NATALIE WOOD: WEB SITE: CASH McCALL (1959)

CASH McCALL (1960) James Garner, Natalie Wood, Dean Jagger, Nina Foch, E. G. Marshall, Henry Jones, Otto Kruger, Roland Winters. Director: Joseph Pevney. The best part of this Technicolor exercise is the light it shines on high-power business dealings and how these were treated in the Production Code 1950's-- and is worth a quick few words. In that Cold War decade, Hollywood discovered the drama of corporation boardrooms and big business in such films as the ruthless Patterns (1956), the intrigues of Executive Suite (1954), and the comedic Solid Gold Cadillac (1956). All in all, these movies hold up well despite the passage of years. The trick for films of this type was to be realistic enough with the big money scheming to hold audience interest without at the same time indicting the upper tiers of capitalism. For to do the latter would, among other reasons, serve the interests of the Soviet side of the Cold War then at its peak. As a result, in such movies conscience or a force for good usually prevails at the last minute over ruthless business connivings no matter how unconvincing the abrupt triumph. And that's very much the case in the otherwise routine Cash McCall. At first, McCall is characterized as a corporate vulture—a wheeler-dealer who buys up struggling companies, disassembles them for profit, and then walks away from whatever communities he may have destroyed in the process. But, of course, it's hard to make a sympathetic lead out of such a ruthless character, even for such a likable personality as James Garner. So the screenplay begins to fudge. He's next characterized as a dis-assembler whose aim is to build up anew from the pieces, though the human consequences are not made clear. And finally, after a thorough conversion, he becomes a full-fledged business humanitarian putting communities first for reasons that also remain rather unclear, but does, of course, produce a happy ending. Thus, the ends of the Production Code, the Cold War, and audience expectations are duly served. The movie itself is pretty unmemorable. To me the pairing of the mature Garner and the rather callow Wood seems a brittle one, no matter how much the winsome Wood is glamorized. Then too, Garner suppresses his charming Maverick side in the interests of getting into McCall's character, but in the process gives up his special appeal as an actor. On the other hand, it's a fine array of supporting players, especially Henry Jones whose Bassett- hound face registers an unusual array of subtle emotions. His is a very different appearance for that glamour-obsessed time period. Anyway, the movie's a decent enough entertainment, but outside of its wheeler-dealer instruction manual, remains pretty forgettable.

Production Credits
Director - Joseph Pevney
Screenplay - Lenore J. Coffee
Screenplay - Marion Hargrove
Producer - Henry Blanke

Source Material (from novel) - Cameron Hawley
Director of Photography - George Folsey
Editor - Philip W. Anderson
Music - Max Steiner
Costume Design - Howard Shoup
Composer (Music Score) - Max Steiner

Cats Credits

James Garner - Cash McCall
Natalie Wood - Lory Austen
Nina Foch - Maude Kennard
Dean Jagger - Grant Austen
E.G. Marshall - Winston Conway
Henry Jones - Gil Clark
Otto Kruger - Will Atherson
Roland Winters - General Danvers
Edward Platt - Harrison Glenn
Edgar Stehli - Mr Pierce
Linda Watkins - Miriam Austen
Parley Baer - Harvey Bannon

CRITICA EN EL PERIÓDICO "ABC DE MADRID" (6-11-1964)

Cuando uno no tiene dinero o tiene tan poco que no necesita preocuparse de dónde hay que meterlo, porque el apremio de cada día se lo va llevando al mismo ritmo de estiaje con que llega, resulta sorprendente entrar de golpe, aunque sea en el cine, en ese vértigo de compra y venta de grandes empresas con toda su aparatosa secuela de millones de dólares en danza. "El potentado" es una película de muy curiosa "lección" en cuanto a la aperreada vida que lleva James Garner, bien rebozado en acciones, envuelto con agobio en consejeros y abogados, alojado con esplendor, el coche y el avión a punto, el teléfono bramando sin sosiego y nunca un solo punto de paz para tomar el sol y hablar con calma, con un amigo, de una mujer, de un libro, de una pintura. Y aunque James Garner, "El potentado", tiene arrimada a sus incómodos caudales la encantadora presencia de Natalie Wood, la tiene en precario, y amenazada en eclipse a cada paso por la voz atronadora del dinero. La notable película de Joseph pevney es un gran cuadro muy a la americana, de esa carrera angustiosa detrás de la fortuna, un juego apasionante con la espuela de la ambición siempre al costado, una inquietud, un desasosiego, un jadeo detrás de ese cimbel dorado que aturde el pensamiento y anestesia sus nobles funciones. La mejor virtud de "El potentado", aunque virtud mostrenca, es quizá el no hacer envidiable el tormento de la opulencia, sino más bien compadecible. Y si en "El potentado" apuntan otras dramáticas inquietudes humanas, limpias del oro y sus miserias, que la ennoblecen y levanta, siempre queda ese áureo tintineo como una música de estupendas ejemplarizaciones a la contra. Uno piensa que James Garner lo pasaría bárbaro con un puñado de dólares en el bolsillo periódicamente renovables, y con la lindura de Natalie Wood a su vera, ante unos emparedados de jamón en la barra de una cafetería. Su sistema vascular rechazaría entonces el poso amenazador de la colesterina, y el infarto de miocardio seria enemigo pequeño para el alegre galope de sus coronarias.-Gabriel GARCÍA ESPINA.