Lasting in its original incarnation from 1952 to 1958, game-changing gossip magazine CONFIDENTIAL found itself belatedly under attack in 1957. Taken on by libeled stars in court, and on-screen, as in this tepid B-pic, an M-G-M contract closer for Van Johnson, a man with just the sort of closeted gay background CONFIDENTIAL lived to hint at. And he’s pretty good here as an also-ran puppeteer whose big, long-awaited tv break comes with the threat of public exposure on a youthful felony conviction and four-year jail sentence. But he can save himself (and family: wife Ann Blyth; son Richard Eyer*), along with his career, if he’ll just inform on another star. (The best idea in here, one barely pursued in Jerome Weidman’s ultra-tidy script, is that Johnson’s instant tv celebrity suddenly makes him a bigger ‘get’ for sleaze publisher Steve Cochran than the original target.) Plenty of dramatic possibilities, but with stiff megging from Roy Rowland the film has all the visual appeal of a Poverty Row quickie. (Below the production standards for episodic ‘50s tv.) Ann Blyth can’t help her brittle looks (she always seems about to shatter), but Steve Cochran’s heartless magazine publisher and Marjorie Rambeau as his disapproving mother play two sizes too big to survive Rowland’s penchant for finding just the wrong camera position. (The overlit sets from lenser Harold Marzorati, a given at this price point, also no help.) Under the circumstances, Johnson & Eyer a pretty good father/son team, but hardly enough to make this collection of missed opportunities worth a detour.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK: While better attempts were made at the time, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL/’97 pretty much sweeps the board on this subject. OR: *1957 was kid actor Richard Eyer’s busiest year. See him take on a villainous Robbie the Robot (a rare appearance between his ‘56 FORBIDDEN PLANET debut and the LOST IN SPACE tv days) in THE INVISIBLE BOY/’57. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/11/invisible-boy-1957.html
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