CLASSIC MOVIE REVIEW: Tyrone Power in THE RAZOR'S EDGE - STEVE HAYES: Tired Old Queen at the Movies

[@rlg6201]

One of my favorite movies of all time! The acting was beautiful. But it was the premise that was captivating. Somerset Maugham was a genius. Thank you Steve for reviewing it.

[@eliothorowitz5627]

A personal favorite....Anne Baxter's performance is so real and raw....if it doesn't break your heart, you're heartless. Elsa Lanchester was a delight as the Countess secretary

[@lynndamico1448]

Perfection,sad,spiritual and of course Power and Tierney are gorgeous.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Absolutely on all counts. That haunting score by Alfred Newman, portions of it were gleaned from his score for "These Three" ('36), has always been a personal favorite.

[@bohdi316]

All these review are great! One minor quibble, Tyrone Power came back from WWII but Larry Darrell came back from WWI.

[@alidabaxter5849]

Dear Steve, you're absolutely right about this being an unusual film (and that's putting it mildly), but my God the performances are amazing. What a tragedy that Tyrone Power died so young - he was so talented and so gorgeous. I remember seeing Charles Laughton talking about his death (after "Witness for the Prosecution"), and saying what a loss it was. Gene Tierney is almost as nasty in this as she is in "Leave Her to Heaven" and Anne Baxter is sensational (I always thought she was excellent in that much-neglected Hitchcock "I Confess" too, by the way). Somerset Maugham was a brilliant writer and certainly provided the film industry with a lot of material - "Of Human Bondage" turns up on television here in England all the time (Bette Davis was astonishing in it, because she didn't care how much you hated the character she played), as does "The Letter", and those trilogies of short films on which somebody else commented and which you, too, have seen. I loathe the hateful stuff that turns up on KZbin criticising Maugham for his lifestyle, but when I try to defend him I get called unrepeatable things. Just a personal update, Steve dear, you come to England enough to know that my needing a new hip doesn't mean I'll get one any time soon! The NHS has been wrecked and the waiting list is 18 months and longer. And I've never been able to get private health insurance. When I was a child it was discovered I had a curvature of the spine; back then straightening it would have meant being in a plaster cast for two years, like Isabella Rossellini, and as it was stable and I stood straight I was just left with it, but all my life suffered from strains and muscle spasms and kept bands of physio therapists, osteopaths and masseurs in luxury, despite always working at my exercises. I'm sure I put one osteopath's son through school. One physio did something so awful I needed two operations afterwards - where's Agatha Christie when you need her? If I could have given that woman strychnine I would have! After all of which moaning, thank you so much for another lovely film review and, as always, I wish you well and hope you're happy. Your chum Judith Anderson turned up in "And Then There Were None" on TV recently (my favourite version of the story) and my, doesn't she get about. Very best wishes, Alida

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I'm so sorry about the NHS hip delay and the excrusiating time you 've had with your back. I have a bad back and I can relate to much of what you've gone through. I hope the heat isn't making things worse. It's supoosed to reach 100 tomorrow in New York. On another topic, I adore "Maugham and there are very few authors whose works were done as often and as well. "The Letter" is my absolute favorite, then " The Razor's Edge". I think Gene Tireney was perfect;y cast as Isabel . So elegent and selfish. And Baxter's showdown with her before she picks up the fatale drink is so gut renchingly real. I love her in "I, Confess" and despite Hitch's low opinion of his "Method Acting" think Monty Clift's subtle, sensitive, deft performance is one of the greatest in any Hitchcock film. The others i love are; " Kim Novak dual roles in "Vertigo", " Robert Walker in " Strangers On A Train", Judith Anderson" in " Rebecca", Madame Konstantin in " Notorious" and Teresa Wright in " Shadow Of A Doubt"...LOL! Not what you expected? I thought you might like a laugh. Take care, Dear Friend. And thank you, as always for taking the time to write. Best; Steve

[@HAPPYTHELEAF]

This was an absolutely fantastic movie

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@tootallbrown I agree. It would have been so interesting to read Maugham's own treatment, which according to George Cukor, who was originally slated to direct, was quite wonderful. Zanuck for whatever reason, threw it away. I too think the score is gorgeous. I find Goulding's direction lacking. I never thought much of his work. It would have been nice to see what an actor's director like Cukor could have brought out in the cast, although I love Webb and Baxter.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Agree on all counts, though I love it anyway.

