making money, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And Isabel, the luminous Jean Tierney, loves him, but she can't accept the fact that he just wants to live simply on the money he's got.

Tony Maietta:
He's got like $3,000 that he can live off yearly. She won't accept that. She wants more out of life. She wants to be successful. She wants to marry a man who's ambitious. And so Larry sets off on his spiritual journey while Jean Tierney gets married. She gets married to John Payne, who plays the part of Gray, who's a successful businessman. And that's how it sets off.

Tony Maietta:
And then all of these stories kind of diverge until they all come back together again. And Herbert Marshall, who plays Mom, Somerset Mom, oversees all that. Did I— did that make sense at all? This is a very hard film to describe to people.

Brad Shreve:
It is a hard film to describe. It did make sense. And let me tell you, the opening party totally threw me for a loop because for several reasons. First of all, I'm like, what the hell is Somerset Maugham doing there? Because he was not in the 1984 version. But I understand he was in the book. He, instead of just being a narrator, he was referred to as Somerset. Well, he's actually referred to as Willie because he doesn't like the name Somerset, though that's what they call him in the movie. It threw me for a loop because my God, we were being introduced to so much and so many people.

Brad Shreve:
I'm like, Do I need to take notes like on it? You know, I, not that I don't, but I'm like, do I need to be writing down every single name here? It's, it was like, it was, there was so much information given to us and who's with who and what's going on. And it's like, oh my God, I was so overwhelmed.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
I didn't know where we were going with that.

Tony Maietta:
You need a chart or a Cliff Notes or something to, to follow these characters because each of these characters has their own specific story, even though the main thrust of it is Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney and basically the development of their relationship. But we get some real Lost Horizon, Himalayas kind of background in this film, which I think is really fascinating because Larry was so traumatized by the death of the fellow airman who saved his life, who basically gave up his life so Larry could live. He's rejecting everything. everything, all expectations of a career, wealth, marriage, social position, it's all gone. And Isabelle doesn't understand this. But however, even though they agree to part, she goes, go on your journey, I'm going to go live my life. She's still in love with him. At least she thinks she's in love with him.

Tony Maietta:
And I want to point out that Clifton Webb, who we haven't really talked about that much, who got an Academy Award nomination for this film, plays her uncle, Eliot. And besides the fact that this film has a very interesting spiritual overtone, a very spiritual overlay, it also has a very gay overlay. Oh, yeah. Somerset Maugham was a gay man. And Clifton Webb, you know, there really weren't— after the Production Code came into force, pansies, i.e., a better word for gay characters, kind of disappeared unless they were, of course, murderers or thieves or they ended tragically. Clifton Webb was really the resurgence of that? Because there's no doubt in anybody's mind, even though he never says it, even though it's never blatantly put out there, Elliot Templeton is a dandy. Elliot Templeton is a dude. If we want to go back to, uh, to the lady for a day allusion, Elliot Templeton, her uncle, is definitely gay.

Tony Maietta:
What did you think of all these overtones?

Brad Shreve:
I remember years ago working with this woman, and there was a guy that worked at a near us, and she looked at me one day and said, if he isn't gay, it's a shame. That is Elliot. It's like, oh my goodness. Uh, he was fun to watch. I was really amazed because it— I was really amazed at how over the top they were able to make him and how obvious. Um, at first I was just like, I'm really annoyed with this guy. He is just a total snob. And then as the movie progressed and he just became— it wasn't just snobbishness, he's just flamboyant and, and, you know, obsessed with aristocracy and everything.

Brad Shreve:
It became fun to watch him, and I really enjoyed watching him.

Tony Maietta:
He's a really wonderful character.

Brad Shreve:
And he did— he still— he stole scenes where, you know, he wasn't necessarily the main character, but you just couldn't help but just love watching this man.

Tony Maietta:
No, and that's exactly what— that was pretty much his specialty. You know, he really— Clifton Webb, actually, it's very interesting because for someone who started out as a supporting actor, a character actor, Clifton Webb became a big star. He did, as I said, he was— before this, he played Waldo Lydecker in Laura with Gene Tierney. And Eliot is just a distant cousin of Waldo Lydecker. After this, he went on and he made a film in which he played the title character, It wasn't the title character, but he played the character of Mr. Belvedere, which then later went on, of course, to anybody who grew up in the '80s or '90s knows who Mr. Belvedere is. So Clifton Webb became a very, very, very, very big star.

Tony Maietta:
Also personally a gay man, didn't hide it at all. This is how Hollywood got away with it, though. They made these characters. Elliot is so much fun. He is You know, he's wealthy, he's so status conscious. At the end, did you get the part where he said he had to— he stopped drinking because he had to take the cure? Remember that? Because he drinks too much, his health is very precarious. Yes. And at the very end of the film, he dies.

Tony Maietta:
He has a wonderful, wonderful death scene. And he doesn't like Tyrone Power at all. It's so funny, I love it. It's a wonderful part. And he deserved that Oscar nomination, he really did. He's probably, to me, I love Tyrone Power, I love Gene Tierney, and I appreciate their performances. But the reason to watch this movie other than Anne Baxter, which we will get to, is Clifton Webb. That's the way I feel about it.

Brad Shreve:
I would agree. This role reminds me, it makes me think of Harvey Fierstein. And I don't know if you're familiar with the book he wrote, uh, The Sissy Duckling.

Tony Maietta:
Mm-hmm.

