East Side, West Side (1949)

Check out that cast list... the first EIGHT names are all HUGE, or became huge eventually. They must have blown the budget on just the payroll. Even further (farther ?) down the list, there are biggies. Wm Frawley (FRED!) and Vito Scotti. Poor Barbara S... kept getting nominated for Oscars; should have won it for sure for a couple of those. Stanwyck had just made a run of GREAT films during the 1940s, so it's no wonder this one isn't as well known. In this one, Jessie (Stanwyck) confronts her husband's mistress Isabel (Ava Gardner). James Mason is the playboy husband Brandon Bourne, and tries to have his cake and sleep with it too. Some amazing, big time co-stars - Van Heflin, Nancy Davis Reagan, Cyd Charisse, Gale Sondergaard. Bad stuff happens, and then the cop (a young Williamm Conrad) tries to figure out who-dunnit... so many suspects and motives. Really great film... surprised we don't see this on TCM more often, but so many movies, only so much time, i guess. Directed by Mervyn Leroy, who had worked on some biggies during the 1930s and 1940s.

What a cast. I can enjoy this movie for that reason alone, and the stars really strut their stuff.The film is set in New York just after WW2. Jessie and Brandon Bourne (Barbara Stanwick and James Mason) a couple whose marriage has been jolted by his adulterous affair with Isabel Lorrison (Ava Gardner), try to put it behind them and move forward.However Brandon has a tendency to hang around the Del Rio nightclub where he meets young model, Rosa Senta (Cyd Charisse). Unfortunately, it's just at that moment that Isabel Lorrison arrives back on the scene and back into Brandon's life, despite his attempts to stay true to Jessie.At a party, Jessie meets Rosa's boyfriend, Mark Dwyer (Van Heflin), an intelligence operative and ex-cop turned novelist who has just returned from Europe. After a lot of musical chairs reshuffling of relationships, Rosa becomes the only one unseated while Jessie and Mark become an item, and Brandon can't help his attraction to Isabel. He explains to Jessie that his attraction is like a drunk who knows liquor will wreck him, but can't stop himself.When a murder takes place, Mark Dwyer's instincts as an ex-policeman take over. He actually walks into the murder scene and virtually runs the investigation – I guess that's why crime scene tape was invented to stop things like that happening – the case is solved but a lot of relationships change before the end.Although the story is pretty crazy, and would give any modern soapy a run for its money, "East Side, West Side" has a literate script with touches of wit, giving the stars plenty to work with. With that said though, Barbara Stanwick plays a role that she could put on like a dress straight from her wardrobe – she plays it well, but of course she did have plenty of practice.James Mason, he of the mellifluous voice, was always a scene-stealer, and smooth-talking cads like Brandon were his forte. On the other hand, Van Heflin was at his best as the honest, understanding, tower of strength. Whenever he played bad, it was so against type that Academy Awards weren't out of the question à la "Johnny Eager".Although their characters are different, the presence in the same film of both Ava Gardner and Cyd Charisse, two of the most beautiful women ever in movies, seems like overkill. On television shows like "MasterChef" and "Top Chef", when a contestant overdoes the spices, the dish can end up with just too many flavours, and that's what I felt when Ava and Cyd face each other in the same scene – you hardly know which way to look."East Side, West Side" has that indefinable MGM gloss plus a distinctive Miklos Rozsa score, but the stars make this movie; to paraphrase Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard", "They had faces then".

This is an edit of my original review, after watching the film a second time.Realism is what I see in this film. I don't necessarily mean in terms of plot. There are a few aspects of that which didn't seem logical, but no more so than most films. But the performances, in general, seemed very real.I've never been much of a fan of James Mason, and this film doesn't redeem him much in my eyes. But, funny thing is, his character in this film is just about what I have a feeling he was actually like. And that's not saying much. But, at least he has that wonderful voice.Barbara Stanwyck was excellent here, but with a problem. ON the positive side, she seems very realistic as the jilted wife who ultimately makes the best decision for her life. On the negative side, in the early part of the film she seems very wishy-washy in how she reacts to her husband's repeated infidelities, then, fairly suddenly, she becomes the tough lady we usually enjoyed Stanwyck being. I'm not sure that in real life many women (or men, for that matter) could change roles so easily.Van Heflin is not one of my favorite actors, but I would have to say this is the best role I have seen him in. He seems real in his acting, but his character seems rather contrived. Nevertheless, he shines here.This is not a role that Ava Gardner fans might appreciate...the ultimate bad girl...but she does it well. As for me, I rarely appreciated Gardner's acting.Cyd Charisse is very good as Rosa Senta, but she disappears after the first half of the film, never to be seen again. Her character seemed to be merely a contrivance for the overall plot line.Nancy Davis -- later Mrs. Ronald Reagan -- has a small role here, and she's not very believable as a concerned friend of Barbara Stanwyck.Gale Sondergaard's roles were often over the top. But here, she has a more normal role and is excellent!William Conrad is fine as a police detective, as is William Frawley as a bar tender.The worst acting in the film has to be that by Beverly Michaels. She was a B movie actress...although "B" might have been generous. Her talking here is the most unrealistic aspect of the movie.Mervyn Leroy is noted for other films far more than this one, but this is a pretty good story with some fine acting. Recommended.

Compelling. This film took me by surprise - I couldn't resist it. Stanwyck is always 100% watchable and moving and she's smart and Van Heflin is a man's man and a very subtly intense actor. Ava Gardner was outstanding and Cyd Charisse is excellent. Mason is not my cup of tea but he pulled it off. These are actors who move with fluid grace and attack their lines and we just don't have American actors like this at present. I watched it a second time because it was seamless and sexy in a very subtle way. The clothes are gorgeous too. All of the intimacy between Heflin and Stanwyck and the easy way he had of just declaring himself was exciting. I was too young to appreciate this actor before, but I'm old enough now to want men to be men in films again.