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Reviews
The Story on Page One (1959)
Didn't anyone consider the blacklist?
All I could think about during the courtroom sequences of this film, especially those involving the crazed prosecution attorney, was that this film was not about murder, but about innocence.
The question wasn't whether the husband had been killed pre-meditatively, but whether the lovers would turn against each other in order to save their own skins.
Badgering the witness, Senator McCarthy? The fact that they remained true to each other, and didn't "name names" was the reward for the audience.
The project came off more as a stage exercise than as a feature film. The cast was effective. The direction was adequate, if not particularly inspired. Technical credits were 50's studio black and white average. What one brings away from this is a feeling that if more "witnesses" to Senator McCarthy's witch hunt had stood up to him, he might have been proved to be the monster he was sooner.
The Whole Wide World (1996)
Charming biopic with special interest for Howard fans
It's not often that biographies are produced about pulp writers, but this little gem scores on all counts. It's sweet, funny, earnest and insightful, conveying the difficulties faced by a young writer on his way up. Vincent Donofrio and Renee Zelwegger make a great team (a pity they have not been matched up again), and the film succeeds as drama, romance and biography. The technical credits are fine, with a warm feel for the time and place of Howard's home and environs. If you're a Conan fan (bookS and/or films), this will be of special interest, as you may have thought of Howard as a macho jock, salivating over the typewriter as he composed his adventure stories.