21 reviews
Do we broadcast the legend?
A radio broadcaster and news commentator named Herb Fuller is injured and later dies in the hospital with word according to his doctor Edward Platt that aren't fit for broadcast. The radio network that he worked for has a vested interest in the personality of Fuller and what do they do. In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance editor Carleton Young had the ready answer about when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
Entertainment journalist Jose Ferrer is chosen to host a special radio tribute broadcast and it's put out through the grapevine that Ferrer could be the replacement for The Great Man. All Ferrer has to do is put together a show that fosters the legend of the late Mr. Fuller.
Easier said than done because all Ferrer comes up with in talking to those around him is what a no good rat this guy was. The man had not a sincere bone in his body, a two perfect two faced Janus with one face for the public and a completely different one for those who knew him.
Ferrer who directed this film as well as starred in it made sure that the supporting cast was a good one with some unforgettable roles. Ferrer the director was not interested in this being simply a star vehicle for the actor. He got some great performances out of people like Dean Jagger as the network president, Keenan Wynn as the manager of the late Mr. Fuller and Ferrer's manager, Julie London as Fuller's ex-wife, a drunken washed up nightclub singer and Ed Wynn as the eccentric radio station owner where Fuller got his start.
Keenan Wynn is especially interested. He's working on one grand agenda of his own. He's as cynical a human being as has ever been portrayed on the big screen, but in a really key scene with Ferrer he puts the final kibosh to the legend of Herb Fuller and shows he's got a really good reason for his cynicism. It's one of Keenan Wynn's best moments on the big screen.
The Great Man has been compared to Citizen Kane and rightly so. Unlike Kane where those who are digging for the facts are bland and faceless with the accent on the recollections by the survivors of Charles Foster Kane and the portrait they create of Kane in their flashbacks. Here we have no flashbacks, the accent is on how Ferrer deals with them giving them the real story on the legend and what he will do with it. The following year Elia Kazan in A Face In The Crowd took a different approach. We see the legend of Lonesome Rhodes built up by Andy Griffith and how it destructs in the end with Patricia Neal seeing it as a public duty.
Citizen Kane, A Face In The Crowd, and The Great Man and for that matter The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance are all really about the same topic, the difference between public personalities and the private lives behind them. The Great Man for some reason has been sadly neglected unlike the other three films. That is a pity because it is a film with great performances and some interesting things to say.
Entertainment journalist Jose Ferrer is chosen to host a special radio tribute broadcast and it's put out through the grapevine that Ferrer could be the replacement for The Great Man. All Ferrer has to do is put together a show that fosters the legend of the late Mr. Fuller.
Easier said than done because all Ferrer comes up with in talking to those around him is what a no good rat this guy was. The man had not a sincere bone in his body, a two perfect two faced Janus with one face for the public and a completely different one for those who knew him.
Ferrer who directed this film as well as starred in it made sure that the supporting cast was a good one with some unforgettable roles. Ferrer the director was not interested in this being simply a star vehicle for the actor. He got some great performances out of people like Dean Jagger as the network president, Keenan Wynn as the manager of the late Mr. Fuller and Ferrer's manager, Julie London as Fuller's ex-wife, a drunken washed up nightclub singer and Ed Wynn as the eccentric radio station owner where Fuller got his start.
Keenan Wynn is especially interested. He's working on one grand agenda of his own. He's as cynical a human being as has ever been portrayed on the big screen, but in a really key scene with Ferrer he puts the final kibosh to the legend of Herb Fuller and shows he's got a really good reason for his cynicism. It's one of Keenan Wynn's best moments on the big screen.
The Great Man has been compared to Citizen Kane and rightly so. Unlike Kane where those who are digging for the facts are bland and faceless with the accent on the recollections by the survivors of Charles Foster Kane and the portrait they create of Kane in their flashbacks. Here we have no flashbacks, the accent is on how Ferrer deals with them giving them the real story on the legend and what he will do with it. The following year Elia Kazan in A Face In The Crowd took a different approach. We see the legend of Lonesome Rhodes built up by Andy Griffith and how it destructs in the end with Patricia Neal seeing it as a public duty.
