Back Street (1961)

BACK STREET (1961)

By Ralph Santini - ***

Back Street is a good example of describing this film as one of the better of the “Sirkian” melodramas that director Douglas Sirk did not made. When he he left Universal in 1959, the studio seemed reluctant to discontinue their “Melodrama” genre and that must be because Ross Hunter, who happens to produce this film slightly independent from Universal (they, after all, only sponsored and distributed the film) since they have also made two previous versions in 1932 and 1941. The first one starred Irene Dunne and John Boles and the other one starred Margaret Sullavan and Charles Boyer. 

In this color version, which is more different to the previous ones, the story begins after World War II when a young man named Paul Saxon (John Gavin) has been discharged from the Marine Corps. who is now inheriting a chain of department stores, falls in love with a woman named Rae Smith (Susan Hayward), owner of a small dress shop in Lincoln, Nebraska. But Saxon is married with two children so Rae moves to New York to become a successful fashion designer. Meanwhile Paul finds her there, but Rae does want to become the "other woman" in his life. Again they meet years later in Rome, where Rae, with the help of a partnership of famous designer Dalian, has opened a women’s salon. But it turns out Paul’s alcoholic wife, Liz (Vera Miles, excellent) won’t grant him a divorce which makes things rather difficult for Paul to develop a better relationship with Rae and follows disastrous results in the adultery between them two. 

This film has some shortcomings including some of the same melodramatic traits and clichés but its overall elevated by the film’s different setting and story changes and Vera Miles terrific performance as John Gavin’s no-good wife. I also happen to like the chemistry between Hayward and Gavin. Sure she was (according to IMDB) 14 years Gavin’s senior but here it’s their talent that matters. I also happen to like the young actor Robert Eyer’s brilliant portrayal as Gavin’s suspicious son, it’s one of the better child performances of the time and that’s fine. This adaptation is considered by some to be the finest even if I haven’t of seen the previous two yet, but I can say that this Fanny Hurst novel-based film is fascinating in its own melodramatic, campy way. John Gavin, I think, is one of the most underrated actors I have ever seen. It’s too bad he has been compared as a “poor man’s Rock Hudson” and I must say I think he is twice the talent of Rock Hudson himself. You may disagree, but I think you should go try seeing his other films, including “Psycho” opposite Janet Leigh; his character is the fiancée of ill-fated heroine Marion Crane. I always thought of Susan Hayward as being right for her melodramatic roles in this period and I think she knew how to overcome them. In fact I think Hayward, herself is among one of my favorite actresses because of her versatile nature. 

I think this film is worth seeing because I think it’s one of Ross Hunter’s better follow-ups of the films he made with Douglas Sirk (even though Sirk himself has made other melodramas with other producers at Universal) and also, as I said before, a decent, if underrated, adaptation of Fanny Hurst’s novel which thankfully transcends more to the early 60s in the spirit of “All That Heaven Allows” and the 1959 version of “Imitation Of Life” another film based on a Hurst novel that faithfully transcended to it’s own generation. It’s that beautiful.