VividSimon Simply Perfect

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

wes-connors Stock market tycoon James Garner (as Cash McCall) pursues pretty children's book illustrator Natalie Wood (as Lory). Previously, they had something of a summer romance, when Ms. Wood's character fell hopelessly and head over heels for Mr. Garner (as you will surely notice in the character's demeanor). Older divorcée Nina Foch (as Maude Kennard) is also hot for the "Maverick" TV star. Complicating matters, Wood is the daughter of businessman Dean Jagger (as Grant Austen), who owns the "Austen Plastics" company Garner hopes to acquire. The cast, color, and sets are attractive - but, the story is amazingly obvious, and dully performed by the co-starring couple. Listen up for Garner to tell the General he's "up the well-known creek…without a paddle." **** Cash McCall (1/20/60) Joseph Pevney ~ James Garner, Natalie Wood, Nina Foch, Dean Jagger

mark.waltz Cash McCall is a business tycoon who has been taking over various corporations through buy-outs without regards for the people he works for him goes after a plastics company owned by Dean Jagger so he can resume a relationship with Jagger's daughter, Natalie Wood. It appears that the year before, they had a brief romance which somehow soured, and now he wants to marry her. James Garner plays the title character, and Natalie Wood is the girl. Wood looks a bit older here than she does in several films she did shortly after (particularly "Splendor in the Grass", "West Side Story", and especially "Gypsy"). Her hair style is probably the main reason, and the character appears to be a bit older too, even though she still lives with her folks. While Garner and Wood are undoubtedly gorgeous together, they don't share the same spark that Rock Hudson and Doris Day did in the previous year's big romantic comedy hit "Pillow Talk", or even the two films that Garner later did with Ms. Day. Wood, who as "Queen of Warner Brothers" after Ms. Day departed, probably thought it looked good on paper, and while it has some amusements, it actually looks better than it actually plays. The lead characters, even Garner's rather ruthless businessman, are likable, and Garner indulges McCall with a sense of standards of decent business practices that other hot young actors of the time might have.This is an unfortunate film choice for poor Nina Foch, who must suffer all sorts of indignities as an embittered divorcée who develops a crush on McCall and is humiliated by him after she ruthlessly tries to break him and Wood up. It's sad to see this pathetic creature pine after a man who obviously doesn't love her. The scene where she begins to think he is just isn't convincing enough to make us believe that she would think he was talking about her in the first place, when it was very clear he was talking about someone else. She also has the misfortune to wear probably the ugliest hat in film history, one that's actually feathered but looks like a fruit bowl turned upside down.There have been much better films on big business, including one by the same author ("Executive Suite"). It features a wonderful supporting cast, most notably Henry Jones (who will never be confused here with his role of LeRoy in "The Bad Seed") and Eli Wallach. It's colorful and beautifully designed, but ultimately superficial and weak.

moonspinner55 Cameron Hawley's book about ruthlessness and romance in the world of high finance becomes well-dressed but tepid star-vehicle for James Garner (then riding high on TV's "Maverick") and perpetual second-biller Natalie Wood (even after spending years in the business, Wood got stuck in the role of the 'love-interest' and had a tough time carving out her niche as a leading lady). Garner, pushing too hard as Cash McCall, probably had a lot more at stake with this film than his co-star did; playing the money-hungry tycoon in love with his business partner's daughter, Garner looks the part but isn't very exciting a presence. Elsewhere, Nina Foch is highly effective (and creepy) as an older lady who harbors a semi-fatal attraction for Cash, while Wood is attractive and feisty in a one-dimensional role. Overall results are distressingly bland. ** from ****

Stefan Kahrs In many respects this looks like a 1980s film that has been moved through a hole in the time/space continuum into 1959. From a cynical 1990s perspective, much of it is probably a touch too sweet, especially the romance, but the way high-flying business is portrayed was way ahead of its time. It is very much as we would find it in mid-1980s films such as Wall Street or Other People's Money. In case some of the dialogue/monologue sounds familiar: Pretty Woman seems to have "borrowed" significant chunks.