HOME BEFORE DARK (1958)

Never a director of particular interests (or interest), Mervyn LeRoy rose or fell on whatever scripts & casts were assigned him, especially during his liveliest days @ Warners in the ‘30s. He then went all corporate at M-G-M, now as producer/director (‘39 - ‘54), before returning to Warners for a final dozen largely moribund pics between ‘55 - ‘66. This one, an inadequately worked out mental health meller, does show him at his late best, trying to lick a tricky story into dramatic shape. He fails, but at least still seems to care; something that can’t be said of most of these late efforts. Jean Simmons, fresh from the sanatorium post-breakdown, goes home to a chilly reception from husband, step-sister & step-mother (Dan O’Herlihy, Rhonda Fleming, Mabel Albertson) and a warmer one from surprise guest border Efrem Zimbalist Jr., a professor getting a tryout in O’Herlihy’s department at the local college. (And receiving an equally chilly reception not because he’s ‘mental,’ but because he’s Jewish.) We never get enough info to dope out Simmons’ situation, but it's some sort of manic/depressive condition. (Simmons very fine, very scary in manic phase. A little lithium and there’d be no story.) But the family dynamic never convinces, with O’Herlihy’s possible ‘gaslighting’ (egging Simmons on to fresh doubts about her sanity) coming off as a tease, a sort of psychological ‘red herring.’ The ending also tries splitting the difference on expectations, as if it had checked all the answer boxes on a multiple-choice survey. Still, worth a look for Simmons, Joseph Biroc’s dark b&w lensing and even a few good moves from LeRoy.

DOUBLE-BILL: In these late Warners pics, LeRoy also shows some real involvement on TOWARD THE UNKNOWN/’56, a test pilot story with William Holden. More typical was THE FBI STORY/’59 where James Stewart drifts aimlessly until the last two reels, suspensefully shot on-location . . . but by whom? Better yet, pick any of LeRoy’s ‘30s titles out of a hat. OR: For manic/depressive mental health ‘50s-style, along with the dangers of untested drug therapy, Nicholas Ray’s rich, strange & phenomenal BIGGER THAN LIFE/’56 with James Mason.