The Cobweb (1955)
I was drawn to watch The Cobweb because I thought it would be another lush, Vincente Minnelli drama like Some Came Running with tons of tension and a heart-tugging story – and also, I’ll watch anything with Richard Widmark. Instead, I had to force myself to sit through it. It didn’t have any passion behind it, and either the characters or the actors playing them weren’t compelling. It’s set in a mental asylum, but the central conflict is about changing the drapes in the common room – how interesting is that? Sure, it’s probably supposed to show how one little thing can grow out of proportion in importance, but I wasn’t invested.
Dick plays the level-headed clinic director who tries to give every patient what he or she needs. His wife is Gloria Grahame, a floozy who wants her husband home in bed with her instead of at the nuthouse working. Again, this doesn’t make much sense. She’s married to Richard Widmark; of course she wants him home in bed! That shouldn’t mark her as a floozy. Lauren Bacall is Dick’s “office wife”, his right-hand-woman at the clinic (secretly in love with him) who handles all the business details so he can do his doctorly duties. When Gloria orders new drapes, Lauren gets offended because that should be her job, so she orders drapes of her own. Who will win out, and can Dick keep the peace in his personal and professional life?
See what I mean? It just doesn’t seem important enough to make a movie about. Although, it did provide a chuckle twenty years later in High Anxiety when there’s a joke about the asylum needing to change the curtains.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Richard Widmark movies here!
Dick plays the level-headed clinic director who tries to give every patient what he or she needs. His wife is Gloria Grahame, a floozy who wants her husband home in bed with her instead of at the nuthouse working. Again, this doesn’t make much sense. She’s married to Richard Widmark; of course she wants him home in bed! That shouldn’t mark her as a floozy. Lauren Bacall is Dick’s “office wife”, his right-hand-woman at the clinic (secretly in love with him) who handles all the business details so he can do his doctorly duties. When Gloria orders new drapes, Lauren gets offended because that should be her job, so she orders drapes of her own. Who will win out, and can Dick keep the peace in his personal and professional life?
See what I mean? It just doesn’t seem important enough to make a movie about. Although, it did provide a chuckle twenty years later in High Anxiety when there’s a joke about the asylum needing to change the curtains.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Richard Widmark movies here!