Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960)

Set mostly in the slums of Chicago in the late 1950s, this intense drama tells the story of several adults trapped in depressing lives from which there seems no escape. So they bundle their good intentions in hopes of shepherding a fatherless teenager named Nick (James Darren) into a more hopeful life. Shelley Winters plays Nick's mother, Nellie. And Burl Ives plays the Judge, a man who somehow allowed his love of alcohol to derail his judicial career. A few others add to Nick's improvised family.Although Nellie would probably be considered the lead character, the film could almost be described as having an ensemble cast, given that each of the main performers has scenes independent of Nellie. The script is talky but tight; dialogue largely drives the plot forward. Themes include dignity and self-determination despite apparent hopelessness.Consistent with these themes, interiors are mostly drab and bleak; alcohol and drugs figure prominently in these peoples' lives. B&W lighting trends low-key and mostly low-contrast, though side lighting adds a hint of noir in some scenes. The score consists of intermittent elevator music that's very soft and nondescript. Ella Fitzgerald's piano playing and singing mirrors the softness of the background music. Casting is perfect. The main players all give topnotch performances.Based on a novel, this film gets off to a somewhat slow start but the drama picks up, and builds to a theatrical climax. It's been awhile since I have watched a film with such a good script, particularly in the second and third Acts. And with a great cast and terrific performances, "Let No Man Write My Epitaph" makes a highly favorable impression.

Based on African-American novelist Willard Motley's book (1958) of the same name (title from 19th century Irish Patriot Robert Emmet's famous execution speech, see below). This story takes up the plight of two of the original characters from "Knock" and illustrates the frustrations of a group of residents living on "lower class" East Madison Street in Chicago, circa late 1950's.Nellie Romano (Shelly Winters) is a single Mother bringing up her only son Nick (James Darren), a promising young piano virtuoso. Unfortunately, they and their neighborhood friends are each burdened with the sad fate that "for the wrong turn sometime earlier" they must endure their chosen lot in life. But this tale is not a sappy string-together story of separate woes; rather (in the beginning) an optimistic hope for the future if the pieces of the puzzle fall just right.Of course, our 'extended family' realize early that the chances of the puzzle's success are remote, as they only have their personal disasters to judge success. There is Nellie's sad story, a past the whole neighborhood knows of, save Nick and the "defrocked" Judge (Burl Ives) who has commuted his own sentence to the bottom of a bottle rather than a court of law. Also a prostitute (Jeanne Cooper), an ex-prizefighter (Bernie Hamilton), the smack addict (Fitzgerald) and a paraplegic (Walter Burke) who in their own way try their best to make each other happy.Along the way they careen into the lower tiers of an immoral society of disreputable scum-bags, including racketeer Louie Ramponi (Montalban). What transpires next is the 'family' banding together for survival; but the question is, are they strong enough to escape a 'bottomless pit' without even a knotted rope for escape? Maybe the apple of everyone's eyes, young Nick can.

Kind of a cross between "West Side Story" (though it's Chicago's West Side) and "Golden Boy" without Clifford Odets' lyricism, this sleaze-obsessed melodrama benefits from location filming that shows how awful the Chicago slums looked in 1960 and a motley, oddball cast. James Darren is the sensitive hood/concert pianist (and though he's proficient at the keyboard, he's hardly the prodigy the script makes him out to be), being raised by Shelley Winters at her Shelley Wintersiest, screaming and sobbing and unhinging easily. She and an assembly of longtime slum pals, including an uninteresting Burl Ives as a drunken ex-judge, are trying to give the kid a decent upbringing amid all the squalor. There are also Ricardo Montalban, excellent as an insidiously evil-charming dope peddler; Ella Fitzgerald, who gets to act a bit and isn't bad; and Jean Seberg, not quite credible as the Lake Shore girl Darren loves. The direction is uninspired, and the screenplay a little contrived (when it wants us to know Ives loves Winters, it just has him confess to the camera), but what's fascinating is the brio with which the filmmakers depict all the sex and violence and addiction and grimness. It's as if they were trying to show how grownup they are by thrusting all that misery in your face. It moves fast, and if your attention starts to wander, be assured, Shelley Winters will be erupting again soon.

I was pleasantly surprised by all of the comments on this film. I haven't seen it for many, many, years, probably 15 or more. However, I remember it well and had believed for a long time that I was the only one who knew of it's existence. *laughing* This is one of my favorite Shelley Winters movies. And of course Miss Ella Fitzgerald was an added treat. I first saw it when I was about 15 (mid-1970s), so you can imagine what an impact it had on me. I'd had a crush on James Darren from his role in the television series "The Time Tunnel". I wish I could find it on video or DVD somewhere; but that's unlikely. I was just looking over the credits and saw a couple of familiar names; Bernie Hamilton(who starred in a lot of the so-called Blaxploitation films of the seventies) and Jeanne Cooper,whom I adored in the seventies as Mrs. Chancellor in the popular soap, "The Young and the Restless". Try as I might, I cannot remember them in the film. Which is why it is a must I see it again! *Laughing* I'll be armed with "TVio" and "VCR" the next time it makes it's appearance on cable....TCM are you listening???!! Miss "P"