Citizen Kane, A Face In The Crowd, and The Great Man and for that matter The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance are all really about the same topic, the difference between public personalities and the private lives behind them. The Great Man for some reason has been sadly neglected unlike the other three films. That is a pity because it is a film with great performances and some interesting things to say.
- bkoganbing
- Jun 26, 2015
- Permalink
THE GREAT MAN (Jose' Ferrer, 1956) ***1/2
The immense influence Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE (1941) has had on the language of cinema is well documented. So, to a lesser degree, is the freedom it gave film-makers – not always of comparable talent – towards (vaguely autobiographical) self-indulgence in their work. Yet another ripple it undeniably created (actually borrowed from THE POWER AND THE GLORY {1933}, which I own but have yet to watch!) led to a whole series of films taking a sour look at the American dream, depicting – via their flashback structure – the rise and fall of a successful but, at heart, unscrupulous public figure. Among these are RUTHLESS (1948), ALL ABOUT EVE (1950), THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952), Welles' own MR. ARKADIN aka CONFIDENTIAL REPORT (1955), THE Oscar (1966), etc.
THE GREAT MAN, then, is one such effort – and an unfairly neglected example into the bargain (even if both the Leslie Halliwell and Leonard Maltin movie guides are duly complimentary in their assessment) which rather suggests that it stands up better than other, more renowned titles in this vein! It also emerges as the most significant directorial venture by star/co-writer Ferrer. For the record, I own all 7 of the pictures he helmed – but, perhaps tellingly, this was only the second I have checked out (and which I opted to watch on the occasion of his birthday). Given the Oscar winner's reputation as a thespian, his choice of 'personal' projects was – for the most part – curiously bland and commercial in nature!
Setting this apart from the established formula is the fact that the subject of the expose' is never shown; we only learn about him – and, consequently, formulate our own opinion – from the way others (who knew him intimately, professionally or just vicariously through his popular radio show) react to news of his passing in a traffic accident. Besides, running concurrently with the main plot (the compiling of information by a small-time radio personality – played by Ferrer himself – for a "heart-rending" eulogy, to be delivered in a live broadcast by the network to commemorate "the great man") are the hero's conflicting emotions about his increasingly unpleasant and "phoney" task especially since he was being all but promoted as the deceased's successor on the airwaves!
Ultimately, the trump-cards here – which make all the difference – are the smartly cynical script (co-adapted by novel author Al Morgan) and a first-rate cast that, apart from Ferrer (in fine form), includes: real-life father and son Ed and Keenan Wynn (credited with, respectively, discovering and nurturing the ungrateful and opportunistic titular character); Julie London (as a chanteuse and his alcoholic mistress); and Dean Jagger (as the Machiavellian network head). Incidentally, the copy I viewed of this one was pretty substandard for the digital era (which has well and truly spoiled us movie-buffs, it must be said!) and, while a somewhat better-quality version does exist online, I had difficulty acquiring it...
THE GREAT MAN, then, is one such effort – and an unfairly neglected example into the bargain (even if both the Leslie Halliwell and Leonard Maltin movie guides are duly complimentary in their assessment) which rather suggests that it stands up better than other, more renowned titles in this vein! It also emerges as the most significant directorial venture by star/co-writer Ferrer. For the record, I own all 7 of the pictures he helmed – but, perhaps tellingly, this was only the second I have checked out (and which I opted to watch on the occasion of his birthday). Given the Oscar winner's reputation as a thespian, his choice of 'personal' projects was – for the most part – curiously bland and commercial in nature!
Setting this apart from the established formula is the fact that the subject of the expose' is never shown; we only learn about him – and, consequently, formulate our own opinion – from the way others (who knew him intimately, professionally or just vicariously through his popular radio show) react to news of his passing in a traffic accident. Besides, running concurrently with the main plot (the compiling of information by a small-time radio personality – played by Ferrer himself – for a "heart-rending" eulogy, to be delivered in a live broadcast by the network to commemorate "the great man") are the hero's conflicting emotions about his increasingly unpleasant and "phoney" task especially since he was being all but promoted as the deceased's successor on the airwaves!
