THE BIG KNIFE PG

film extras 1955 Out nOw DVD, BD Extras Commentary, Featurette, Booklet

Robert Aldrich’s (Kiss Me Deadly) first independent production, adapted from Clifford Odets’ equally caustic play of the same name, mounts a scathing attack on the Hollywood studio system. Jack Palance plays top movie star Charles Castle, who wants out of his gilded cage, and whose marriage to Ida Lupino’s Marion is on the skids. Rod Steiger’s the ruthless studio boss (a cross between real-life studio honchos Louis B. Mayer, MGM co-founder, and Harry Cohn, Columbia co-founder), who’ll use every dirty trick, from tears to blackmail, to hold on to him. Dated, but it still packs a snarl. Philip Kemp