Brad Shreve:
Uh, it's a children's book that Harvey Fierstein wrote, and I used to read it to the kids at my church every year, uh, National Coming Out Day. And, uh, he, I saw him interviewed and he talked about in the movies he loved the sissies because they were the only gay representation that existed in the movie. Right. So every time there was a sissy, he'd be excited. Uh, you know, even though today people would think, well, you know, why wouldn't you be offended? Because that was the only representation there was. And I'm watching him and I'm totally thinking of Harvey Fierstein as I'm watching it.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah. We had, you know, we had Franklin Pangborn in the '30s and we had Edward Everett Horton, and then we kind of, morphed into Clifton Webb. And that was our representation. And I'm fine with Clifton Webb doing that. I am. Absolutely. So this film also, I think it's important to point out, was directed by Edmund Goulding. Now, we've talked about Goulding before.

Tony Maietta:
Goulding, I feel like Goulding is like one of the unsung heroes of classic film. He directed the film we talked about. He directed Grand Hotel. He also directed Dark Victory in 1939, one of Bette Davis's greatest films. Goulding was not the first choice, however. The first choice was George Cukor. It's always George Cukor, but creative differences led to his removal. But I think Goulding, Goulding was the perfect director because he has a history of directing sophisticated character-driven dramas like this, like Grand Hotel, like Dark Victory.

Tony Maietta:
I think Cukor would've been amazing too. Um, but also up when they were discussing doing this film, there's some really interesting what-ifs here. Maureen O'Hara was originally supposed to play Isabel, but Zanuck, who chose Gene Tierney— Gene Tierney was one of his biggest stars, as was Tyrone Power, and mom also favored Gene Tierney, and you can't really argue. Gene Tierney, again, one of the most beautiful women in film at this time. And I have a really interesting little tidbit about Gene Tierney, which I'll tell later on. But I— this is what really fascinates me. So for the role of Sophie, there were 2 actresses who were seriously considered. One was Betty Grable.

Tony Maietta:
No big surprise. She was, even though she was a musical star, she could do drama, but she was also a 20th Century Fox contract player. The other one that was really interesting, and I wonder if you could see this, Brad, was Judy Garland. Now, can you imagine Judy?

Brad Shreve:
I saw, I saw that Judy Garland was considered for it. Um, Uh, well, I, uh, it would've been uncomfortable today watching Judy in that role.

Tony Maietta:
Yes.

Brad Shreve:
I don't know if I could've— yeah, it would've been uncomfortable. So it's hard for me to picture whether I think it would've been a good choice or not knowing today.

Tony Maietta:
Tell the people a little bit about the character of Sophie, about what she goes through.

Brad Shreve:
Sophie is, uh, when the movie starts, she's just adorable. I, I, to me, I find her more attractive than Gene Tierney because it's one of those where, um, she's, she's gorgeous but more approachable. is kind of how I feel about Anne Baxter. And I just like her character, her personality. And she ends up married and she has a child and her husband— they're in a car accident and her husband and her child die. And basically she becomes an alcoholic and her life is despair. She's hanging out at two-bit saloons and her life has just completely crashed and she's a tragic character. Uh, who starts to rebound.

Brad Shreve:
Uh, Jean Tierney makes sure that, uh, Isabel Bradley makes sure that, uh, that gets nipped in the bud.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, she does. Oh, that's what I find so fa— these characters are so multifaceted because Jean Tierney as Isabel in the beginning, I love the fact that when she goes to Paris to see Larry after, after he's been gone for a while, I think it's almost a year that he's been gone so he can go find himself. And then she comes back, she comes to Paris, she's like, have you found yourself yet? By the way, this book and film is where the saying finding myself comes from, by the way.

Brad Shreve:
Interesting.

Tony Maietta:
And she has the perfect opportunity when she sees him. They go out for their last evening and, uh, we're, uh, we're going to spend my last evening together. And Clifton Webb says something along the lines of, you mean your last night? And she says, no, my last evening. Implying, you know, you know, get your mind outta the gutter, Elliot. I'm not saying we're gonna—

Brad Shreve:
Actually, it's the other way. It's the other way around. She says last night, cuz night implies Implies overnight.

Tony Maietta:
Oh, that's right. And he says, and he says, say evening. It's better. Yes, yes, yes. You're right. Thank you. You're correct. Thank you for correcting me on that.

Tony Maietta:
Yes. I

Brad Shreve:
just love that. Easy slip.

Tony Maietta:
I love that little thing between the difference between spending the night together and spending an evening together. And they almost do, but she lets him go. What did you think about that? Because I, when they started to make out, now I haven't seen this film in ages and I forgot a lot of it. When they start to kiss, there's that moment where it can go further and she stops it because she doesn't wanna trap him, which I think is so wonderful about that character. And then the character later on becomes a total bitch and practically causes Sophie's death.

Brad Shreve:
No, she causes Sophie's death. She, she basically, she could have put her hands around Sophie's neck and choked her to death and it would, would've been equally guilty as to what happened to Sophie. But I was absolutely shocked because It was the next day. This shocked me more than Clifton Webb's portrayal of Elliot, because the next day when Elliot and Isabel are talking, they're basic— they're making it very clear they're talking about the fact that she chose not to have sex with Larry, that Isabel chose not to have sex with Larry to rope him in.

Tony Maietta:
Right, exactly.

Brad Shreve:
And it's not really— the words aren't said, but there's no denying what is being said.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
And I was— I, I think my mouth was hung open in shock at how blatantly open they were about that,

Tony Maietta:
because

Brad Shreve:
I thought it would have been much more subtle at that time.

Tony Maietta:
Considering how manipulative Isabelle becomes later in the film, it's kind of a— it's kind of amazing that at that particular moment she does not trap him into having sex with her so she'll get pregnant, so he'll have to get married. She lets him go, which I think is really— that's what I love about this film is there's different levels to these characters Are, are very— these are very complex characters. And I think this film warrants more than one viewing because you really have to— because not just because of the spiritual overtones of this film, but the fact that these characters are very complex and very real. And yes, they get very speechy. I mean, I think that's probably my— I'm sure that wasn't the way in the Bill Murray version. They get very speechy, particularly Tyrone Power. But when Tyrone Power's talking, I don't care. You can say whatever he wants to.

