Trial (1955)

Trial from 1955 is directed by Mark Robson who earlier told a dark tale of a boxer in Champion, once again subverts potentially inspirational tale to something much more vicious in nature. He it seems a socially conscience film about a lawyer defending a Mexican teenager being accused of murder. Although that would seem like enough a film it does not take as simple of an avenue as that. We even have the good lawyer, played by the perhaps too straight forward Glenn Ford, working with a hot shot lawyer Arthur Kennedy who is more than meets the eye. It stops being about passion, and instead reveals to be as much as some sort of cautionary tale of Communist infiltration into social causes. That technically is a very interesting topic, that I honestly I would think we be something to explore, but given the time it is used instead as a hurdle against our hero. As the film frames it as good vs evil, not surprising given the time of the film's release, with the communists wishing to purposefully lose the case in order to create a martyr. The film perhaps should have delved deeper yet still stands as an engaging film of its type.
3.5/5

East of Eden

East of Eden focuses in on only one phase of the novel. Whether or not a book purist would find this to be a good translation of the book does not matter, it makes for a good adaptation, and a compelling film. James Dean and Raymond Massey could not be better in creating the disjointed father/son relationship that's the basis of the film's main conflict as Cal tries to find himself through rejecting his father while trying to approach his prostitute mother. Elia Kazan direction is very strong as he wonderfully creates the atmosphere of America on the verge of the war through his soft rendering of the time, though with darker hues woven into the fabric. He also captures the melodrama of the story beautifully well by keeping a low key tone for most the film allowing for the more emotional moments to have palatable impact without becoming overwrought.
4.5/5

The Man From Laramie

The weakest Mann/Stewart western I've seen though its still pretty good. Stewart just makes for a compelling lead, and Mann manages to be very good at creating the hard bitten world of his west. The main fault in the film is the way the villain realizes itself as the interactions between the characters are far more interesting, and the conclusion is unfortunately realized by a certain simplification.
4/5

The Dam Busters

Damn good. Alright that's a horrible pun. The film must be said is very good. It's first half manages to make coming up with a special rolling bomb actually compelling. Then its transition is fairly smooth and effective into some strong sequences involving the actual dispatching of the dams. It also always importantly keeps the emotional element alive, and the final conversation between Todd and Redgrave is particularly powerful.
4.5/5