East Side, West Side

Year: 1949

Grade: B+

Country: USA

Director: LeRoy

Review

great film about a wife (stanwyck) married to a guy (james mason) who can’t keep his snake in his trousers. granted, he’s got a thing for ava gardner, so it’s at least a little understandable, but still. gardner is strictly evil in her pursuit of mason and makes no bones about it. no words are minced and there’s very little subtext. she wants mason and that’s all there is to it.

like breaking bad it leaves me with the conclusion that driving the person who loves you out of love is just about the saddest thing a person can experience. in both cases, mason and walter white have a loving, trusting, and committed wife who finds out about lies and falls out of love as a result. for the women they have men who aren’t happy with good enough and go off the rails, destroying what was once a functional relationship. the film depicts all this with interest and emotion. another underrated mervin leroy film.