Tony Maietta:
Honestly. But I mean, it gets very preachy, but the complexity of these characters is really astounding. Same thing with Anne Baxter, Sophie. Sophie starts out as the girl next door. That's where I see the Judy Garland thing. Judy, this is Betsy Booth. This is a girl who just wants her— she's devastatingly in love with her boyfriend, soon-to-be husband. She wants a simple life with her family and her husband.

Tony Maietta:
And tragically, they both, the husband and her baby, get killed in a car accident. And so, that begins her downfall into alcoholism, into prostitution. And she ends up in Paris. Hello, talk about coincidence. She just happens to end up in the same restaurant in Paris that Larry and Isabel are at and Gray, and where she's entertaining the men. And she's a total wreck. She's a total— her life is ruined basically because of this tragic, very, very tragic situation that happened to her.

Brad Shreve:
And I'm gonna go back to Isabel not having sex with Larry to get pregnant. Um, I think part of the reason she didn't go through with it at that stage, there was still a hope in her that he was just kind of going— gonna go sow his, his oats and come back.

Tony Maietta:
Right.

Brad Shreve:
So I, I think it's— you can accept that that's why she didn't at that moment, but later turned a little more, um—

Tony Maietta:
Well, but he'd been there a year.

Brad Shreve:
Evil.

Tony Maietta:
She went back.

Brad Shreve:
Well, that's true.

Tony Maietta:
To get him. Like, are you done yet? Have you found yourself? Ta-da! Are you ready to come back? And he wasn't. So she really could have trapped him. So that's what's so interesting about this film to me is these characters are really that multifaceted and that multilayered that she would let him go. But then later on, she has no problem in orchestrating Sophie's downfall when she thinks Sophie is going to marry Larry. So, do you tell the people a little bit about how that happens after they meet, after Larry and Isabelle run into Sophie and she's drunk and she's a prostitute? What happens then that causes, basically causes her death?

Brad Shreve:
Well, I am actually, this is, Isabelle was so charming, gorgeous and charming in the beginning. And it's just amazing the way at this stage of the movie, I despised this woman like she could have been Satan himself because there was— and I know it was a different time. AA was only— it was less than 10 years old at this point, and people still didn't understand alcoholism, but they had no sympathy for this poor woman who had lost her family and her life fell apart. I mean, she clearly had had a problem before. She would've been over this by now. I mean, there was no sympathy whatsoever.

Tony Maietta:
There's hints of it. Hints of it before, yeah.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah. But so, and, uh, Larry, Tyrone Power's character, he, uh, having just come back from this awakening, he was very sympathetic towards this woman. And, uh, we don't really see what— unfortunately, a lot of this movie takes place off screen.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
So we don't really see what was— what she had that, uh, enticed him or made him fall in love with her, but But they end up, uh, engaged. So Isabel invites, uh, Sophie over to her place, conveniently leaving alcohol out and just sticking daggers in her with words.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah. Yeah. To

Brad Shreve:
kind of, kind of bring her down and bring her down. Then she just kind of conveniently walks out of the room with this little look in her eye, like, take a drink, bitch. And unfortunately Sophie does. Sophie takes it, she takes a drink, and then she starts guzzling the stuff.

Tony Maietta:
What I— this is what I love about Anne Baxter's performance in this movie. And yes, the, the moment when Sophie finds out that her husband and her baby are killed in the hospital is an incredibly dramatic— and she's very good. I don't think she's too over the top at all. I think she's fine.

Brad Shreve:
No,

Tony Maietta:
but that moment where she's sober, she's been sober for a while, she got through the lunch at the Ritz with everybody drinking, and then Isabelle invites her over to her house and she leaves the alcohol, the aperitif out Or the liqueur out, whatever it was. And then she has to leave and she leaves it there. And Anne Baxter in that moment, it's so amazing because she's not— her eyes aren't bugging out. She's not like shaking, staring at the alcohol. She's so calm. She looks at it, she gets up, she walks over to the window, and then she turns around and so casually, like she's picking up a piece of paper. picks up the glass and drinks it. It's like, that's so, that's so real.

Tony Maietta:
That is such an incredibly real moment that she does that. It's, it's so casual.

Brad Shreve:
I know guys that, that broke their sobriety after 20-something years, and they said it wasn't a big dramatic moment whatsoever. It wasn't, yeah, it wasn't like what you would see in the movies. It was sitting there, I'm gonna have a drink. Boom.

Tony Maietta:
It's so subtle. It's so beautifully portrayed that it's not this earth-shattering moment like, I'm taking a drink. Oh my God, my life is over. She just walks over to it, picks it up, takes a drink, walks out. It's— that to me is the reason that Anne Baxter deserved that Oscar. It's a beautifully felt— and also, hello, Edmund Goulding had something to do with it too. But it's a beautifully realized moment. And then, you know, she's— She's just signed her— she's on her way to her destruction.

Tony Maietta:
And then her body is found, I suppose they're still in Paris. So her body is found in the Seine, I guess, with her throat slit. And it's absolutely at the fault, at the feet of Isabelle, who absolutely, you know, she doesn't know it happened, but that's where Jean Tierney's character, where Isabelle becomes the absolute— personification of evil in this film because she pushed her over the edge. You're right. If she had handed her a loaded gun, it would not have been any more obvious that she caused the downfall.

