Back Street Reviews

Universal knew how to wring the last tear out of an old soggy hankie. This was the third version of BACK STREET, and the only holdover from the 1941 picture was Skinner, who got an Oscar nomination for the music 20 years before. When Ross Hunter gets his manicured nails into something, you may be certain it's not just a remake; it's a glossy, glitzy, glamorous picture that is long on luxury and often short on story. Susan Hayward (Brooklyn's own Edith Marrener) is the Irene Dunne/Margaret Sullavan character and John Gavin plays the Boles/Boyer part. Vera Miles is third-billed as Gavin's wife, a shrewish alcoholic who won't give John a divorce. Susan is ten years older than John and Vera but she looks good in Jean Louis' Oscar-nominated gowns, and Stanley Cortez's soft-focus camerawork keeps her just fuzzy enough to be gorgeous (she was 43 when the film was made). Susan as "the other woman" not only chews up the scenery, she is hard at work gnawing the clothing as well. Miller's direction is lethargic and he apparently didn't work on the script because any director worth his salt would have whipped the writers until they deleted every cliche. However, if that had been done in this movie, BACK STREET might have wound up as a short subject.