Ruthless
Ambition’s the dish here. We start at a swanky charity do where tycoon Horace Vendig is being canonised, right up to the moment his old mate Vic Lambdin walks in with Mallory Flagg—the image of first love Martha. Neat trick: Diana Lynn plays both, and the party melts into flashbacks charting Horace’s climb through jilts, buy-outs, and tidy betrayals.
It’s often dubbed Ulmer’s Citizen Kane, and the nods are clear—low angles with ceilings, memory as a minefield. With Eagle-Lion giving him a bit more cash than usual, Ulmer keeps it sleek; Bert Glennon’s photography adds a cool gloss. The script’s by Alvah Bessie, S. K. Lauren, and Gordon Kahn—credits with a whiff of blacklist history.
The cast carry it: Zachary Scott glides through venality, Louis Hayward lends bruised decency, Sydney Greenstreet purrs as Buck Mansfield. Lynn gives both women backbone, with Lucille Bremer, Martha Vickers, and a brief Raymond Burr sharpening the edges. The snag? Dayton Stoddart’s Prelude to Night is crammed into about 100 minutes, so motives sprint and a few pay-offs arrive underdone. Still, cool, cynical, and worth a look.
It’s often dubbed Ulmer’s Citizen Kane, and the nods are clear—low angles with ceilings, memory as a minefield. With Eagle-Lion giving him a bit more cash than usual, Ulmer keeps it sleek; Bert Glennon’s photography adds a cool gloss. The script’s by Alvah Bessie, S. K. Lauren, and Gordon Kahn—credits with a whiff of blacklist history.
The cast carry it: Zachary Scott glides through venality, Louis Hayward lends bruised decency, Sydney Greenstreet purrs as Buck Mansfield. Lynn gives both women backbone, with Lucille Bremer, Martha Vickers, and a brief Raymond Burr sharpening the edges. The snag? Dayton Stoddart’s Prelude to Night is crammed into about 100 minutes, so motives sprint and a few pay-offs arrive underdone. Still, cool, cynical, and worth a look.
Mini Review: At a swanky “charity” bash, tycoon Horace Vendig is lionised—until old pal Vic arrives with Mallory, the image of first love Martha. Cue flashbacks. Diana Lynn plays both; Zachary Scott glides through venality; Sydney Greenstreet purrs as Buck. Often dubbed Ulmer’s Citizen Kane: low angles, ceiling shots, memory as battleground. Shot by Bert Glennon for Eagle-Lion. Slick and cynical, but Dayton Stoddart’s Prelude to Night feels crammed into 104 minutes.