Brad Shreve:
And that is one thing that disappointed me was I typically don't like it when things are too on the nose. I think that some things can go without being said. So when he says to her, I know who killed her, we know what he's saying.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, absolutely.

Brad Shreve:
But I really wish he went— in this instance, I wish he did go that extra step and say, I know who killed her. It's— you might as well have had a gun to her head or something of that nature. I—

Tony Maietta:
right,

Brad Shreve:
just for that extra impact that I felt that this one deserved. And he didn't do that.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, it's, it's really interesting. He holds that information from her, uh, that Sophie is dead. And when he— at the very end, when he comes, when he comes back to see her at the very end, he doesn't tell her that Sophie's dead until the end. And but the way he's looking at her You know, you did this. It's a really interesting— because they all go because Elliot's dying, so they all come to rally around Elliot. And the fact that Sophie's already dead and he doesn't let her know that he knows what she did, it's quite a moment. It's quite a moment. But if you notice, it doesn't really end like— there's none of this great regret on Jean Tierney's part.

Brad Shreve:
No.

Tony Maietta:
That's what's really amazing too. She's like, I mean, she's affected by it, but it's not like a great dramatic moment, like, I caused this. She's like, oh, you know what I mean? It's very strange.

Brad Shreve:
No, it was more of a look of shock on her face. And I think that's why I wanted him to go that extra step, because I, I wanted to see the look of, uh, shock or fear or disgust, whatever it was on her face if he had said that line. Because I think he was so subtle, she was in a stage where she didn't— she wasn't even realizing that he was accusing her correctly. So, so what, you know, it wasn't bad. I'm glad it was well done. I just wish they'd gone that little extra way. Well,

Tony Maietta:
I think also too, it's showing you how advanced he's become in his spirituality, you know, that he's so accepting of humans. I mean, by this point now, he's basically a yogi himself. You know, after he spends his time in India, he's basically, he's accepted, he's had that catharsis that people have when they go on spiritual journeys. This is just so amazing to me that a mainstream 1940s Hollywood film suggests that an American hero must look outside Western culture for spiritual understanding. And it got made. That's what's so astounding to me about this film. The fact that this film even got made, because, you know, one of the— and we'll get when we get to the release of this film and what happened in the reception. You know, there was another movie about soldiers returning home from war this year, which got the lion's share of all of the praise and all of the glory.

Tony Maietta:
And that was, of course, The Best Years of Our Lives, which is incredibly Western thinking and incredibly American. This film is, because it's based on a novel by mom, of course, it's, it's on a different level, but I just find it so fascinating that 20th Century Fox, a major studio, would put his money behind a film Which, which had this kind of story, which had this kind of storyline. It astounds me.

Brad Shreve:
Well, it helps that this was a hugely popular novel and Martin was a hugely popular author.

Tony Maietta:
I agree. No, I agree with you. I just find it, I find it really fascinating. I find it fascinating.

Brad Shreve:
Which is, I will say that I have no doubt that is the reason why they chose to have his character in this movie, which I think was unnecessary. Uh, 'cause he didn't serve the same purpose as he did in the novel where the '84 version, they did not have moms.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah. I mean, there's really no point in having the mom character.

Brad Shreve:
They, they wanted him there because the public wanted him there because that's— yeah. Yeah.

Tony Maietta:
No, I agree with you. I agree with you. And you also, you can't discount the fact that Tyrone Power is playing Larry and, you know, Zanuck had this earmarked for Tyrone Power from the beginning. He waited until Tyrone Power had completed his Marine Corps service in 1946 to do this. And, you know, what's particularly amazing about the fact that Power is playing Larry is because Power was a returning veteran. He was playing the same character, a man whose wartime experience had changed his outlook on life. And this, just like with Larry, this film changed Tyrone Power. It gave him a new level.

Tony Maietta:
Unfortunately, Tyrone Power died very young. He had a heart attack.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah.

Tony Maietta:
And he went on to a few wonderful films after this, including one of my favorites, Witness for the Prosecution. But this really was a game changer for Tyrone Power, who was this, as I said, this swashbuckling hero. And he came from a long line of actors. His father was Tyrone Power Sr., because he's actually Tyrone Power Jr. His grandfather was a celebrated an Irish actor, Tyrone Power. And, you know, going from movies like In Old Chicago, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Jesse James, The Mark of Zorro, to this kind of really intense spiritual study, it was really something for him. It was really quite a transformation for him. He went on to play kind of evil characters or lecherous characters in Nightmare Alley.

Tony Maietta:
And as I just said, in Witness for the Prosecution. Um, and unfortunately he died in 1958 and he was only 44 years old. 44.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, that's very sad.

Tony Maietta:
It's very sad.

Brad Shreve:
It's very tragic. Yeah. Well, as long as we're on Tyrone Power, can, can we get into my thoughts on him in this film?

Tony Maietta:
Absolutely. Let's hear about it.

Brad Shreve:
Okay. I said he was miscast and I don't really know that that's true. Um, I think The studio and the filmmakers may have made the mistake here, and they did the same thing with Anne Baxter. And I'm gonna explain with both of them. They wouldn't allow these top gorgeous, very talented stars get gritty. Yeah. Tyrone Power never looked like— I, I, not to compare the films, but I'm going to. When Bill Murray was working in the coal mines, you knew he was working in the coal mines.

Brad Shreve:
He blended in with everybody else there. When Tyrone Power is walking with all the coal miners, you see this very dashing young man walking with grubby coal miners. And I never— and I, I, I don't— I can't say enough about— this is what it reminds me of. You said that the— one of the reasons the 1970s A Star Is Born film didn't work is because nobody could buy Barbra Streisand as somebody that— a singer that struck

Tony Maietta:
An up-and-comer at,

Brad Shreve:
I kind of,

Tony Maietta:
at this point, up-and-comer at that point in her career. At that point, I don't think, I don't think she could have done it. That's my point. And I don't think people would've bought it. No.