Ultimately, the trump-cards here – which make all the difference – are the smartly cynical script (co-adapted by novel author Al Morgan) and a first-rate cast that, apart from Ferrer (in fine form), includes: real-life father and son Ed and Keenan Wynn (credited with, respectively, discovering and nurturing the ungrateful and opportunistic titular character); Julie London (as a chanteuse and his alcoholic mistress); and Dean Jagger (as the Machiavellian network head). Incidentally, the copy I viewed of this one was pretty substandard for the digital era (which has well and truly spoiled us movie-buffs, it must be said!) and, while a somewhat better-quality version does exist online, I had difficulty acquiring it...
- Bunuel1976
- Jan 9, 2014
- Permalink
It started on a Tuesday. It was a Tuesday like any other Tuesday of the week
The Great Man is a thinly disguised Arthur Godfrey
Just as Charlie Kane was based on William Randolph Hearst, great man Herb Fuller was based on TV and radio icon Arthur Godfrey. I believe several of the story lines in Great Man paralleled events in Godfrey's life. The one that stands out involved a `boy singer' that was fired by Herb Fuller. In real life Arthur Godfrey fired `boy singer' Julius LaRosa. I have heard that Godfrey the `old redhead' was none too pleased with Jose Ferrer's film.
There is a brilliant scene in the film where the hard-boiled, cynical reporter Joe Harris (Jose Ferrer) meets a former employer of great man Herb Fuller, the guy who gave Fuller his start in broadcasting. Harris and his secretary make fun of Paul Beaseley (veteran actor Ed Wynn, who only has this one scene), a doddering old bumpkin who owns a small radio station in New England. Beaseley tells a story that reveals the two sides of Herb Fuller a folksy, down-to- earth radio personality that people love on the one hand and a mean-spirited, drunken rat bastard on the other. At the end of the scene Beaseley says something like, `I know that some people find me ridiculous' and Harris, no longer mocking Beaseley, replies, `Mr. Beaseley, I don't find you ridiculous at all'. This is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time.
There is a brilliant scene in the film where the hard-boiled, cynical reporter Joe Harris (Jose Ferrer) meets a former employer of great man Herb Fuller, the guy who gave Fuller his start in broadcasting. Harris and his secretary make fun of Paul Beaseley (veteran actor Ed Wynn, who only has this one scene), a doddering old bumpkin who owns a small radio station in New England. Beaseley tells a story that reveals the two sides of Herb Fuller a folksy, down-to- earth radio personality that people love on the one hand and a mean-spirited, drunken rat bastard on the other. At the end of the scene Beaseley says something like, `I know that some people find me ridiculous' and Harris, no longer mocking Beaseley, replies, `Mr. Beaseley, I don't find you ridiculous at all'. This is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time.
The true story of the man behind the legend
Josè Ferrer both directed and starred for the first time in this movie that is a bit reminiscent of CITIZEN KANE about the true story of a famous journalist. Despite is not a classic like KANE, it's still pretty good.
Radio reporter Herb Fuller is killed in an car accident and this causes crisis in the ABC radio station. Joe Harris (Ferrer), his replacement, has to do as first assignment a one hour show discussing the life and career of the deceased journalist. As he interviews fans and the people that knew him, Harris discovers that the man hasn't really a nice reputation as it seemed. How he will discuss its life? See the film by yourself.
Josè Ferrer directs nicely and his performance is what lifts the movie. As always he has lots of charisma and no-nonsense lilt. He is surrounded by various supporting actors of those years: Edward Platt, Keenan Wynn, Jim Backus, Lyle Talbot and even gorgeous Julie London as one of Fuller's former girlfriends. However, while not a classic, it's still a very good movie in its own way and worth seeing as well.
