The Reckless Moment
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Max Ophüls |
| Produced by | Walter Wanger |
| Screenplay by | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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| Based on | Ladies Home Journal story "The Blank Wall" by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding |
| Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
| Music by | Hans J. Salter |
| Cinematography | Burnett Guffey |
| Edited by | Gene Havlick |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release dates
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Running time
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82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $882,653[1] |
| Box office | $717,188[1] |
The Reckless Moment is a 1949 American film noir melodrama directed by Max Ophüls, produced by Walter Wanger, and released by Columbia Pictures with Burnett Guffey as cinematographer. Starring Joan Bennett and James Mason, the film is based on The Blank Wall (1947), a novel written by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. The film The Deep End (2001) is based on the same story.
Contents
Plot
California housewife Lucia Harper (Joan Bennett) attempts to cover up what she believes to be her daughter (Geraldine Brooks)'s accidental killing of an undesirable ex-lover Darby (Shepperd Strudwick). Martin Donnelly (James Mason), a clean-shaven smooth-talker involved in organized crime, tries to blackmail Lucia by threatening to take Bea and Darby's correspondence to the police. Complications arise when he realizes his true feelings for Lucia and learns the truth. Donnelly's associate Nagel (Roy Roberts), initially a mysterious figure, fights with Donnelly, who later is reported to have died in a car crash. Normalcy appears to return for Lucia, but not for long.
Cast
- James Mason as Martin Donnelly
- Joan Bennett as Lucia Harper
- Geraldine Brooks as Bea Harper
- Henry O'Neill as Tom Harper
- Shepperd Strudwick as Ted Darby
- David Bair as David Harper
- Roy Roberts as Nagel
- William Schallert as a police lieutenant (uncredited)
- Kathryn Card as a loan processor (uncredited)
Background
This was Mason's third U.S. film, after having appeared in director Ophüls in Caught (released February 1949) then in Vincente Minnelli's Madame Bovary (released August 1949).
Reception
Box-office
The film made a loss of $565,775.[1]
Critical response
When the film was first released in 1949, the film critic for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther, praised the actors but wrote, "But it isn't all right with this picture. Although it is rather well staged, with credible location settings in Balboa and Los Angeles, it is a feeble and listless drama with a shamelessly callous attitude. The heroine gets away with folly, but we don't think this picture will."[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Matthew Bernstein, Walter Wagner: Hollywood Independent, Minnesota Press, 2000 p445
- ↑ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, "'Reckless Moment' New Feature at the Palace -- British and Two French Films Also Arrive", December 30, 1949. Accessed: July 10, 2013.