Brad Shreve:
And I felt that way with Tyrone Power. I don't think he could pull this off the way it needed to be pulled off. He just cannot be an average guy. Um,

Tony Maietta:
well, he wasn't given the opportunity because this is the golden, this is the golden era.

Brad Shreve:
Right. Remember when he got— And that's what I'm saying. It's probably not his fault. Everybody says he was miscast, and I don't know that that's true. I think the studio wouldn't allow it. And like I said, Anne Baxter, even when she was supposed to be like, when she was in the hospital after the car accident, looking very fabulous for a woman that had just been in a car accident.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
It was very similar to soap operas when the woman wakes up, wakes up with beautiful hair and makeup.

Tony Maietta:
Yes.

Brad Shreve:
She played the role beautifully, but she didn't look, they, They just wouldn't allow them to look their parts.

Tony Maietta:
They would not.

Brad Shreve:
And that was, that was really a downfall.

Tony Maietta:
You had to have the kind of temerity and you kind of had the, you had to have the kind of guts of a Bette Davis to insist that this is not, I mean, we talked about, remember we talked about the bad scene when, when Christine Penmark shoots herself in the head and all she looks like is she's maybe got a little nip tuck. She's just got the one bandage. And you know, that's the Hollywood Bandage 101. Bette Davis always said, whenever, whatever kind of your character was ever in any kind of accident, you always had the same bandage. And she fought to have a more realistic take. Well, that's what Hollywood was doing. They weren't gonna allow Tyrone Power to get dirty. That just isn't the way it worked back then.

Tony Maietta:
But so he,

Brad Shreve:
what he not only was never dirty, he was never out of a suit.

Tony Maietta:
I mean,

Brad Shreve:
it just, I noticed

Tony Maietta:
too, he

Brad Shreve:
just put a little smudge on the man's face.

Tony Maietta:
But did you notice, did you notice when he came back? from being in India and his hair was longer. And I think it was Herbert Marshall said something about his long hair. I'm like, that's not long hair.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah.

Tony Maietta:
He should have a beard. He should have somewhere he was shaving. He should have a long scraggly— he looked fantastic.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah. I was thinking—

Tony Maietta:
Whole spiritual journey.

Brad Shreve:
I was thinking, you know what, Tyrone Power scruffy would be hot.

Tony Maietta:
He is hot. He, I thought he looked better with that longer hair and he had a little bit of scruff, but you know, when he's playing in his sword and sandal, epics. And then Zorro, he looks fantastic. But, you know, that's the problem. That's probably like the central irony of his whole career was because he was so extraordinarily good-looking and that made him a superstar, it also prevented audiences and most importantly, studio executives from recognizing his abilities. And that's truly, truly a problem. And I guarantee you, had he lived past the age of 44, And he were able to do more character roles, we would've seen that. The sad, tragic thing is, is that he died at 44, so he never really got that opportunity.

Brad Shreve:
So I want your opinion on this cuz I wanna compare him to Brad Pitt because we, we've talked about Brad Pitt before. Um, and I feel like Brad Pitt is underrated in the sense that everybody thinks he's a, he's a pretty boy. Brad Pitt has spent his career trying to play oddball freaky characters to prove that he's more than just a pretty boy. And I think he's done a great job with it. He did in Fight Club, he did it in 12 Monkeys, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Am I wrong that he plays those well and Tyrone Power just wasn't allowed to, or am I kidding myself that Brad Pitt gets away with it?

Tony Maietta:
No, absolutely. Absolutely. Tyrone Power was not allowed to. I mean, you're talking about none of them were. Think about people like some of his contemporaries. Think about Robert Taylor. Think about Errol Flynn. Now, I happen to believe that, I mean, they really had to fight to get— he had to fight even after this movie.

Tony Maietta:
He fought with Darryl Zanuck to be able to do Nightmare Alley because he wanted to play, uh, because he's, he's a kind of a reprehensible character. And even after this movie, even after he proved himself as a heavyweight dramatic actor, he still had to fight to do this. And he just wasn't allowed. The actors were not allowed to do this. Eventually, I said, had he lived past 44, and his looks had begun to leave him, then perhaps he would have been given the opportunity and we would have had some incredible performances from him in his later life, perhaps.

Brad Shreve:
Well, I want to talk about his performance as well here then, because I wasn't both for— I did not see this as this great spiritual film. I was expecting that to happen, but it didn't happen. Now, part of it, I will say, I was a little bummed out, but I know the studio did it because of the era. he goes to India, to the Himalayas, and they're talking to him about finding God. I'm like, wait a minute. So I did have to look up because I'm like, that was not in the book. And it was not. In the book, he went and he talked to spiritual leaders of Eastern religions, mystical religions, which made a lot more sense.

Tony Maietta:
Sure.

Brad Shreve:
And I understand at that time they had to put the God thing in, but it did bother me that they were very heavy on the God information at the same time that none of the people in India looked like they were So, you know, there were those parts, but I, you know, here, here's the deal. And I, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna try not to criticize Tyrone again, but because I really don't think the whole look issue was his. But here's the thing. At the end of the film, Somerset mom is talking to, uh, Isabel and, or he's talking to another character, maybe it's Elliot, I don't know. But he's saying that. He's talking about how Larry has changed. Larry's changed. He's so happy now.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Brad Shreve:
He's basically pointing out that he's— and I'm like, Larry hasn't changed at all. I didn't see a different Larry at the end of the film than I saw at the beginning of the film. So much of his spiritual awakening happened off film.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
And he came back and he really didn't act different to me. And he certainly didn't look different. So the fact that he didn't act different and they didn't allow him to look different, And I was really let down. I'm like waiting for this to happen. And maybe it was the era.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, it was.