Radio reporter Herb Fuller is killed in an car accident and this causes crisis in the ABC radio station. Joe Harris (Ferrer), his replacement, has to do as first assignment a one hour show discussing the life and career of the deceased journalist. As he interviews fans and the people that knew him, Harris discovers that the man hasn't really a nice reputation as it seemed. How he will discuss its life? See the film by yourself.
Josè Ferrer directs nicely and his performance is what lifts the movie. As always he has lots of charisma and no-nonsense lilt. He is surrounded by various supporting actors of those years: Edward Platt, Keenan Wynn, Jim Backus, Lyle Talbot and even gorgeous Julie London as one of Fuller's former girlfriends. However, while not a classic, it's still a very good movie in its own way and worth seeing as well.
- bellino-angelo2014
- Dec 20, 2019
- Permalink
a superb essay in cynicism
I fully agree with the reviewers who call this film a neglected or overlooked gem. I was drawn to watch it by the excellent cast - Jose Ferrer, Dean Jagger, Jim Backus, and assorted character actors who do outstanding work. And of course the Wynns, both father and son, in what is probably one of the few - if only - films they made together. Another draw was the rumor that Arthur Godfrey may have been the "great man" on which the story is built. Regardless of that, it's a superb portrayal of the cynicism of the entertainment world. As is made clear, selling product is the be-all and end-all, and a star's good or bad personal qualities are irrelevant. As many reviewers have said, Ed Wynn's brief appearance is a reminder of how great an actor he was. I think his son Keenan acquits himself also, and Dean Jagger is always good. I applaud Jose Ferrer's scriptwriting and direction, but I think his performance is a bit stiff and dry. The only reason I gave 7 stars and not 8 is that I thought the conclusion was a bit abrupt. However it is a very good, well acted story that is well worth watching.
Nobody is above scrutiny.
- mark.waltz
- Jun 30, 2024
- Permalink
an excellent sleeper--and a film that deserves more attention
- planktonrules
- Jun 10, 2005
- Permalink
The radio personality
The Dark Side of a Public Icon
- theowinthrop
- Oct 20, 2006
- Permalink
The Great Man - Hits the Mark
The Great Man stars Jose Ferrer, Dean Jagger, Keenan Wynn, and Ed Wynn. It is, at times, a brutal portrayal. Of the radio (and I suspect TV) business, similar to the electric "Network" that was to come out 20 years later. Dean Jagger gives the performance of his career, and Keenan Wynn also gives the performance of his career, as well. Ed Wynn is very good, and Jose Ferrer is very convincing in the lead. A great radio personality dies, and a reporter gathers all he can about him before broadcasting an hour eulogy. Like most people of the world, the radio personality is neither good, nor bad, but human. So, the reporter must decide whether to do a hatchet job or a puff piece. Some very interesting dynamics.
- arthur_tafero
- Jan 5, 2022
- Permalink
A lost classic
I've often been chastised for posting obits in which I have been less than flattering about the person who has passed on; not nasty by any means, merely truthful about their shortcomings. In "The Great Man" that is the dilemma facing Jose Ferrer; should he sing the praises of the 'Great Man' of the title, a recently deceased and much loved, at least by the people who only saw his public face, radio and television personality or should he tell the truth and expose him for the monster he was.
Ferrer's film came out around the same time as Elia Kazan's "A Face in the Crowd" and while Kazan's film, which plays out in much the same ballpark, has gone on to become a classic, Ferrer's remains virtually unseen; personally I think it's a great picture, a testament to Ferrer's often undervalued talent. There are no great cinematic flourishes here, as there are in "Citizen Kane", another film that Ferrer's has often been compared to. This is a simple, literary piece, almost a series of talking heads as Ferrer, who also stars, interviews those who knew 'the great man', including his mistress, an excellent Julie London, and best of all, Ed Wynn as the man who first discovered him. Wynn's magnificent here, (he was nominated for both the Golden Globe and a BAFTA), and Ferrer is canny enough to give him his dues. As Wynn describes his feelings Ferrer allows his camera to slowly creep up on him. He only has this one scene but it's one of the great performances by an actor in a supporting role. His son Keenan is also superb as another executive out for what he can get. As I've said, this movie is almost impossible to see, at least here in the UK, but if you get the chance take it; it's one of the best American films of the fifties.
