The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing

In 1901, Evelyn Nesbit (Joan Collins) is a stage performer. She becomes the object of competition between wealthy industrial tycoon Harry Kendall Thaw (Farley Granger) and his rival architect Stanford White (Ray Milland). It results in murder and scandal. Apparently, Marilyn Monroe was the first choice for the role. I would have loved to see it. I like Joan, but this role needs something more vivacious. She's darker than that. I want Evelyn to play up her girlish allure while these two men battle over her. The movie feels a little stiff. The camera moves, the staging, and the rest are all very static. It's a 50's movie. Director Richard Fleischer had a long and successful career with many differing movies. I don't want to blame him for anything, but this is probably not his best work. I wish that I didn't know about Marilyn Monroe. I just kept picturing her in this role. This is not necessarily bad, but I'm not drawn to these characters.

Although he had several scenes in the film and was referred to - by surname at least - several times IMDb in their wisdom fail to credit the actor who played artist Charles Dana Gibson who inspired both a look and a cocktail - a Gibson is a martini with an onion instead of an olive. This apart Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder's ex-writing partner, turns in a reasonable script based very much on real events. Ray Milland, as architect Stanford White walks away with the acting honours, Farley Granger mistakes looking petulant for acting and Joan Collins barely registered as Evelyn Nesbitt, an innocent caught between two powerful men, one with scruples, one with demons. Pleasant diversion but there is still a film to be made of this star-crossed trio.

Set in New York in the early years of the 20th century, a stunning Joan Collins plays the title role, in which there are actually two scenes where she is the girl in the red velvet swing, both of which are fantastic. Both scenes give a lot of credit to the director, cinematographer, set designers, and art director. The film is beautiful to watch throughout, mixing sets from early Broadway stage to crowded fancy New York restaurants. Collins' part as a teenage chorus girl whose beauty is such that she bowls over both Ray Milland who plays a wealthy and well-established New York architect and Farley Granger an heir to a fortune from Pittsburgh, who both throw tons of money her way. What starts off looking like it's going to be a musical comedy actually gets fairly involved and intense, leading to a great and ironic ending.