[@rvmorrissey]

....thank God for Wikipedia: I looked up Maugham's Razor's Edge, and found that Christopher Isherwood went so far as to write Time magazine, denying that Larry was based on him. Though he WAS close to Maugham at this time, and, indeed, helped to translate the verse from the Upanishads whence comes the title.....and, he WAS a spiritual seeker, studying Indian philosophy, who took the time to learn Sanskrit. Hmmm....

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Thank you SO much for watching! Do me a favor and push the "LIKE" button. Much appreciated!!

[@ThePiratemachine]

Have read most of Somerset Maugham. A wonderful writer. He had Tennessee Williams' gift of writing male and female characters. Some of his stories are incredibly poignant, sensitive and perceptive - e.g. ''The Painted Veil.'' There is a little film, part of a trilogy of a SM story called ''Mr. Know-all'' that is brilliant, very moving when Nigel Patrick ( Mr. Know-all ) sees the adulteress' face in the window - her eyes he reads are begging him not to expose her. Incidentally, one of your faves Michael Rennie is in one of the other stories in one of the trilogies made of his stories. Thanks for your review of ''The Razor's Edge'' Steve, a very moving story.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I've seen the two trilogy films based on his short stories and liked them, especially "Alien Corn". I think more than any other author Someset Maugham wrote fiction that was perfect for the movies. Almost every film based on a Maugham's work have been adapated brillantly to film, except for the Bill Murray version of "The Razor's Edge", which wasn't very good, though I admired him for attempting it. .It is my favorite of Maugham's novels. . I love almost all his novels, especially "The Painted Veil",

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@rvmorrissey That's a great question and I honestly don't know. I do know that Clifton Webb knew the guy that Uncle Eliot was based on.

[@rabit818]

Tierney was extra vicious to the Anne Baxter character. This is a good film.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

She was terrific and it was brave perforamnce, like Leave Her To Heaven" , playing the villianess.

[@williamsnyder5616]

As mentioned above, George Cukor was the original directorial choice. Actually, he tried talking Louis B. Mayer into loaning Judy Garland to Fox to play Sophie. Judy was in her period where she wanted people to think of her as more than just a musical star, that she could do other stuff. But Mayer would have none of it. Having Dorothy away from Toto for alcohol was unthinkable.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Well, Hollywood is a history of great 'what if's...?"

[@theresagwhite3175]

What a shame. Judy would have been great. But maybe she would have passed - especially after her affair with Tyrone Power

[@JACKnJESUS]

Great encapsulation (what an accusation!)... Having read the book early in life...it helped me quite a bit. The movie is pretty faithful to the book...nice. One of my favorites of course...I put this movie by 'category' with 'Black Narcissus'. It's one of those magical human condition stories...done at a higher level than most...like Narcissus (sans the drop dead gorgeous and clever cinematography). Razor's Edge ... and Black Narcissus...makes for a fantastic double feature movie night....don't forget to pop some corn and sprinkle it with extra karma!

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I absoutely loved your comment and agree completely. Delightful! Both films deliver unforgetable experiences and managed to handle delicate subject matter with the most interesting interpretations. I've read both books and loved them. The novel of 'The Razor's Edge" helped me during a very turbulent time of my life when I read it. I think they did a marvelous job in not only adapting both, but production wise and the casting is perfection. George Cukor was originally supposed to direct the film verion of "The Razor's Edge" with a script by Maugham, but Zanuck vetoed his script and when Maugham left the project, so did Cukor. Neither liked the treatmant by Lamarr Trotti, but I thought he covered things rather well. it would have been interesting to see what Cukor would have gotten out of the actors. Rarely have Tyrone Power or Gene Tierney been more gorgeous. When it was released, Tierney was criticized for her performance, but I thought she was ideal. She's had an innate sophistication that came from her being brought up in New York society and educated in Swiss Schools and brings such cool style, grace and manipulation to Isabel. And Power was always one of the most underrated actors of his generation. There, I go again, going on and on. Sorry 'bout that.. But I enjoyed your comment so much, you have no one to blame but yourself. LOL! Thanks for reading and watching TOQ at the Moivies. Steve

[@kerryberman609]

So now after your review of ‘The Ghost & Mrs. Muir’ I will check out this salty 💎 gem thanks for this review

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I think you'll love it! Steve

[@Nemesis7293]

Such lovely performances, but it's Baxter and Webb that really get me. She truly deserved her Oscar, and he breaks my heart in his death scene. Also love Elsa Lanchester, as I always do. I have pierced ears so I always wince when that earring gets ripped out of Power's ear, ouch!

