It's been a long time since I've done one of these, but I haven't been watching too many of these old movies lately, either.
Let's jump right into VICKI.
Let's jump right into VICKI.
Yet another adaptation of I WAKE SCREAMING, the novel by Steve Fischer, this movie doesn't quite live up to either the novel or the first film adaptation, despite having some Hollywood royalty in it. And by "doesn't quite" I mean it's inferior in every way from start to finish, which is a shame, but there you have it.
If you aren't familiar with the basic plot, Vicki Lynn (Jean Peters) is a waitress who is transformed into a fashion model by press agent Steve Christopher (Elliott Reid). When Vicki is murdered, detective Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) tries to blame the crime on Christopher.
In fact, the cop knows who the real killer is, but he is so hopelessly in love with the dead girl Vicki, who herself despised him, that he intends to railroad an innocent man to the electric chair. With the help of Vicki's sister Jill (Jeanne Crain), Christopher tracks down the real killer, Harry Williams (Aaron Spelling) and exposes the crooked cop Cornell, who had manipulated Williams into murdering Vicki.
That out of the way, there's really nothing left to say, so let's look at some of the decent shots from the film. They certainly tried to capture the feel of noir, even if they didn't succeed overall.
If you aren't familiar with the basic plot, Vicki Lynn (Jean Peters) is a waitress who is transformed into a fashion model by press agent Steve Christopher (Elliott Reid). When Vicki is murdered, detective Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) tries to blame the crime on Christopher.
In fact, the cop knows who the real killer is, but he is so hopelessly in love with the dead girl Vicki, who herself despised him, that he intends to railroad an innocent man to the electric chair. With the help of Vicki's sister Jill (Jeanne Crain), Christopher tracks down the real killer, Harry Williams (Aaron Spelling) and exposes the crooked cop Cornell, who had manipulated Williams into murdering Vicki.
That out of the way, there's really nothing left to say, so let's look at some of the decent shots from the film. They certainly tried to capture the feel of noir, even if they didn't succeed overall.
Actually, I guess that's pretty much it. Watch the original adaptation or just read the book. Steve Fischer wrote so few good novels, but it's definitely one of them.
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