Rent Ruthless (1948)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Often described as Ulmer's 'Citizen Kane', this is, alongside 'The Black Cat', 'Bluebeard' and 'Detour', one of the Poverty Row king's very finest films. The film follows the rise to power of Horace Woodruff Vendig (an admirably cast Zachary Scott) through flashbacks which both stress his destructive use of others and refuse to explain his ambitions through clear-cut motivations. 'Ruthless' is an indictment of the idea of success at any price...with first rate performances from Lucille Bremer, Martha Vickers and Sidney Greenstreet in his last great screen role.
- Actors:
- Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Sydney Greenstreet, Lucille Bremer, Martha Vickers, Edith Barrett, Dennis Hoey, Raymond Burr, Joyce Arling, Charles Evans, Robert J. Anderson, Arthur Stone, Ann Carter, Edna Holland, Frederick Worlock, John Good, Claire Carleton, Ed Agresti, Edward Biby
- Directors:
- Edgar G. Ulmer
- Producers:
- Arthur S. Lyons
- Writers:
- Dayton Stoddart, S.K. Lauren, Gordon Kahn, Alvah Bessie
- Aka:
- Prelude to Night
- Studio:
- Cornerstone
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Film...
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Reviews (1) of Ruthless
Ceilings & Scheming - Ruthless review by griggs
Ulmer finally gets some studio cash and spends it on ceilings. We open at a philanthropic knees-up where Horace Vendig is canonised—until old pal Vic walks in with Mallory, the spit of first love Martha. Neat trick: Diana Lynn plays both.
From there it unspools in Citizen Kane-ish flashbacks. Low angles, memory as a minefield. Bert Glennon keeps everything glassy. Zachary Scott is charm curdled, Louis Hayward the bruised conscience, and Sydney Greenstreet purrs away as Buck Mansfield. Keep an eye out for a baby-faced Raymond Burr at the edges.
The snag is the squeeze. Dayton Stoddart’s Prelude to Night gets crammed into 104 minutes, so motives sprint and a couple of pay-offs arrive underdone. Still, it’s cool, cynical, and handsomely staged—less a banquet than a sharp tasting menu of American ambition, served cold. Worth a look if you like your success stories with teeth.