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The Strange Love of Martha IversRating:
Release Date: 12 May, 1998 Retail Price: $14.98 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (9 total) |
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers Reviews
More Melodrama Than Noir, And Not Bad
Some people call this a noir, and a good one. Some call it a psychological study of guilt. I think it's a melodrama, but a well-crafted one. What moves it from noir to melodrama for me is that there are two weak motivating actions for the plot; the first (the death of the aunt) doesn't have enough power to justify the drama, and the second (a conviction of an innocent man) is barely mentioned until the end of the movie.
Sam Masterson (Van Heflin) is driving west when he decides to go through Iverstown. He has a car accident and has to stay in town until his car is fixed. He meets a young woman, Toni Marachek (Lizabeth Scott), just out of jail and on probation for a crime she wasn't guilty of. Sam decides to go to the district attorney to see if he can help her. Years before as young kids, Sam and the DA, Walter O'Neil (Kirk Douglas), were sort-of friends, tied together by their friendship with Martha Ivers (Barbara Stanwyck).
Now O'Neil is married to Martha. He's running for re-election. Martha inherited Ivers Industries and is the wealthiest woman in town. She's a force to be reckoned with. She inherited millions when her aunt fell down a flight of stairs 18 years ago...the night she and Sam were planning to run off, when Walter was in the house with her and Sam. Her aunt (Judith Anderson), a rigid, disapproving, condescending woman, fell with the help of a crack on the head from a cane wielded by Martha. A few years later a man was hanged for the crime, prosecuted by Walter with testimony from Martha. They married and now live a loveless life, with Walter still the uncertain and sometimes scared child he used to be and Martha a controlling woman. Walter drinks heavily and Martha is contemptuous of him. Now Sam is back, innocently, but Walter in particular is convinced Sam is out to shake them down. "He's a gambler, a sharp shooter, an angle boy," he says to Martha. "They come through my office by the hundreds. Couldn't you see blackmail in his eyes?"
Things quickly spiral down into a morass of misunderstandings, guilt, what might pass for love, and temptation. Walter loves Martha. Martha loves Sam. Sam loves Toni but is tempted by Martha. Toni loves Sam. All is resolved one night in the Ivers' mansion with Martha, Walter and Sam playing out a potentially murderous triangle. But it's 1946, and with the Production Code in place there's little doubt which two people will die and which person will survive as a wiser man. When Martha urges Sam to kill Walter so that they can be together, Sam puts his finger on it. "Martha,' he says, "you're sick...in your mind, I mean, that's where you're sick...so sick you don't even know the difference between right and wrong."
The movie is beautifully photographed, for the most part the pacing is good, the establishment of the three leads' personalities as children is excellently carried over into the performances and personalities of the three as adults. Unfortunately, the death of the aunt just doesn't seem to be a strong enough element to justify all the angst. The aunt was in the process of beating Martha's cat with her cane on the stairs when Martha grabbed the cane and struck her aunt. Any half-way competent lawyer would have been able to get a young heiress off without relying on Martha coming up with having seen a large burglar running from the house. This makes what follows, even with Martha's intensity, seem out of proportion. Some of the dialogue, especially that given to Stanwyck and Douglas, is solid and uneasy...or maybe it's their expert line delivery. But a good deal of the words Heflin and Scott have to say can sound artificial. "They said they wouldn't hurt you," Toni says to Sam when she tries to explain why she helped set him up for a beating. "No more parole, they said, if I went for it. I'd draw the whole five, they said, if I didn't. I went for it. Go ahead and hit me, Sam. I've got it comin.'" Sam looks at her questioningly...then tenderly. "The one thing you've got comin', kid, is a break."
Even so, as melodrama it's fun to watch. Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin do nice jobs, and Kirk Douglas makes a strong impression. He may be playing a weak drunk, but you look at him while he's on screen.
The DVD picture is in great shape. If you buy this movie, be sure you get this Paramount version. There are a large number of other public domain versions out which look terrible. There are no extras.
A very convincing film noir movie portraying the folly of relationships built on deceit and greed.
This review is for the 2005 Paramount DVD release.
The story starts out in 1928 in a small industrial town known as Iverstown. A young teenage girl named Martha Ivers and a teenage boy named Sam Masterson try to hop a train and escape. Martha is caught and is returned to her wealthy aunt's mansion. The animosity between Martha and her aunt is a volatile as fire and gasoline. That same evening a boy named Walter O'Neil and his father visit the Ivers' mansion to take credit for helping the police find Martha with the unspoken expectation of receiving a major reward, but only receive a poultry payment of ice cream and cake for Walter. Later that evening there is a power outage and Sam sneaks into the Ivers Mansion in hopes of taking Martha away on the next train out of town. Martha's aunt goes upstairs to see what is going on, while Sam narrowly escapes as a fight ensues between Martha and her aunt. With Walter watching, Martha strikes her aunt with her aunt's walking cane and she topples down a long staircase and immediately dies. With Walter O'Neil's interests in mind, Walter's father ignores any hint of foulplay by Martha and wishfully believes Martha's story that her aunt was murdered by an unknown intruder and reports this crime to the police. Meanwhile Sam hops a circus train and leaves Iverstown.
Fast forward to 1946 and we find an alchoholic Walter (played by Kirk Douglas) and Martha (Barbara Stanwyck) are now married to each other. Walter is the local District Attorney and Martha is the sole heiress to the Ivers' industrial empire. Sam Masterson (Van Heflin) passes through Iverstown for the first time since 1928, but has a minor car accident and decides to stay in town overnight to get his car fixed. While waiting, he meets an attractive woman named Toni Marachek (Lizabeth Scott) who seems desperate for companionship. They stay in the same hotel, in adjoining rooms, and Sam finds out that Toni was just released from jail. Sam is sympathetic and reassures Toni that her past has no bearing on their future relationship. The next morning Sam finds out that Toni was arrested for a parole violation. Sam discovers that same morning that Walter is the DA and visits him to see if he can help get Toni back on the street. During the visit, Martha drops in and she is elated to see Sam and it becomes obvious that Walter is jealous of Martha's attention to Sam. When Sam leaves, Walter and Martha convince themselves that Sam's visit was solely for the purpose of blackmailing them for Martha's crime that Sam witnessed. This sets up the remainder of the movie for plenty of drama and suspense as the four main characters involve themselves in passion, deceit and greed.
The movie is riveting from beginning to end. The story is absolutely brilliant in depicting how trust and deceit work against each other no matter how rewarding the stakes may be and also exposes that when lives are built on a foundation of vile acts, the foundation will eventually crumble. I also enjoyed that in spite of the four main characters revealing their despicable human flaws, the movie ends with a redeeming message. Lizabeth Scott does a superb job in her supporting role.
The DVD quality is very good overall. The contrast was at times washed out and the there were also traces of minor film deterioration appearing intermittantly throughout the film. But overall, the presentation was still very enjoyable. There were no bonuses on this DVD.
Movie: A-
DVD Quality: B+
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