Ferrer's film came out around the same time as Elia Kazan's "A Face in the Crowd" and while Kazan's film, which plays out in much the same ballpark, has gone on to become a classic, Ferrer's remains virtually unseen; personally I think it's a great picture, a testament to Ferrer's often undervalued talent. There are no great cinematic flourishes here, as there are in "Citizen Kane", another film that Ferrer's has often been compared to. This is a simple, literary piece, almost a series of talking heads as Ferrer, who also stars, interviews those who knew 'the great man', including his mistress, an excellent Julie London, and best of all, Ed Wynn as the man who first discovered him. Wynn's magnificent here, (he was nominated for both the Golden Globe and a BAFTA), and Ferrer is canny enough to give him his dues. As Wynn describes his feelings Ferrer allows his camera to slowly creep up on him. He only has this one scene but it's one of the great performances by an actor in a supporting role. His son Keenan is also superb as another executive out for what he can get. As I've said, this movie is almost impossible to see, at least here in the UK, but if you get the chance take it; it's one of the best American films of the fifties.
- MOscarbradley
- Aug 22, 2016
- Permalink
Network 56
Jose Ferrer stars and directs in this film that follows a Citizen Kane path in search of the man behind the famous public figure. Sans Welles' towering command of film language it is benefited by its stripped down expeditious telling as Ferrer peels back the past of the "great" man.
Popular radio reporter Herb Fuller is killed in an automobile accident sending execs at ABC (Amalgamated Broadcast Company) into a panic. Joe Harris (Ferrer) a candidate to replace Fuller is assigned to do a show on the life and career of the beloved on air personality. As he interviews fans and especially intimates, the true nature of the man is far from flattering.
The Great Man wisely keeps the subject of the film from appearing anywhere in it. He is fleshed out through people in his past and when Harris is faced with giving a puff piece or delivering the truth it drags his integrity into the fray which may threaten his rosy looking future with the company.
Banal visually the film is comprised of a series of mostly apartment interiors where Harris and his cumbersome portable tape recorder collect the ugly truth. As Harris, Ferrer remains mostly poker faced throughout fighting his own internal struggle as well as crossing the line as a reporter with his interviewees. Ed Wynn as a small station owner offers up a touching and wonderfully dignified performance while his son Keenan playing Harris' cynical agent chews some scenery in an overall strong offering. Singer Julie London surprises as a used up boozed out side piece to Fuller. Dean Jagger as ABCs cool, wheels always turning CEO turns out to be the most fascinating character of all as he calmly weighs option and wheels power over underlings from sniveling yes men to the eager Harris. It is Network 56 without the rancor and absurdist notion with Ferrer's stoic Harris replacing Peter Finch's ranting Howard Beale. It also lacks the fireworks and outstanding Chayefsky script but it does make its point about corporate power, the media and the way it manipulates the public with hardly ever raising its voice.
Popular radio reporter Herb Fuller is killed in an automobile accident sending execs at ABC (Amalgamated Broadcast Company) into a panic. Joe Harris (Ferrer) a candidate to replace Fuller is assigned to do a show on the life and career of the beloved on air personality. As he interviews fans and especially intimates, the true nature of the man is far from flattering.
The Great Man wisely keeps the subject of the film from appearing anywhere in it. He is fleshed out through people in his past and when Harris is faced with giving a puff piece or delivering the truth it drags his integrity into the fray which may threaten his rosy looking future with the company.
