Back Street (1961)

Director:

David Miller

Writers:

Eleanore Griffin (screenplay)
Fannie Hurst (novel)

Release Date:

11 October 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Ambitious but thwarted, Rae Smith meets handsome Marine Paul Saxon, (of the Saxon department store chain)...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Susan Hayward	...	Rae Smith
John Gavin	...	Paul Saxon
Vera Miles	...	Liz Saxon
Charles Drake	...	Curt Stanton
Virginia Grey	...	Janey nee Smith
Reginald Gardiner	...	Dalian
Tammy Marihugh	...	Caroline
Robert Eyer	...	Paul Saxon Jr.
Natalie Schafer	...	Mrs. Evans
Doreen McLean	...	Miss Hatfield
Alex Gerry	...	Mr. Venner
Karen Norris	...	Mrs. Penworth
Hayden Rorke	...	Charley Claypole
Mary Lawrence	...	Marge Claypole
Joseph Cronin	...	Airport Clerk

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Company:

Carrollton Inc.

Quotes:

Mr. Venner: I've been looking forward to seeing you.
Rae Smith: But then why don't you turn on the lights? I don't glow in the dark you know.

Movie Connections:

Version of Back Street (1941)

An age-defying film

When first released some forty years ago, critics rightly complained about the soap-opera plot, the melodramatic dialog, the stock characters, and the excessive showcasing of sets and costumes. These complaints are still valid, but over the course of four decades, a realization has emerged that despite or even because of these failings, "Back Street" is a gloriously entertaining work that plays just as well now as it did back in 1961. How many other movies can claim this sort of durability? I would, however, like to point out five faults in the production. (1) Susan Hayward is a good ten or even fifteen years too old for this part. (2) The film's supposed message about the emptiness of being the "other woman" is blunted by the opulent success in which Hayward lives. (3) Vera Miles' character is so selfish and shrewish that one can't imagine why John Gavin ever married her. There should have been a line about how he'd been forced into an "arranged" marriage in order to save the family business. (4) When Gavin and Hayward meet for the first time in New York, after their initial encounter in Nebraska, he seems surprised to learn that she's now the famous fashion-designer who signs her creations "rae" -- all small letters, very chic -- even though she'd specifically told him of her plans at their first meeting. How many fashion-designers named "rae" did he think there were in the world? (5) One must wait more than forty minutes before Gavin takes his shirt off, and then he just has a dimly-lit scene where he and Hayward run out of the ocean in modest swim-wear before reclining on a beach towel. Gavin's physique deserved much more exposure than this.