Brad Shreve:
But it just, it wasn't happening.

Tony Maietta:
No, it's—

Brad Shreve:
And I was really let down by that. I didn't feel like it came across. I found this film very uneven

Tony Maietta:
in

Brad Shreve:
many ways. It was pure entertainment, but there were a lot of things that really disturbed me in this film. Disturbed me not. I should— that's a strong word. I was disappointed in this film.

Tony Maietta:
It's just the constraints of the time, the constraints of the era, the constraints of the studio system. The fact that a movie about a character undergoing a spiritual catharsis was even attempted to be made using Eastern philosophies is astounding to me. And so you got to give them a break. You know, you got to give them, you got to give them a little leeway here. It's very talky. It's very preachy. You're right. That's why I'm kind of disappointed that the remake was not better because it's the difference between a film that's made in the '40s and the Golden Age and all the wonderful things that implies in a very, in a much more realistic depiction.

Tony Maietta:
You know what's interesting? I just thought about this too. So our last 2 movies are both from the '40s and had '80s remakes. Mm-hmm. And it's interesting how In To Be or Not to Be, the '40s version is superior to the '80s version. And I think the '40s version of this film is superior to the Bill Murray version too. But isn't that interesting that we have 2 films here that were remade in the '80s trying to put a more modern spin on them and it's not successful? It turns out that the '40s version is the more successful version of both of these films. Do you agree with that?

Brad Shreve:
I will say this as far as the '84-'46 version. I found the '46 version much more entertaining. I actually think the '84 version is a better film. And that's not saying it's a good film in any way, but I think it's a better film because a lot of my complaints about this film were fixed. The problem with the '84 version, it had its own problems, 2 being Catherine Hicks and Bill Murray. But, um, uh, Bill Murray, who I've never liked him, and I was, I'm like, okay, I've never seen him. I, 'cause I, I'm one of the few people that's never seen Lost in Translation. So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna see him.

Brad Shreve:
And I, I'd like, there's many comedians that went to, um, dramatic roles that I was really bowled over. And like Robin Williams, I prefer in a dramatic role. Mm-hmm. Jim Carrey, I don't like it at all as a comedian, but he does well in dramatic, more dramatic roles. So I thought, okay, maybe I'm really gonna like him. So I was kind of excited. And he just didn't do it. Catherine Hicks, who I think is lovely and charming, and I think she would be a great friend.

Brad Shreve:
I always thought she was a weak actress and she proved it to me in this film as well. But I, they were able to do, they got rid of the mom character, which really dragged this film down.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
Uh, he was totally unnecessary. He, um, and so that was a big plus. And the fact that they were able to get more gritty, they were able to get more, uh, They were able to get rid of the constraints that the '46 version had.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
So that's why I feel like it's a superior version, but not necessarily a better version. Does that make sense?

Tony Maietta:
No, absolutely. Anytime you just have to— that's one of the strictures of the golden age of classic Hollywood is there were limitations. Society was different. What's really interesting though, is that, you know, this is the beginning of the changes. I mean, World War II is over. So the timing of this was really interesting that we have this film talking about spiritual enlightenment when society was beginning to change because men were coming back from World War II and were beginning to question having seen the horrors of World War II and people dying in front of them, just like Larry in World War I. So this is the beginning of the change, but there were still— their hands were still tied. Plus you had our friends at the PCA to deal with.

Tony Maietta:
Mm-hmm. There's all kinds of— these filmmakers were dealing with all kinds of restrictions in society and in the industry. But they actually— but I think it's admirable that they went out on that limb as thin as a razor's edge and made this film.

Brad Shreve:
Yes, I can't deny that. And as I said, it was the only— I'm going to say I didn't like any of the characters in this film. film. But I was, I found it extremely entertaining because all of the actors in this film are just incredible. And I feel like they were, all of 'em were constrained. I just don't think it was, it was, they were allowed to be who they were supposed to be. I found them all, and I, I'm sorry, Herbert Marshall should have been wiped out. And, you know, you know,

Tony Maietta:
God

Brad Shreve:
bless him. Here's, here's the thing. A secondary character telling the story was very common in the early 1900s. It faded away and it's very rarely done anymore. But the best example I can give is Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. The whole novel, The Great Gatsby, is told from Nick's point of view, and Nick isn't really involved in any of the story.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
You could take him out. And that's the way Somerset Maugham wrote this novel. And rather than having a fictional secondary character, he did something very interesting. He wrote himself into the novel that he was the secondary character. And he was narrating the story. I find that really fascinating that he did that. The problem was when you go to a film, we don't need a narrator because it's all happening in front of us. And so we are, we're being told the story.

Brad Shreve:
There's a lot of exposition that I don't think we needed all of it.

Tony Maietta:
We needed it. I think we needed it then. I think that's the point. I think that's why he was in there. He is, he's the Dorothy. He's Dorothy taking us into Oz. So if we're going to tell this really unusual story of spiritual enlightenment, we need somebody to kind of explain. I'm talking about audiences in '46.

Tony Maietta:
I'm talking about audience, contemporary audiences. They needed someone. I think this is what they were thinking. This was the way they were thinking. They, we needed somebody to explain it to us because we're not smart enough to be able to get it ourselves. That's, I think that's what they were thinking.

