Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing is based on the real life scandal and murder of Stanford White, the outstanding architect of his time. Evelyn Nesbit was such a beauty that she graced the covers of many magazines, including being chosen for a Gibson Girl. The Technicolor of this film is outstanding. The glorious costumes the backdrops all shine through. The film is a loose adaption of the affair between Everlyn (Joan Collins) and Stanford White (Ray Milland). Joan Collins is at the peak of her own beauty and a perfect choice for this role. The Flora Dora girl was supposed to be swept into the affair by the much older White, but in the film she is willing. Although we can only believe what we see, White was a notorious cad, who charmed many a under-age girl, with champagne and caviar. But of course we see Milland at his best and so dashing no wonder anyone would fall for him. She is also pursued by Harry Thaw, a wealthy younger man, full of contradictions and madness. This is possibly Farley Granger's best appearance. Sometimes he almost makes you believe he is crazy. He is so jealous of White that Evelyn is just a win for him. In the end, she marries Thaw and he never lets her forget that she was taken in by White. So crazed with jealousy even after he has her, he kills White in a dramatic shooting on top of Madison Square Garden. One also wonders why they made White's wife look so old in the movie? In real life she was quite lovely. So do we go along for the ride and the movie version or the real life drama. I prefer to believe the movie.

I often wonder where IMDb gets cast and production credits. Evidently not from the studio's Press Book. In the long run, that is undoubtedly an advantage. Many of the cast and behind-the-camera credits for this one are not listed in the Press Book at all, but, on the other hand, IMDb omits one of the most intriguing, namely that Evelyn Nesbit herself was hired as a "consultant" for the movie and was paid $50,000 for her services (which was more money than the film's director received). Miss Nesbit not only gave advice on the script, the decor and the costumes, but on the players. She thoroughly approved the casting of Joan Collins and while she made no mention of Ray Milland or Granger, she did declare that "White was the only man I ever loved. In fact, he was the most wonderful man I ever knew. As for Thaw, he was a poor thing at best. But I guess he couldn't help what he did. He was a mighty peculiar person when I married him and he just got worse and worse. I thought when I married him that he'd snap out if it, but he deteriorated. Too much money spoiled him young. It would have been better if he'd never been born!" Although the movie has its detractors, I found it fascinating. The only thing I didn't really like was Ray Milland's weary performance. He seems to be playing at half-steam. But Granger is superb, and Joan Collins fills Miss Nesbit's shoes most attractively.

