Saw Some Came Running, a delightfully frothy film about an army man coming home to his small home-town. There he meets with his older brother whom he has a bad history with and he (the army man) brings with him a half-finished novel, an alcohol problem, and a ton of money from the army. The film then follows the small-town politics he sets in motion, culminating a choice he has to make between two women and, ultimately, the lifestyles (or sort of levels of integrity) they represent.
The film gets better as it goes along. It starts focusing on the oh so mysterious and oh so troubled main character as he swills whiskey (it's a man's drink he says) and flirts with bar-room ladies and dramatically throws out and then un-throws out his manuscript. I was all set for this to be a film about a put-upon man who is angry that the world won't recognize his obvious and incredible genius, but since this is the 50s and not the 70s, it stays a bit more sensible.
The main character slowly demonstrates more integrity as he interacts with his hostile brother and teams up with a card shark. He is self-centered and impulsive, however he is also sincere and knows what he wants. He is not living the most measured life but he is not hurting or judging anyone. This being the 50s however there is an unfortunate amount of forcing oneself upon the dames which is unfortunate but such is life.
As the film goes on, it works itself into a fever-pitch ending which starts with the black silhouette of a man against a red, neon-lit background, gun in hand, gulping down booze. A paragon of the form! Amazing! I loved it. There's lots of great declamations and showdowns before then as well, but they remain a bit muted, more natural than stagey.
I thought the acting was a tad weak. It's Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, and I'm just some guy, so what do I know about it, but one of the two women Frank must pick between is some flavor of prostitute and the other is a somewhat restrained professor. During one of these showdowns, the professor hisses that she isn't one of "your barroom tarts!" and I think this is supposed to be sort of torn out of her as a guilty admission, however I think she doesn't say it that way. Similarly, Frank is sometimes a little flat. He underplays things (he is a man, you see) but sometimes it's too faint to register.
Anyway, these grouses aside, it was a deliciously frothy and dramatic film. The characters are enjoyable and the central question of which woman and what they represent is a nice one to discuss. The ending is amazing, but you have to kind of endure the opening bits.
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