Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Marilyn (1953)

Marilyn is a frustrated, but also self-centred, young woman (Sandra Dorne) married to a bad tempered, rather unpleasant and jealous older man (Leslie Dwyer). She falls for a young man (Maxwell Reed) employed by her husband. You can probably guess what is going to happen...

It is a fascinating view of Britain in the early 1950s, still recovering from the war. A drab world but with a yearning for something more, something more exciting behind the drudgery.

The film is nice enough as British Noir though everything is laid on a bit too thickly. It might be better if the actors employed a bit of subtlety at times. The film does have an interesting mixture of characters, just not always acted that well especially Ferdy Mayne's oily spiv. The only one you can feel sympathy for though is Vida Hope as Rosie, Marilyn's maid who is obviously hopelessly in love with her selfish boss.