The Story On Page One
Directed byClifford Odets
Written byClifford Odets
Produced byJerry Wald
StarringRita Hayworth
Anthony Franciosa
CinematographyJames Wong Howe
Edited byHugh S. Fowler
Music byElmer Bernstein
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release dates
December 1959 (premiere)
  • January 13, 1960 (1960-01-13) (New York City)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,748,000[1]

The Story on Page One is a 1959 American drama film written and directed by Clifford Odets, and starring Rita Hayworth, Anthony Franciosa, and Gig Young. Shot in CinemaScope, the film was distributed by 20th Century-Fox.[2]

Plot

As the film begins, young Los Angeles lawyer Victor Santini (Franciosa) is hired to defend Josephine "Jo" Morris (Hayworth), who is accused of conspiring with Larry Ellis (Young) to murder her husband Mike Morris (Ryder), a police detective. In flashbacks, it is shown that her marriage to Morris is loveless and dull. She met Ellis a widower, with whom she finds companionship and comfort. The two see each other regularly, and are intimate once. Larry's mother (Dunnock), a righteous, controlling mother, finds out about their relationship. She threatens to expose Jo to her husband unless it stops. Jo tells Larry what had happened, and Larry travels to see her and comfort her.

Believing her husband is asleep, Jo lets Larry into her kitchen to talk. However, Mike discovers them, and pulls out his service revolver and struggles with Larry. It ends with Mike being shot dead. Both are charged with first-degree murder (which at the time carried the death penalty), and a large part of the film consists of their trial.

At the trial, prosecuting attorney Phil Stanley (Meisner) stresses how Jo first told police that a prowler had killed her husband, until a cuff link belonging to Larry was discovered at the scene of the crime. He also notes that an insurance policy was purchased a week before the shooting.

Santini, a Harvard Law School graduate, skillfully erodes the prosecution's case, and includes a devastating cross-examination of Larry's mother. Both defendants are found not guilty and leave the courtroom together, after being individually counseled by the presiding judge in his chambers.

Cast

ActorRole
Rita HayworthJosephine Brown Morris
Anthony FranciosaVictor Santini
Gig YoungLarry Ellis
Mildred DunnockMrs. Ellis
Hugh GriffithJudge Edgar Neilsen
Sanford MeisnerPhil Stanley
Robert BurtonDistrict Attorney Nordeau
Alfred RyderLt. Mike Morris
Raymond GreenleafJudge Carey
Katherine SquireMrs. Hattie Brown
Myrna FaheyAlice
Leo PennMorrie Goetz
Sheridan ComerateOfficer Francis Morris

See also

References

  1. ↑ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p252
  2. ↑ Blum, Daniel (1961). Daniel Blum's Screen World. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 13. ISBN 0-819-60302-3.


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