A Hatful of Rain (1957)

Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Starring Don Murray, Anthony Franciosa, Eva Marie Saint, Lloyd Nolan, Henry Silva, Gerald S. O’Loughlin, William Hickey.

Nolan visits his sons in New York City, scorning “black sheep” Franciosa while treating Korean War hero Murray with pride and respect, even though Murray’s the one with an expensive and dangerous drug addiction. Saint co-stars as Murray’s expectant wife who’s lost that lovin’ feeling; Silva brings an appropriately creepy vibe to his role as a drug peddler. Unusually frank for the era about its mature subject matter, and uncompromising in its depiction of personal shame; can’t completely avoid outmoded milieu and attitudes, but the accrued effect retains its harrowing power. Lower East Side location shooting inspires atmosphere, but Zinnemann can’t manage much more than a squared-off visual presentation for the anxious melodrama (adapted from Michael V. Gazzo’s Broadway play, its stage origins are hard to shake). Rueful Murray is shaky (in more ways than one) but Saint and Franciosa both deliver the goods. Hickey’s film debut (he plays one of the dealer’s lackeys).

75/100