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I loved Elsa too. Just the right moment in the film for a touch of comedy.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@hotmarriedgays You right. The way she holds her hands when he's describing how she never imparts a gesture without bringing grace to it, is so sophisticated. I love it when she throws the plate of sandwiches in his lap. It's so spontaneous. Ironically, she didn't get good reviews for this and Zanuck blamed her for the movie not being more of a hit with the critics and he lost interest in her career, Such a shame. I LOVE her in this and in everything she ever did. She and Tyrone. Gorgeous.

[@williamsnyder5616]

Ah, but dear Steve, Zanuck gave her the elegant "The Ghost and Mmrs. Muir" the year after "The Razor's Edge." What a shame, her life was so horrible. She was a marvelous acresss,

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@@williamsnyder5616 That she was.

[@metrogoldwyn]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ And strikingly beautiful, too. Hard to tell who was prettier, Gene or Ty?

[@rvmorrissey]

BTW, was there any composer of the Golden Age of Hollywood who wrote music that better illustrated spiritual exaltation than Alfred Newman? His score for The Song of Bernadette is so moving and apt.....

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Yes, Korngold for "Bewteen Two Worlds" and Herrmann for "The Ghost and Mrs Muir". Enigmatic.

[@rextrek]

thank u steve.......happy holiday to you both!

[@catirerubio]

Never one of my favorite films. Far from it, but Steve's review almost makes me see it again. Almost.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Thank you SO much for watching! Do me a favor and push the "LIKE" button. Much appreciated!!

[@bbath7]

I'm loving your channel! I've noticed you haven't done a Fred Astaire movie yet. Could you review one soon?

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I did "Funny Face' after this. Check my list of past episodes.

[@bbath7]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Oh I know. I made that comment 9 years ago 😄

[@metrogoldwyn]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Ever done "Easter Parade', his one and only pairing with Judy Garland? They're both in top form and Irving Berlin score is the best. Ann Miller terrific in supporting role. Her MGM debut

[@BillyAlabama]

Great review…Ty was incredibly handsome in it.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

My favorite male beauty in my favorite of his roles. Between you and me, of all the classic movie idols, he was the one I would have loved to tryst with. Just sayin'...OXOX Steve

[@BillyAlabama]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ OXOX!

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ You have to wait in line after me, LoL...

[@metrogoldwyn]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ I still think his best work was "Nightmare Alley" and he wasn't afraid to make himself look unattractive (if that was even possible) towards end when you see how time and alcohol have ravaged his good looks. I still think he would have been terrific as Parris Mitchell in "King's Row" if boss Zanuck hadn't been so stubborn and allowed him to be borrowed by Warner Bros. as Ty so adamantly wanted.

[@jimrick6632]

GREAT FILM...JUST SAW IT FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME ON TCM...TIERNEY NEVER MORE BEAUTIFUL...DITTO POWER....

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I can never decied which one to focus one. They are so gorgeous together.

[@jimrick6632]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ GOTCHA....WOW...THAT WAS SENT 2 YEARS AGO....WHAT HAPPENED???

[@Jennytheshipper]

I actually like the remake of this movie better, but oh well. I think the do a better job of humanizing Isabella and they make it clear that Larry is actually in love with Sofie, which I don't think he is in this version. My favorite part of the original are the scenes between Marshall and Tierney! Awesome.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Good God, no!

[@rvmorrissey]

One of my FAVORITE movies. Didn't Somerset Maugham base the character of Larry on the young Christopher Isherwood?

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Not tah I know of.

[@dogdidit]

Clifton Webb. Always sold on Clifton Webb. Has he had a day or marathon of TCM? He really deserves it.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I love him too.

[@metrogoldwyn]

Probably not on TCM as most if not all of Webb's films were for 20th Century Fox and TCM library consists mostly of MGM,Warners and RKO pictures.Perhaps the Fox network might attempt it

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@metrogoldwyn TCM does a lot f Fox movies, too. Probably because Ben Mankiewiz=cz is related to Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

[@cynthialambert9067]

My understanding is that the reason Isabelle and Larry broke up is that he was impotent. She loved him, but he couldn't satisfy her.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Well, as Ava Gardner did with Tyrone in " The Sun Also Rises", you find your way around it. Thanks for watching! Steve

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@miltsar Who couldn't love a geek in search of a little chicken?

[@rustyspigot]

Oh, Steve. You and Tyrone could battle for best hair. A battle to the hair death!

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Not any more! LOL!