After "The Moon is Blue" was released, when words like "virgin" and "pregnant" were spoken in it, movies seemed to enter a more permissive age and what better story to tell than one of the greatest sex scandal murders of the 20th century. The lurid romantic tangle involving an ageing lecherous architect and an insane wealthy playboy - the prize being one of the most beautiful showgirls of the age - Evelyn Nesbit. Gibson Girl and Flora Dora girl, Evelyn was also the victim of an unscrupulous mother who saw her daughter as a way out of the poverty that her husband's death plunged the family into. I agree with the other reviewer the movie could be remade today pulling no punches because however sumptuous the Technicolor and however flawless Joan Collin's beauty, the movie is just more Hollywood gloss, none of the principals were anything like their "real" characters (except maybe Farley Granger's interpretation of Harry K. Thaw).Within 10 minutes the characters are established - devoted husband Stanford White (Ray Milland)is dining with his wife (Frances Fuller) when erratic Harry Thaw creates a scene because his regular table is taken. Meanwhile sweet and innocent "Gibson Girl" Evelyn Nesbit (Joan Collins) has caught the eye of a stage manager and is put in the Flora Dora lineup. The real Evelyn Nesbit served as a consultant on the film and as she always claimed that Stanford White was the love of her life, he was always going to be portrayed as a benevolent, almost kindly uncle.Their affair begins when Evelyn takes a job jumping out of a pie at a stag party. White won't hear of her doing it (they had met before) and takes her back to his flat and the pleasures of a red velvet swing suspended from the dome like roof. White finds sexual pleasure from pushing Evelyn back and forth on the swing and the scene is one of the most eerie in the movie. Evelyn's mother is away and unaware in Pittsburgh but in reality Evelyn's mother created a scandal by leaving her in White's care (Evelyn was only 17 at the time) even though she knew what a womanizer he was. She was the original stage mother and treated her daughter horribly but good old Glenda Farrell played her in her usual tough, no nonsense way and made the audience feel a lot of sympathy for her. In one scene Mrs. Nesbit dismissed some flowers sent from "a young fellow named John Barrymore" - again in real life Evelyn and John had an affair and almost eloped but Evelyn's mother put a stop to it - she didn't think he had any prospects!!!Back to the movie - Stanford White looks upon her more as a daughter and doesn't want to have any more contact with her in "that way", so he enrolls her at an exclusive boarding school but she pines away and who should suddenly be there to pick up the pieces but Harry Thaw!!! He marries her to everyone's amazement as it is common knowledge among New York society that he is crazy. While he is charming beforehand, on their honeymoon the recriminations start - he tyrannizes her into revealing all the sordidness of her affair with Stanford White. Things come to a head when Thaw murders White at the Madison Square Garden (ironically one of the many buildings that White designed) for ruining his young wife as he proclaims to the crowd. The subsequent trial shows how the wealth and might of the Thaw family is able to help Harry avoid the death penalty by reason of insanity. Evelyn's taking the stand against advice of her friends and having her character blackened certainly helps his family in seeking a more lenient sentence but they soon desert her and at the end Evelyn is left with nothing but a seedy vaudeville contract to become the "Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" to leering patrons.Reading with horror that first Marilyn Monroe, then Sheree North, of all people had been considered for the role - Joan Collins at least looked similar to the real Evelyn Nesbit, although no star could match Evelyn's astonishing beauty.

In a magazine with some of his work in it, wealthy and influential Stanford White comments on the model on the cover. When he sees her in the flesh he asks that she be brought to his house. Meeting her there he talks to her and the two quickly kiss. He asks her mother not to bring her back but he cannot help himself and soon falls into an affair with her as she falls in love with him. The young and innocent Evelyn Nesbit also attracts the attention of the newly rich but arrogant Harry Thaw, who charms her despite herself. With the attentions of two so wealthy men, it is no wonder that Evelyn is affected by it and the two men are brought into conflict, neither particularly caring for the other anyway.The title made me think this film would be a light romantic comedy from the 1950's that would be distracting but not that interesting. Watching it proved to me why I should never turn away a film on the grounds of such sweeping judgements because I found it much more interesting, engaging and morally darker than I expected it to be. The plot is supposedly a true story and, not knowing the total truth of this I can only assume that it takes liberties in the way that any "true" film does – regardless though, it only adds to the value that it is based on a real case. It sees a sweet young girl be torn between two men who are both far beyond the level in society that she could have expected. The text after the titles give away that this story is leading up to a court case of some sort but the development is still good and I found the basic facts to be interesting and made all the better by the subtexts and character development that the script brought out. The character dynamics worked well but also the way the characters (specifically Stanford and Evelyn) grew and changed across the film.Responding to this the cast were surprisingly impressive. Well, perhaps that is unfair to paint them all with this brush because the person that surprised and impressed me was Joan Collins. Maybe it is because I am the "Dynasty" generation but I never really rated her as an actress, so here I was quite taken by her range, her subtlety and her awareness of her character. It is not a perfect performance but she is a big part of the material working at more than just the narrative level. Milland is not as good because his character isn't as good but he is still convincing and seems bought into his character. Granger is betrayed by the character and falters as a result – the script puts him in one place at the start and leaves him there with little to do – he is the "conclusion" to the story but other than that he is of little interest. Support is solid enough but the film belongs to Collins and, to a lesser degree, Milland, and both do well with it.Overall an engaging and interesting film that is a lot more morally complex that I expected from the period. The basic facts of the story are good but it is the character development that makes the film interesting and the main two actors respond well to it to produce a solid film that I found interesting, a bit melodramatic but well worth a look.