Martin Ritt Movies
American film director Martin Ritt started out as a Broadway actor. Ritt's stage role as "Gleason" in Winged Victory brought him to Hollywood for the film version, for which the studio publicity billed him, along with the rest of the male cast, by the rank he held in the Army (Private First Class Martin Ritt). A victim of the Hollywood blacklist, Ritt's career came to a standstill in the early 1950s. He reemerged, not as an actor, but as a director for the 1956 film Edge of the City. A favorite of actor Paul Newman, Ritt directed Newman in The Long Hot Summer (1958), Paris Blues (1961), Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962), Hud (1963), The Outrage (1964) and Hombre (1967). Other Ritt-directed films of note were Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), Cross Creek (1984), Murphy's Romance (1985), and, his last film, Stanley and Iris (1990). If there doesn't seem to be a central throughline in these films it was because Ritt steadfastly refused to be typecast as a director. One project that brought him immense satisfaction was The Front (1976), a comedy-drama of the blacklist years in which Ritt worked with fellow blacklistees Martin Balsam, Zero Mostel, Joshua Shelley, Herschel Bernardi, Lloyd Gough, and screenwriter Walter Bernstein. In 1985, Ritt made a surprising but delightful return to acting in the role of an excitable baseball manager in the otherwise disposable The Slugger's Wife (1985). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1959
In this filmed adaptation of William Faulkner's seminal work, Yul Brynner stars as Jason Compson, the oldest son of a once-proud Southern family rife with inner turmoil. His promiscuous sister, Caddy (Margaret Leighton), has suddenly rolled back into town with an illegitimate daughter called Quentin (Joanne Woodward) in tow. Finding no love in her own clan, Quentin opts for a relationship with Charlie Bush, an irresponsible circus worker played by Stuart Whitman. Meanwhile, Ben (Jack Warden), a mentally-handicapped uncle, is a never-ending source of embarrassment for all concerned. Directed by Martin Ritt, this was the first film to be made from The Sound and the Fury. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Joanne Woodward, (more)
While often regarded as one of America's greatest novelists, William Faulkner produced work that did not always translate well to the screen; it's ironically appropriate that this movie, based on several of Faulkner's short stories, is often regarded as one of the best films based on his work, though not especially accurate to the original source material. Ben Quick (Paul Newman), a sullen but self-confident drifter, arrives in a small Mississippi town where his father had a bad reputation as a firebug. Will Varner (Orson Welles), the town's patriarch, still holds a grudge against Quick's dad, and when the young man decides to stay in town and sharecrop on Varner's land, Will goes out of his way to make his life difficult. However, Will develops a grudging respect for Quick's guts and determination, and he wishes that his weak-willed son Jody (Anthony Franciosa) could be more like him; Jody's wife Eula (Lee Remick) happens to agree. In time, Will gets the idea that Quick might be a good match for his daughter Clara (Joanne Woodward) and a better choice to take over his business dealings than Jody. However, neither Clara nor Quick care to be told what to do, and besides, Clara already has a beau -- though Alan Stewart (Richard Anderson) is even more of a milquetoast than Jody and is led by the nose by his mother (Mabel Albertson). However, sparks begin to fly between Clara and Quick, and when Jody fears he may lose his place as heir of Will's estate, he takes drastic action, trapping his father in a barn, setting it on fire, and planting evidence that would suggest that the blaze was Quick's doing. The Long, Hot Summer was the first film that Newman and Woodward made together, and they got married the same year. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, (more)
The title is Black Orchid, but the leading lady is a rose--florist Rose Bianco, played by Sophia Loren. Newly widowed, Rose holds herself responsible for the death of her husband, a well-known gangster. Anthony Quinn plays a widower who falls in love with Rose, much to the dismay of his daughter (Ina Balin), who fears that Quinn will be destroyed as thoroughly as Rose's first husband. All ends happily after Rose and her new beau align to find her unhappy runaway son (Jimmy Baird). Black Orchid tries too hard to be a "slice of life;" perhaps it might have fared better with a cast of unknowns, but then who'd go to see it? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn, (more)
- 1957
A handful of suburban couples discover that emotional turmoil lurks behind the placid exterior of the planned community of Sunrise Hills in this drama based on the novel by John McPartland. David and Jean Martin (Jeffrey Hunter and Patricia Owens) find their relationship starting to crumble after Jean is raped by Troy Boone (Cameron Mitchell), an alcoholic war veteran who has been unable to readjust to civilian life. Meanwhile, Troy's wife, Leola (Joanne Woodward), wants to start a family, but Troy isn't interested in having children. Jerry Flagg (Tony Randall) is a used car salesman who turns to drink to deal with the disappointments of his career and his life, which is more than his wife, Isabelle (Sheree North), bargained for in their relationship. And Herman Kreitzer (Pat Hingle) is the good-hearted proprietor of a hardware store who wants to help his Japanese-American assistant Iko (Aki Aleong) find a new home. Though Herman's wife, Betty (Barbara Rush), discourages him because of the reaction that she foresees from the rest of the community, she eventually sides with him and joins him in the effort to help Iko assimilate. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Woodward, Tony Randall, (more)
- 1957
- NR
Edge of the City is a modern morality play, acted out in the railyards of New York. AWOL soldier John Cassavetes takes a job as a railroad worker, where he is taunted and bullied by supervisor Jack Warden, a union functionary appointed by the Mob. Cassavetes befriends his African-American co-worker Sydney Poitier, whose very presence enrages the bigoted Warden. Poitier dies in an "accident" arranged by Warden; Cassavetes knows the truth, but is frightened into silence by the corrupt union. Inspired by Poitier's widow to stand up for what is right, Cassavetes challenges Warden in a climactic one-on-one battle. Edge of the City was produced by David Susskind, who'd previously staged Robert Alan Aurthur's screenplay for television under its original title, A Man is Ten Feet Tall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Sidney Poitier, (more)
- 1944
Moss Hart's hit Broadway play Winged Victory was brought to the screen in 1944, with most of its original cast intact. The story, concerning regular Joes from all walks of life joining the Army Air Force, is secondary to such theatrical setpieces as a camp show wherein several virile Hollywood leading men cavort about in drag. As a break from the all-male atmosphere, Hart adds a scene in which several wives and sweethearts discuss their fighting men; among these ladies is 23-year-old Judy Holliday. Reflecting the fact that most of the cast was actually serving in the Armed Forces at the time of filming, many of the actors are billed with their rank included: Pvt. Lon McAllister, Sgt. Edmond O'Brien, Cpl. Lee J. Cobb, and so on. While the patriotic elements of Winged Victory have faded in the intervening five decades, the film is worth a glance for its heady cast lineup of celebrities-to-be, including Peter Lynd Hayes, Red Buttons, Barry Nelson, and future director Martin Ritt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Daniels, Lon McCallister, (more)