Banal visually the film is comprised of a series of mostly apartment interiors where Harris and his cumbersome portable tape recorder collect the ugly truth. As Harris, Ferrer remains mostly poker faced throughout fighting his own internal struggle as well as crossing the line as a reporter with his interviewees. Ed Wynn as a small station owner offers up a touching and wonderfully dignified performance while his son Keenan playing Harris' cynical agent chews some scenery in an overall strong offering. Singer Julie London surprises as a used up boozed out side piece to Fuller. Dean Jagger as ABCs cool, wheels always turning CEO turns out to be the most fascinating character of all as he calmly weighs option and wheels power over underlings from sniveling yes men to the eager Harris. It is Network 56 without the rancor and absurdist notion with Ferrer's stoic Harris replacing Peter Finch's ranting Howard Beale. It also lacks the fireworks and outstanding Chayefsky script but it does make its point about corporate power, the media and the way it manipulates the public with hardly ever raising its voice.
Terrible audio
I can't say if this was a good movie or not. Mainly because I had to struggle to understand what was being said. Maybe if the thing had closed captioning it would have been different, but it plays as though they placed the microphone in one corner of the room and the actors in the other. Jose Ferrer in particular talks like he had a mouthful of marbles. Only in his actual radio scenes does he bother to enunciate clearly. Everyone talks so softly, except Keenan Wynn who shouts his lines but still cannot be understood. Only two scenes contain a level volume of dialogue: Ferrer's meeting with Ed Wynn and his solo encounter with Dean Jagger. This is especially frustrating in the last scene when Ferrer's character goes off script and Wynn tried to stop him but Jagger orders him to let it go on. There's some dialogue between Wynn and Jagger which is meant to be the turning point of the show, only again it was impossible to make out a word they were saying. I ran it back twice trying to figure it out, but it was no use. So, 2 stars. Good audio and clear diction might have made for a great movie. Otherwise it delivers 90 minutes of background noise.
- jamesroyhold
- Apr 24, 2017
- Permalink
A Welles Copy?
This is a very interesting film for a variety of reasons. In many ways, it's a CITIZEN KANE knock-off, but sometimes in reverse. We see the reporter who is putting together the story of the great man, but we never see the great man himself. As in "Kane," the ex-wife is an alcoholic singer. There is also a "Rosebud" of sorts-a deathbed obscenity. Well worth watching!
behind the mike
Popular radio host Joe Harris (José Ferrer) is assigned to do the eulogy show for popular radio star Herb Fulle. Herb is beloved by the public and a long line waits to pay respect. Joe can find no one who actually knows him and likes him as a human being. He is either abusive to those people or he is their meal ticket. Joe has to fill a full eulogy show with a possibility of being his replacement afterwards.
This is an interesting look at celebrity and the man behind the image from an investigative point of view. José Ferrer is a good veteran actor although I think the character needs a younger sidekick who can pitch questions at him. It would allow Joe to be smart and essentially talk to the movie audience. Maybe Ginny could be that character, but she's a little too smart and doesn't have enough screen time. Quite frankly, this is a little depressing with moments of black comedy.
This is an interesting look at celebrity and the man behind the image from an investigative point of view. José Ferrer is a good veteran actor although I think the character needs a younger sidekick who can pitch questions at him. It would allow Joe to be smart and essentially talk to the movie audience. Maybe Ginny could be that character, but she's a little too smart and doesn't have enough screen time. Quite frankly, this is a little depressing with moments of black comedy.
- SnoopyStyle
- Aug 21, 2024
- Permalink
Forgotten Gem
When I was a kid in the 1960's, my father came back from Las Vegas smitten with a singer he had seen in one of the casino showrooms. Her name was Julie London.
I hadn't seen or heard of London again until I saw this film on TCM one night. I immediately agreed with my father. She, and the rest of the cast, were great in this movie.
Ed Wynn, who I also remember from my childhood as a comic fool on 1960's TV, turns in what in my opinion was an Oscar winning performance as the oddball manager of a religious radio station in a small town. His son, Keenan Wynn, turns in his usual loud, braying performance as an abrasive talent manager. And Jose Ferrer was impeccable as the man in the middle, who has to decide between honesty and cash.
