No Down Payment | |
---|---|
Directed by | Martin Ritt |
Screenplay by | Philip Yordan Ben Maddow (uncredited) |
Based on | No Down Payment by John McPartland |
Produced by | Jerry Wald |
Starring | Joanne Woodward Sheree North Tony Randall Jeffrey Hunter Cameron Mitchell Patricia Owens Barbara Rush Pat Hingle |
Cinematography | Joseph LaShelle |
Edited by | Louis R. Loeffler |
Music by | Leigh Harline |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $995,000 [1] or $700,000 [2] |
Box office | $1.2 million (US rentals) [3] or $925,000 (US) [2] |
No Down Payment is a 1957 American drama film directed by Martin Ritt. It was written by Philip Yordan, who fronted for an uncredited and blacklisted Ben Maddow, and is based on the novel of the same name by John McPartland. The film stars Joanne Woodward, Sheree North, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Patricia Owens, Barbara Rush, and Pat Hingle.
Set in a California subdivision, the story follows four neighbor couples facing problems such as alcoholism, racism and promiscuity. It received two BAFTA nominations for Best Film From Any Source and Best Foreign Actress (Joanne Woodward).
New to the city's Sunrise Hills subdivision, electrical engineer David Martin and wife Jean are welcomed by their neighbors. They include appliance store manager Herman Kreitzer, auto mechanic Troy Boone and car salesman Jerry Flagg, and their respective wives.
Leola, the unhappy and restless wife of Troy, wants to have a child. A veteran who still clings to his achievements during the war, Troy has applied for the position of police chief. He refuses to discuss children until the job is his.
Frequently drunk Jerry awkwardly makes passes at the other men's wives, humiliating his own spouse, Isabelle. He also is heavily in debt, spending far too much on things he can't afford, and often comes up with 'make it big' ideas. He pressures a family to buy a car beyond their means, endangering his job.
David also has money problems. Jean strongly urges him to go into sales, a more lucrative field. But he is a skilled engineer who prefers to stick with what he knows best.
Herman has a valued employee, Iko, who wants to move into Sunrise Hills with his wife and live the suburban life like anybody else. But the racial bias of the time is obvious and Herman's wife dislikes the idea of risking the wrath of neighbors by giving Iko a reference.
Also the city council's president, Herman must inform Troy that he can't be police chief due to his lack of education. The volatile Troy gets drunk and sexually assaults David's wife Jean, then beats up David when confronted by the angry husband. During an altercation with Leola, after which she decides to leave, Troy is accidentally pinned under his car, and by the time it is lifted from him, he is dying in his wife's arms.
Leola drives out of town as the others reassess their lives.
Robert Stack was offered the part of Troy Boone but turned it down because he disliked the character. [4]
David Bowie, upon receiving his first fan letter from America in 1967, wrote the fan back and mentioned this film: "I hope one day to get to America. My manager tells me lots about it as he has been there many times with other acts he manages. I was watching an old film on TV the other night called No Down Payment a great film, but rather depressing if it is a true reflection of The American Way Of Life." [5]
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Silver Bear, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress. A star since the Golden Age of Hollywood, Woodward made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a characteristic nuance and depth of character. She is one of the first film stars to have an equal presence in television. Her accolades include an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few surviving humans gather into factions that are each led by a personification of either good or evil and seem fated to clash with each other. King started writing the story in February 1975, seeking to create an epic in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings. The book was difficult for him to write because of the large number of characters and storylines.
Martin Patterson Hingle was an American character actor who appeared in stage productions and in hundreds of television shows and feature films. His first film was On the Waterfront in 1954. He often played tough authority figures. Hingle was a close friend of Clint Eastwood and appeared in the Eastwood films Hang 'em High, The Gauntlet, and Sudden Impact. He also portrayed Jim Gordon in the Batman film franchise from 1989 to 1997.
Martin Ritt was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films.
Jerome Irving Wald was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs.
WUSA is a 1970 American drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Perkins, Laurence Harvey, Cloris Leachman and Wayne Rogers. It was written by Robert Stone, based on his 1967 novel A Hall of Mirrors. The story involves a radio station in New Orleans with the eponymous call sign that is apparently involved in a right-wing conspiracy. It culminates with a riot and stampede at a patriotic pep rally when an assassin on a catwalk opens fire.
A Fine Madness is a 1966 American Technicolor comedy film based on the 1964 novel by Elliott Baker that tells the story of Samson Shillitoe, a frustrated poet unable to finish a grand tome. It stars Sean Connery, Joanne Woodward, Jean Seberg, Patrick O'Neal, and Clive Revill. It was directed by Irvin Kershner.
Sheree North was an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for being one of 20th Century-Fox's intended successors to Marilyn Monroe.
Living It Up is a 1954 American comedy film starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis which was released by Paramount Pictures.
Hazel Flagg is a 1953 musical, book by Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street. The lyrics are by Bob Hilliard, and music by Jule Styne. The musical is based on the 1937 screwball comedy film Nothing Sacred, the primary screenwriter of which was Ben Hecht.
All the Way Home is a play written by the American playwright Tad Mosel, adapted from the 1957 James Agee novel A Death in the Family. Each author received the Pulitzer Prize for their separate works.
The Lieutenant Wore Skirts is a 1956 comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Tom Ewell, Sheree North, and Rita Moreno. It is a comedy about a man whose marriage begins to fail when his wife enlists.
Return of the Texan is a 1952 American Western film directed by Delmer Daves and starring Dale Robertson and Joanne Dru.
Mardi Gras is a 1958 American musical comedy film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Pat Boone and Christine Carère.
Gunsmoke: To the Last Man is a 1992 American Western television film starring James Arness as retired Marshal Matt Dillon. It was directed by Jerry Jameson and based upon the long-running American TV series Gunsmoke.
Stronger Than Desire is a 1939 American drama film directed by Leslie Fenton and starring Virginia Bruce, Walter Pidgeon and Ann Dvorak. It is a remake of 1934 film Evelyn Prentice, itself based on the 1933 novel Evelyn Prentice by W.E. Woodward. The film's sets were designed by the art director Edwin B. Willis, overseen by Cedric Gibbons.
Two Roses and a Golden Rod is a 1969 pornographic erotic film directed by Albert Zugsmith. The film focuses on the sexual adventures of a Hollywood-based family as they deal with their own romantic and sexual urges within and outside their household.
"The 80 Yard Run" is an American television play broadcast on January 16, 1958, as part of the second season of the CBS television series Playhouse 90. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward co-starred. Franklin Schaffner directed, and David Shaw wrote the teleplay as an adaptation of a story written by his brother Irwin Shaw.
The Last Movie Stars is a limited documentary series originated by Emily Wachtel and directed by Ethan Hawke. After discovering transcripts of interviews conducted at Paul Newman's request for an abandoned memoir project, a daughter of Newman and Joanne Woodward asked Hawke to tell their story, personally and as artists. Hawke assembled actors to read pieces of the interviews, conducted and edited by writer Stewart Stern, including interviews with Newman and Woodward. The marriage spanned 50 years and was often cited as one of the great Hollywood successful marriages and love stories.