The Age of Commercialism

As Good As It Gets

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

From 1952 Paramount, The Turning Point is a crime drama starring William Holden, Alexis Smith, Edmond O'Brien, and Ed Begley.O'Brien is John Conroy an attorney who has returned to his home town to lead a commission dedicated to wiping out corruption in their city, somewhere in the midwest. Holden is Jerry McKibbon, his childhood friend who is now a sharp and somewhat cynical reporter. He spots McKibbon's idealism right away and thinks he might be headed for a big reality check. Alexis Smith plays Amanda, a socialite who is John's girlfriend and secretary.Some of this is telegraphed early. First off, how long does anyone think Amanda will stay Ed Begley's girlfriend once she sees William Holden? Then John happily tells his police detective father that he is hiring him as chief investigator for the commission. His father (Tom Tully) doesn't want the job. Now why do we suppose that is?Ed Begley is the head mobster, Neil Eichelberger, a crumb who doesn't care whom he has to kill or blow up to get his way. One of his henchman is Roy Ackerman (Danny Dayton). They're both foul. Even with some predictability, this is a well-acted, tight story directed by William Dieterle. The end takes place at a boxing match and is exciting. Watch for Neville Brand as an out of town hit man at the end of the film.For trivia buffs, there are some uncredited people who rose above being uncredited: Carolyn Jones in her first film; '50s starlet Rachel Ames, who joined the cast of General Hospital in 1964, a year after its debut. She still occasionally makes an appearance, and she looks fantastic. Also Whit Bissell and Robert Rockwell (Mr. Boynton on Our Miss Brooks). Good movie.

It's not easy to make 1952 Los Angeles look very interesting. A panoramic view shows mostly smog. But "The Turning Point" does its best and the location shooting is one of its most admirable features. Prominent use is made of the two-block long funicular railway that runs up from "Pond Street", meaning Hill and Olive Streets in L.A. The incline is lined on both sides with inexpensive clapboard housing that suggests "working class", and some scenes are shot in the doorways and apartments. It's all gone now, railway included, to make way for some bland and pitiless "redevelopment" in 1968. Everything in Los Angeles gives way to redevelopment when the property becomes valuable enough. Stores proudly announce, "Serving The Public Since 2012!" "Chinatown" gave us a picture postcard view of Los Angeles in 1937 and made the place look limitlessly livable.At any rate, cynical reporter William Holden and idealistic anti-crime crusader Edmund O'Brien both grew up in the same neighborhood of Central City or whatever Los Angeles is called here. (So did Ted de Corsia, a thug as usual, but not without principles for a change.) O'Brien is anxious to shut down the crooked gangster who runs the city, Ed Begley. I don't want to give away the entire plot but I guess I can say that Alexis Smith is the girl friend with the striking eyes, especially for a Canadian, who is O'Brien's girl friend but finds herself falling for the hard-bitten reporter. She doesn't have much else to do and is chiefly there to add some romantic drama to the story and to demonstrate that both Holden and O'Brien are heterosexual.Overall, it's rather routine but there are some interesting twists (the corruption reaches into O'Brien's own family) and some nicely done scenes. Aside from the hiding, shooting, and general mishigas on the funicular railway, the scene in which O'Brien rushes to the hospital after his friend Holden has been shot is understated. In a movie that was as corrupt as Central City, we'd expect O'Brien to dash into the hospital's reception room, only to be stopped by a doctor in white. "How -- how is he?", O'Brien would stutter. "I'm afraid we were too late," the doc replies sadly but philosophically. I won't describe how this familiar scene is handled here but it's better than you might think.Another memorable incident is the arrest of Ed Begley, who plays a much more delicate slime ball here than he did in "Twelve Angry Men". He pitches a few sliders here. He's sitting at a table playing cards with his gang under a single light bulb in what looks like a basement. Police sirens wail. The goons knock over their chairs as they run away, but Begley sits still, staring at his cards. A policeman's hand holding a pistol slowly enters the frame from the right. Begley slams down his hand, gets to his feet in a dignified way, looks at the cop, finishes off his drink, and exits towards the police. The scene isn't masterful, but William Dieterle has lifted it out of the ordinary.

In some ways, the plot of this film seems pretty familiar for a film noir picture. However, its starring cast seem to make the most of the material. The film stars William Holden as a crusading reporter, the ever-reliable Edmond O'Brien as a Special Prosecutor and Alexis Smith as 'the girl'.The film begins with O'Brien promising to clean up the massive corruption in the city. However, when he appoints his own father to work for him, Holden assumes the fix is on, as he has long thought the father was on the take. But, O'Brien is honest and has no idea this is the case--and much of the film the two work separately from each other. Only later do they team up and together they think they can clean up the mess run by the wicked boss (Ed Begley). But, it's not like the gang is just going to roll over and play dead--they are tough and have no problem killing the people that get in their way. And, by the end of the film, several key figures in the story are killed.The corrupt city angle is pretty familiar. Quite a few noir films have such a premise. But, it's all handled pretty well and I loved the VERY snappy and tough dialog. It's a fine film for lovers of the genre and worth your time.By the way, during a scene where a murder is taking place, one of the guys in on the killing is Russell Johnson--the guy who later played The Professor on "Gilligan's Island". Look fast to see him.

A nicely assembled rather complex story about small time corruption in an anonymous midwestern city that effectively balances its mix of plot elements into a plausible and interesting whole. Edmond O'Brien plays an idealistic lawyer who heads an investigation that leads him into his own family. William Holden plays an investigative reporter and childhood pal of O'Brien's, a likely and believable role for him, a born cynic on screen if there ever was one, who not only gets to the center of the corruption plague but also attracts the attentions of Alexis Smith, O'Brien's girlfriend and secretary. Directed by William Dieterle, the film should be pulled apart by its competing angles, but isn't, holding together nicely while it fits in the increasingly deadly corruption headed by an always convincing Ed Begley, and showing a sympathetic and at times pathetic O'Brien whose life seems to unravel around him as the film reaches its various points, leading to a tight and exciting conclusion with Neville Brand playing a out of town killer in a crowded boxing arena.