I agree with another reviewer that the sound quality was terrible. I watched it with closed captioning, and the word "(unintelligible)" popped up more often than it should. But it doesn't distract from the context, which is fascinating. I highly recommend this forgotten gem.
I hadn't seen or heard of London again until I saw this film on TCM one night. I immediately agreed with my father. She, and the rest of the cast, were great in this movie.
Ed Wynn, who I also remember from my childhood as a comic fool on 1960's TV, turns in what in my opinion was an Oscar winning performance as the oddball manager of a religious radio station in a small town. His son, Keenan Wynn, turns in his usual loud, braying performance as an abrasive talent manager. And Jose Ferrer was impeccable as the man in the middle, who has to decide between honesty and cash.
I agree with another reviewer that the sound quality was terrible. I watched it with closed captioning, and the word "(unintelligible)" popped up more often than it should. But it doesn't distract from the context, which is fascinating. I highly recommend this forgotten gem.
***
The other side of journalism
Does journalism have to be dirty? Does it have to be all deception, smokescreens, cooked books, make-up, phoney mirages and artificial manipulations to avoid the truth? There are many films of journalism like this one, the most notorious being Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane", which W.R.Hearst never could forgive Orson Welles for trying to be so frank about, and this is another digging up cesspools in quest for the truth, with most unexpected results, as the great man they are trying to build a monument for proves like a black hole of nothing, if not garbage. Stll José Ferrer as the investigating journalist with the task of eulogizing the deceased idol tackles the issue, finds out everything and doesn't mind the smell but goes through with it, for good and for worse, and everybody listens. It's not a very inspiring film, but it is interesting, and the argument is important: is it really worth to bother about the truth, when there is really nothing in it? The truth for truth's sake is the motto here, and you have to admit that journalists have to make a living, and when they have no choice but to make it by standing for the truth, they just have to face it, and so must the audience. Whatever aftertaste it might leave, that's not the journalist's business any more.
The plot felt flat
Everyone knows I love José Ferrer, but The Great Man wasn't his type of movie. Yes, he co-wrote, directed, and starred in it, but it didn't have the gravitas of his usual fare. It felt flat, even with a classically trained, versatile actor at the helm. He plays a journalist turned radio host, given the assignment of hosting a memorial broadcast for a famous comic recently deceased.
Keenan Wynn is the coworker who ropes him into the deal, and Dean Jagger is the head of the station who has his own ideas about the hierarchy of the men who work for him. There are some complexities and power struggles, but it's not very interesting. The main premise, that Joe can't find anyone who personally knew the deceased with a good word to say about him, gets old fast. It's supposed to be a shock, but it isn't really. Anyone who wanted to get to the top that badly will have skeletons in his closet. Anyone with a wife and kids and a mistress in a love nest on the side will leave bad impressions with both women. And since Joe's character isn't given anything to do, he wasn't necessary to play the role. It could have been any B-actor, not one of the finest.
Keenan Wynn is the coworker who ropes him into the deal, and Dean Jagger is the head of the station who has his own ideas about the hierarchy of the men who work for him. There are some complexities and power struggles, but it's not very interesting. The main premise, that Joe can't find anyone who personally knew the deceased with a good word to say about him, gets old fast. It's supposed to be a shock, but it isn't really. Anyone who wanted to get to the top that badly will have skeletons in his closet. Anyone with a wife and kids and a mistress in a love nest on the side will leave bad impressions with both women. And since Joe's character isn't given anything to do, he wasn't necessary to play the role. It could have been any B-actor, not one of the finest.
- HotToastyRag
- Apr 2, 2023
- Permalink
Jose Ferrer Director
Jose Ferrer should be better known as a director. Yes, it has some of the plot of Well's Kane, but it has more of the feel of a Jack Webb flick, he himself a greatly under rated director. Even Julie London, Webb's wife is in it.. Hard boiled hero, quirky supporting characters that are given a rounded humanity, and a great cast. See this film when it plays on Turner. And check out Webb's non Dragnet films; 30, the DI, Pete Kelly's Blues and The last time I saw Archie.