We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your email. Cinemark In The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, relationships formed in childhood lead to murder and obsessive love. Eighteen years later, Sam (Van Heflin) is driving in the road nearby Iverstown, but he does not pay attention in a curve and hits his car in a post. Due to a car accident, Van Heflin has to return to his home town in "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers," and walks into a world full of blackmail and murder. A very good feature that seems to be a soap-opera with touches of film-noir. the plot is superb and throws some nice curves that keeps you on your toes. A forgotten classic with great stars, get reminded... slick entertainment with a taut narrative and shrewd direction, The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is one of those really dark films noir that tends to get away with more than it seems to be getting away with. The plot of this movie moves at a slower pace than most film noir, devoting more time to character development and background than expected. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. 18 years earlier, he ran away from home the night his friend Martha's aunt was murdered while Martha, her friend Walter, and Walter's father were in the Ivers house. Martha lies to the cops, and Walter (Kirk Douglas), who saw the crime, corroborates the girl's story. Today’s movie is The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 1946. Barbara Stanwyck delivers one of her finest performances opposite Van Heflin ; newcomers Kirk Douglas (his film debut) and Lizabeth Scott (her … | Highly recommended. But its look, save some recurrent bus-station shots, suggests lavish and well-lit prestige productions (as does its length), and in its deep-rooted narrative it harks back to sprawling, brooding melodramas such as Kings Row. This movie, more than most of its era, trades in shades of gray; the "bad" characters, Martha and Walter, have reasons for the evil they do, while the "good" characters, Sam and Toni, are no angels--he's a decorated war hero, but he makes his living by gambling and once killed a man in self-defense, while she just got out of jail. | | Sidney Poitier’s 7 Most Memorable Performances, All Harry Potter Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer. Lizabeth Scott who plays the most sympathetic character in the movie is very able and memorable.The movie is at almost two hours perhaps a tad long,but it is well worth investing those two hours. A powerhouse cast is assembled for "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers." Byron Haskin served as director during Milestone’s absence. Coming Soon. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. Barbara Stanwyck as Martha Ivers gives a chillingly superb performance. It holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews. She hates her aunt Mrs. Ivers (Judith Anderson) and while in her room with her tutor's son Walter O'Neil and Sam later, the power runs out and she asks Sam to bring her cat back to the room. Pervaded by his guilty-liberal fascination with power and money. They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating. | Fresh (10). The film has received acclaim from modern critics. ", Whisper her name: Stanwyck as twisted steeltown autocrat, acting tour de force with great film noir plot, Van Heflin & Lizabeth Scott Were The Real Stars, A perfect high drama--tight, tragic, tender. It's a treat to watch this able quintet at work, making for an engrossing film experience. 5 stars out of 10. |, November 5, 2007 Sam leaves town, but Martha and Walter remain. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. All rights reserved. See reviews & details on a wide selection of Blu-ray & DVDs, both new & used. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is melodrama with all the stops pulled out. I haven't been on the rubberneck tour for years. And the talent is generally well used. | Rating: B Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. | Rating: 3/5, October 15, 2005 Best Netflix Shows and Series To Binge (January 2021), The 100 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now (January 2021), 100 Best Movies on Amazon Prime To Watch (January 2021), Its the only room I didn't change. But it also felt the story was a little too intricate for them to handle optimally. Great movie. Douglas' role - that of an alcoholic coward - is a little bit of a stretch for him and he sometimes over-does it. Trivia: Blake Edwards has a small role as a sailor. A tale of greed, lust, revenge and psychopathic murder, it is – in the words of Noël Simsolo – “worthy of the worst libretto in Italian opera”. Stanwyck was amazing. All Critics (10) Husky-voiced Lizabeth Scott rounds out the star foursome nicely as Toni, a wrong-side-of-the-tracks girl who's been burned by trusting the wrong men. For once the femme fatale seems realistic, she has motives and emotions besides the obvious. Odd title to this movie. There was a lot to love about The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). When Antonia loses her bus to her hometown, she accepts the invitation of Sam for a drink and later she goes to his hotel. An odd film from director Lewis Milestone, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) starts off in full-blown gothic-thriller style with a prologue set in 1928 that lasts more than 10 minutes. that holds up decades later. |, June 2, 2010 It veers between Noir and melodrama, and I gotta say I was hooked from the get go. An engrossing and creative film-noir, "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" offers an interesting and unpredictable story with quite a bit of commentary about its characters. The flashback portraying several of the characters as teenagers has the spark of reality as well. Watching this movie, you wouldn't think Kirk Douglas, who plays the weak-willed, alcoholic Walter, would soon become a bigger star than Heflin and play the tough, romantic hero parts like Sam Masterson. The plot was OK, but everybody overacted. | Rating: B This is probably one of the most "complex" story lines in all of Noir. barbara stanwyck and kirk douglas do a great job but they are not the reason this is a great gem. However, when her childhood pal, Sam (Van Heflin), shows up, Martha knows her dark past may not stay a secret for long. Coming Soon. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is similarly unexceptional, with endless scenes framed in medium shots, with two characters shouting at each other from their half of the frame. Black-and-white film noir released in the United States in 1946, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott and an young Kirk Douglas in his film debut. [on being shown the house of Martha]. In 1928, in Iverstown, the heiress Martha Smith Ivers is caught by the police for the fourth time while trying to runaway home with her friend Sam Masterson. He actually skedaddled before witnessing anything. Nonetheless, this movie is loaded with excellent performances, fine direction and a deep story. Case closed. Multi-dimensional characters, a dark story and various mind games. No physical evidence; just an accusation from a guy that could easily be refuted in court. Lewis Milestone's The Strange Love of Martha Ivers presents a, well, strange case. It is also Kirk Douglas' first film, recommended for the film by the first couple of noir, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall based… Kirk Douglas, in his debut, is very good as the weakling husband of Stanwyck. There's never any love in the Martha Ivers' circle. She never got enough chance in early life to become acquainted with the real article. When it does not falter with didacticism, the film has a certain twisted, deep … Young Martha (Barbara Stanwyck) inadvertently causes the death of her cruel, authoritarian aunt. Maybe he could have helped her be human had he been able to stay around early on. A gripping film noir, all the more effective for being staged by Milestone as a steamy romantic melodrama. The screenplay was written by Robert Rossen and Robert Riskin, who was not credited, and was directed by Lewis Milestone. Van Heflin's engaging performance proves what great potential he had to be one of the biggies. With all of the schemes, intrigue, sexual undertones and murder this is a very rare and so incredibly original post-wartime movie. His guilty-liberal fascination with power and money Critics ( 10 ) | Top (. Edwards has a lot of unique history to it 1946, and (. The future from … Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz story and various mind games please click the link below receive. 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