Brad Shreve:
I think it's equally that I, as I said, that Somerset Maugham was so popular that he, and he wrote himself as a character in the book that they felt he should be in the movie or people would be disappointed. The other thing is Elliot, who I loved as a character, and he was a great foil in the beginning, but really his job was done at that point and he should have left the film, but they kept him in because he was always talking to Maugham.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
Talking about what was happening. And that became his purpose, them having their conversations about everything that was going on. So like the scene that was really a fun scene, watching Elliot at the clothing store being his persnickety little self, fastidious, that whole scene was to tell the story of what was going on, much of which we'd already seen. And we got this very elaborate scene that really wasn't necessary to the film. other than their narration, and it kind of made it a distraction to me. So I wanted as much Elliot as I wanted, but I felt like he was a distraction at the same time.

Tony Maietta:
I think we can agree that this film would not have suffered from some editing, some judicious editing, because at 2 hours and 20 minutes, 2 hours, I mean, it's a long movie. There are definitely some—

Brad Shreve:
At least 45 minutes, probably an hour could have been cut.

Tony Maietta:
Definitely things that needed to be Definitely. But that wasn't what was going on back in 1946. 1946 was about, was about some big movies. So do we want to tell the people how The Razor's Edge performed when it was released in 1946?

Brad Shreve:
Absolutely. So the budget on this film was $1.2 million. Now, most sources are putting the box office at $5 million, but I did find an old report online by Fox itself. written in the late '40s that said this movie earned $3.3 million. Either way, it did pretty well, earned over $2 million. Right. And other sources say $4 million. It's kind of all over.

Brad Shreve:
Like all of these, back then it was the bookkeeping wasn't as— they weren't as rigid as they are today. But Fox says it was $3.3 million back at that time. So it did pretty well. The critics, the Rotten Tomatoes critic score is 56%. Audience score is 70%. Uh, IMDb score is 7.1 out of 10. I don't always, um, audience score, I think in Rotten Tomatoes and audience score on IMDb, I think those are probably 2 very different types of audiences. Uh, I like Rotten Tomatoes cuz it's a lot, a lot more people, usually thousands of people that voted.

Brad Shreve:
The critic score, pretty much their complaints were very similar to the things I'm talking about. And that's one of the first things I went because I was my, I, I, I really, I, I I think I hated this film more than I wanted to because I felt it had so much potential that it didn't reach, because I think it was an incredible film. So I had to look, and, and the same complaints they had. They didn't feel like the, um, his search was going anywhere. They felt that Tyrone was miscast, and I'm gonna defend him and say he wasn't allowed to be who he was supposed to be. Uh, those kind of things. So it, it did well financially. Uh, audiences liked it.

Brad Shreve:
Critics were, mm, not so much.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, it's— 1946 was one of the biggest years in Hollywood. It was truly, truly the beginning of the end of the Golden Age because box office receipts fell precipitously after 1946. So it was a big year. Everybody was coming back. Servicemen were returning from war. People were going to movies. Television hadn't taken a hold yet. So filmmakers were making these big ambitious films after the war.

Tony Maietta:
And I think that this film suffers in its comparison to The Best Years of Our Lives, even in the Oscars. I mean, this film received 4 Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor Clifton Webb, Best Supporting Actress Anne Baxter, and Best Art Direction Interior Decoration Black and White. And it won 1 Oscar, which was Anne Baxter, I think very well deserved. But The Best Years of Our Lives won 7 out of 8 nominations. So The Best Years of Our Lives, this really was the year for The Best Years of Our Lives. And unfortunately, The Razor's Edge suffers in that comparison because The Best Years of Our Lives, this film was a hit, but The Best Years of Our Lives was epic. What expl— it was, I mean, it was the movie of 1946. So it's kind of sad to me that this film, which is so ambitious, in what it was trying to do was really overshadowed by, oh, that other movie about soldiers returning home from war.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, it, that it was, first of all, it was a little, well, I was gonna say it's a little more patriotic, but no, Best Years of Our Lives was pretty gritty, surprisingly. I, but yeah, they're, they're very different films.

Tony Maietta:
They are very different films. They're very different films. But I think this one is a worthwhile investment just so you can see this really brave attempt. that Hollywood made to, to, to make a film of this, of this story and to really kind of be ahead of the vanguard. Not entirely successful. I don't think so either, in my opinion. But that's just one of the things about the constrictures this film faced when it was released. So.

Brad Shreve:
There's one thing we haven't touched on that we cannot go without mentioning.

Tony Maietta:
What's that?

Brad Shreve:
The sets, the scenes, the costumes in this film. were incredible. Just, I felt like I could have stepped in every scene, even the scene up on top of the Himalayan mountain. I'm like, damn, they did a good job. That looks like he's up on top of a Himalayan mountain.

Tony Maietta:
Oh, they spared no expense.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, there was, uh, yeah, you sound like Jurassic Park. We spared no expense. Um, yeah, I was just bowled over by every scene. And I will say the, the '84 version did the same, but this one just Uh, given the time and, and how much money they had to obviously spend on some of these sets. And there were, you know, the scenes— there were many very short scenes, so we were changing scenes. I can't even imagine how many locations and scenes and shots they had to take to make this movie happen. So it's, it's very impressive. Very, very impressive.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, it's a beautiful film to look at. It's a beautiful film to look at for the scenery, and it's a beautiful film to look at for the actors. And I wanted mention Gene Tierney, cuz we haven't really talked about Gene Tierney. I think Gene Tierney is somewhat overlooked when people talk about classic film actresses of that time. And you really couldn't get much bigger than Gene Tierney in the early '40s. I mean, I already talked about Laura. There was also The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Tobacco Road.

Tony Maietta:
One of my favorite performances of her, and it's Leave Her to Heaven, which is a beautiful film, and she is a raging homicidal bitch. In Leave Her to Heaven. She was such an interesting actress. There was some mental instability in Gene Tierney's life, which unfortunately kind of tied to this. And this is my little tidbit I want to talk about Gene Tierney. So this is kind of— I think this is interesting. So in 1943, when she was pregnant with her daughter and she came in contact with a fan who had German measles. And the fan— what they believe happened was, was that Jean Tierney contracted the rubella from this fan, and her daughter Daria was born prematurely.