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Wel, after all, Tyrone DID make a wonderful film for John Ford called, ahem, "The Long Gray Line."

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@@williamsnyder5616 Yup, he did indeed!

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@rustyspigot Oh, thanks Honey! I'll give you an hour to cut that out! Happy Holidays! OXOXOX TOQ

[@RLucas3000]

I’d always heard that Tyrone Powers was (allegedly) bisexual. Were there any rumors of who his lovers were?

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@@RLucas3000 Thre were rumors about his friendship with Cssare Romero. hanks for watching nd please stay SAFE! Best Wishes; Steve

[@steveweinstein3222]

Maugham must have been prescient to write about someone returning from WWII before it happened.

[@williamsnyder5616]

Since the movie begins in 1919 and The Crash happens ten years later, Ithink Ty is returning from WWI.

[@steveweinstein3222]

@@williamsnyder5616 Steve referred to WWII.

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@steveweinstein3222 I think Steve knows he said the wrong war.

[@miltsar]

Steve... please don't tell me you don't like Nightmare Alley ? Merry Christmas xxxxx

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Alright, I won't.

[@timothyfoleyjr2796]

Larry is coming back from WW I. Steve, I was trying to share some information with you and a troll freaked out on me. I enjoy your "show". So, check out the critique from the New Your Times in 1946. Hollywood never could get their "gay" characters right. Anyway, keep up the good work. I look forward to your next one.FFSJS

[@williamsnyder5616]

Timothy---It's not that Hollywood "never could get their 'gay' characters right," but all the major studios had to live by the Production Code of the time when "The Razor's Edge" came out or they wouldn't get a Production Seal and maybe some theaters wouldn't show their films. "The Razor's Edge" was---as Steve mentioned---a huge costly movie for Fox when it came out. The studio needed every outlet possible to recoup it's cost.. However, check out two wonderful hints that screen writer Lamar Trotti left for us. Gene Tierney gets off the phone with Herbert Marshall, who's playing Somerset Maugham and turns to Anne Baxter, saying, "You know, sometimes I get the queerest feeling when I'm on the phone with Somerset Maugham." The other line came at the end of the film when a French police inspector questions Maugham about an inscription in a book to Baxter because it sounds romantic. The cop hints that this didn't seem to fit what people knew about Maugham. In a way, Trotti is saying to the censors, "GOTCHA!!!"

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

Thank you SO much for watching! Do me a favor and push the "LIKE" button. Much appreciated!!

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

@@williamsnyder5616 So interesting! Thanks!

[@Avatar610]

If Zanuck spent so much money, you'd think he'd go all the way and shoot it in Technicolor- THAT's what Selznick would have done!

[@williamsnyder5616]

Selznick probably held all the Technicolor cameras when he shot "Duel in the Sun." That's what DOS did in '39 when he hoarded all the color cameras for "Gone With the Wind." Cast members for "Pride and Prejudice" complained about this because they thought their film should have been in color.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

I love it in Black and white. It's gorgeous.

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Arthur Miller was a genius B&W cinematographer.

[@miltsar]

Oh Steve ! ......maybe Linda Christian ?

[@edadam]

Happy Holidays, you sexy ol' Queen!

[@miggans21012]

Is it just me or did anyone else notice that Clifton Webb's character was gay but because of the production code.. well they weren't going to have any of that.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

You got it.

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@STEVEHAYESTOQ There are a couple lines from LamarTrotti's script which indicate he was trying to put one over on the Hays Office. Gene Tierney is on the phone with Herbert March

[@williamsnyder5616]

Herbert Marshall (playing Maugham). She gets off the phone and turns to Anne Baxter and says, "You know, sometimes I get the queerest feeling when I'm talking to Somerset Maugham." The other time was when Maugham is talking to a French investigator, who is quoting from a book Maugham signed for Sophie, "Love, Somerset Maugham." The investigator says(with a very bad French accent), "We were under the belief that she was not, shall we say,"your type."

[@williamsnyder5616]

Sorry for the repeat re-runs in the comments. I just have so much re-reading the comments I forget what a windbag I am. And don't blush. I STILL think you should've gotten an Oscar for "Trick."

[@neildickson5394]

Enlightenment? Meantime, Ty Power was sleeping with everyone walking in Hollywood. Nightmare Alley was more like it, great performance, and film.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

One has nothing to do with the other.

[@davefsmith6040]

The dead look so terribly dead when they're dead.

[@STEVEHAYESTOQ]

yeah, well...it's in the novel.