1948’s Ruthless is often categorized as film noir, but I found it to be a more of a straight drama, albeit with a sharper edge to it that most of the similar fare at the time.
It apes the structure of Citizen Kane, though this time the object of everybody’s obsession is still alive. Those doing the recollections are attendees of a swanky shindig being held by Zachary Scott at his mansion.
Scott’s success has been at the expense of, among others, the attendees whose recollections we see in flashback. At this soiree, Scott is going to announce his philanthropic venture. It seems all the invitees accepted their invitation simply out of curiosity for what kind of charity such a self-centered jerk would support.
Louis Hayward plays Scott’s oldest friend, until even he was alienated by the rich asshole’s behavior. Hayward’s plus-one is his fiancée, which is a clearly brilliant decision. Played by Diana Lynn, she is the spitting image of a girl the two guys once loved. No surprise, Lynn also plays the adult version of Martha, the girl in question.
You know we’re in for a long flashback sequence when Scott says, “We do go a long way back, don’t we, Vic?” Crossfade to the two as young boys on a boat with Martha. When it tips over, Scott’s character saves her from drowning.
When he returns home, he gets a chewing-out from his deeply bitter mother (Joyce Arling). We quickly learn she was from an old wealthy New England family before marrying down when she wed Raymond Burr. Now she’s divorced and apparently cut-off by her family.
Martha’s grateful mother takes in the boy as her own. This means he and Martha essentially grow up as brother and sister from that point on. Yeah, that.
Anywho, Hayward loves Martha, Martha loves Scott, tragedy, etc. In the midst of this, Scott makes the first of many trade-ups, wooing a wealthy socialite played by Martha Vickers. I’ve always liked Vickers and wish she had more, and more substantial, parts in films. She is probably best remembered as Bacall’s youngest sister in The Big Sleep, of whom Bogart remarks, “She tried to sit in my lap. I was standing up at the time.”
Vickers will be the first of the backs with which Scott will make the beast-with-two-backs before stepping on it to reach the next rung of the ladder. The final step of his ascension starts when he tries to put one up on Sydney Greenstreet.
As always, Greenstreet is amazing and perfectly cast as a very smart and very cruel master of the deal. When he suspects an offer Scott proposes to him at his house is suspicious, he flips a switch that disconnects the phone lines. Once he has confirmed the deal stinks, Greenstreet turns the lines of communication back on.
He thinks he has permanently knocked Scott down a peg, but doesn’t count on him striking his Achilles’ heel. That would be Lucille Bremer, playing Greenstreet’s wife. Scott seems to easily seduce Bremer, most likely because she harbors resentment at being just another of the rich man’s possessions.
Bremer and Scott end up married and, seemingly, just as soon divorced. And this is where many contemporary critics see possible hints of Scott’s character being closeted. By the end of the movie, the person he has been closest to for any amount of time is Hayward. I’m not sure I would come to the same conclusion as those critics, but what do I know.
Ruthless is a bit clunky, with its shifting points of view. Still, it strives to do something more substantial that your typical melodrama of the period, especially from a very (very) minor studio with few resources. Also, although it may not be noir, many of the developments and dialogue have the kind of spark suitable for that genre.
Recommended.
Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer
Starring Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn
Watched on Olive blu-ray