Tony Maietta:
She weighed 3 pounds, and she was— it caused congenital damage is basically what it did. She was deaf, she was partially blind. It is so tragic. Severely mentally disabled. She, you know, she was institutionalized for, for most of her life. But why I'm telling this is, is that I don't know if you're familiar with the Agatha Christie story, The Mirror Cracked.

Brad Shreve:
Mm-hmm.

Tony Maietta:
But this is what happens in The Mirror Cracked is the famous actress, and I'll, I'll use the film, Elizabeth Taylor plays her in the film, the '80s film of it. And she plays this character who comes in contact with a fan and this thing happens. So that's an unfortunate legacy of Jean Tierney's life. life is that it became the model for this Agatha Christie mystery, which is wonderful. And it really happened to Gene Tierney. And she was such a beautiful, gifted actress that doesn't get enough attention. So I think just to see Gene Tierney give a fantastic performance in this movie is worth watching this movie. Isn't that interesting, that little Agatha Christie tie there with Gene Tierney?

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, I didn't know that, that tie. I, I did know that she had some tragic— I didn't remember the details, but I knew that there were— there was a some tragedy in her life, uh, and that's very sad.

Tony Maietta:
It is very sad.

Brad Shreve:
I do want— I, I want to say one thing before we go. Um, if somebody has— and I'm not going to recommend the '84 movie to watch it for entertainment value, but I will say if you are interested in films and the difference between movies in that era and the movies more modern, I say if you have a weekend, compare the two and how— what they were able to do in each. Because there really is so much that the first one got right that is missing in the second one. But the second one did get a lot of things right that they weren't allowed to do in the first one. So I think it's an interesting comparison. If you don't want to do that, I get it because the first one's very long and the second one is not so great. I will do want to make one recommendation. Go to YouTube.

Brad Shreve:
I don't know if it's there, but search for Teresa Russell, who played Sophie in the '84 version. See if they have the hospital scene where she is told about her husband and her daughter.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
That is, that should have been an Oscar-winning performance. My God, it ripped my guts out. I'm sitting there thinking, God, I hate this film. And that scene, good Lord, it changed everything for me. So.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, that's unfortunately, isn't it interesting though? You know, people bitch about, I don't know who they are and I won't talk to them, but people who bitch about watching black and white films very frequently when these films are remade, the originals, despite the constraints that filmmakers were under during the Golden Age, they're actually more entertaining than the remakes when there are no constraints. But that being said, sometimes you get a performance like Theresa Russell's and she's able to go there in ways that Anne Baxter was not. However, Anne Baxter still has a brilliant, brilliant scene when she's told that her husband and baby are dead. Oh yeah.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, I wasn't discounting her role in that at all. Um,

Tony Maietta:
yeah,

Brad Shreve:
just again, she, she looked too nice. And afterwards, that whorehouse that she was in after, you know, she, she bottomed out looked great, but she still looked a little too fabulous. But again, that's not her fault.

Tony Maietta:
She did. She still— she looked like she was going out in Hollywood for the night. Yeah. I'm like, yeah, how is she disillusioned? I've seen so many girls walking down Hollywood Boulevard look exactly the same. So I don't think so with that choker, please. All right, Brad. So, uh, so what do we want to tell the people about? You want to do your housekeeping, uh, since we're gonna be wrapping up this baby?

Brad Shreve:
Well, of course. Thank you for listening. As always, we really appreciate it, and we love hearing from you folks. That, uh, you can reach out to us. You can do it at our email, which is goinghollywoodpod@gmail.com, or you can, uh, either text us or leave a voicemail. And to do that, In the show notes, right at the top, I believe it says text or leave a voicemail. Click on that and it'll give you the option. If you leave a voicemail, do so because we may play it at a later date.

Brad Shreve:
And other than that, one thing that you could really do to help us, first of all, subscribe and set us on auto download because if you set us on auto download, that really helps increase our visibility in the apps.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
And rate and review us because when people are looking for a new podcast, and they see good reviews, they may say, you know what, I'm gonna give this one a try. So—

Tony Maietta:
I think that's a, I think that's a lovely idea. People do it. We so appreciate the feedback and the outreach we've gotten and we just continue to love it. So we're here for the love. We're here for the love. Um, and I also think people, yeah, if you have a day and a half, 2 days, watch this movie. Um, watch it in pieces. I watched it again on a plane, which was the perfect place to watch it.

Tony Maietta:
I think—

Brad Shreve:
That is the perfect place.

Tony Maietta:
It is. And I think that you will be entertained as Brad was, despite some of these things we've talked about. But I'm so glad we talked about it. So thank you, Antoinette, for asking us to do this. Happy birthday. I hope you enjoyed this. And yeah, I guess that's all I— go ahead.

Brad Shreve:
I want to thank Antoinette because I want to say my criticisms of it aren't because I think it's a bad film. I think it wasn't allowed to reach its potential. And that has nothing to do with anyone involved in the film that acted in the film. And I do think it's a good film.

Tony Maietta:
I think so too.

Brad Shreve:
From a writing standpoint, I'm always sad when things aren't allowed to be what they were supposed to be.

Tony Maietta:
Well, Brad, I guess that leaves me with one more thing left to say, but as usual, I don't want to say it. So let's not say goodbye. Let's just say au revoir.

Brad Shreve:
No, let's say goodbye.

Tony Maietta:
Goodbye, everybody. Happy birthday, Antoinette.