The Sound of Fury
Encyclopedia
The Sound of Fury is a 1950
black-and-white
film noir
directed by Cy Endfield
, starring Frank Lovejoy
and Kathleen Ryan
. The film is based on Joe Pagano's novel The Condemned, who also wrote the screenplay.
The film is based on factual events that occurred in 1933, when two men were arrested in San Jose, California
, for kidnapping and murdering a man, Brooke Hart
. The suspects confessed and were lynched by a mob of locals. The Fritz Lang
-directed 1936 film Fury was about the same incident.
, who can't seem to get by financially. He meets up with a small-time, but charismatic, hood Jerry Slocum (Lloyd Bridges). Soon, Slocum convinces Tyler into participating in gas station robberies to get by. Later, they kidnap a wealthy man in hopes of getting a huge ransom. Things go wrong when the man is murdered by Slocum then thrown in a lake. Tyler reaches his limit emotionally, and he begins drinking heavily. He meets a lonely woman and confesses the crime while drunk. The woman flees and goes to the police.
When the two kidnappers are arrested, a local journalist (Richard Carlson) writes a series of hate-filled articles about the two prisoners which eventually lead to a brutal lynching.
film critic, Bosley Crowther
, in a review of the film panned the film, writing "Although Mr. Endfield has directed the violent climatic scenes with a great deal of sharp visualization of mass hysteria and heat, conveying a grim impression of the nastiness of a mob, he has filmed the rest of the picture in a conventional melodramatic style. Neither the script nor the numerous performances are of a distinctive quality."
1950 in film
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
directed by Cy Endfield
Cy Endfield
Cyril Raker Endfield was an American screenwriter, film director, theatre director, author, magician and inventor, based in Britain from 1953.- Biography :...
, starring Frank Lovejoy
Frank Lovejoy
Frank Lovejoy was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He was born Frank Lovejoy Jr. in Bronx, New York, but grew up in New Jersey. His father, Frank Lovejoy Sr., was a furniture salesman from Maine...
and Kathleen Ryan
Kathleen Ryan
Kathleen Ryan was an Irish actress.She was born in Dublin, Ireland of Tipperary parentage and was a spirited and heart warming Irish actress who appeared in British and Hollywood movies between 1947 and 1957.-Family:...
. The film is based on Joe Pagano's novel The Condemned, who also wrote the screenplay.
The film is based on factual events that occurred in 1933, when two men were arrested in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, for kidnapping and murdering a man, Brooke Hart
Brooke Hart
Brooke Hart was the oldest son of Alexander Hart, the owner of L. Hart and Son Department Store in San Jose, California. His kidnapping and murder was reported throughout the United States, and the lynching of his alleged murderers, Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M...
. The suspects confessed and were lynched by a mob of locals. The Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
-directed 1936 film Fury was about the same incident.
Plot
Howard Tyler (Frank Lovejoy) is a family man, living in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, who can't seem to get by financially. He meets up with a small-time, but charismatic, hood Jerry Slocum (Lloyd Bridges). Soon, Slocum convinces Tyler into participating in gas station robberies to get by. Later, they kidnap a wealthy man in hopes of getting a huge ransom. Things go wrong when the man is murdered by Slocum then thrown in a lake. Tyler reaches his limit emotionally, and he begins drinking heavily. He meets a lonely woman and confesses the crime while drunk. The woman flees and goes to the police.
When the two kidnappers are arrested, a local journalist (Richard Carlson) writes a series of hate-filled articles about the two prisoners which eventually lead to a brutal lynching.
Cast
- Frank LovejoyFrank LovejoyFrank Lovejoy was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He was born Frank Lovejoy Jr. in Bronx, New York, but grew up in New Jersey. His father, Frank Lovejoy Sr., was a furniture salesman from Maine...
as Howard Tyler - Kathleen RyanKathleen RyanKathleen Ryan was an Irish actress.She was born in Dublin, Ireland of Tipperary parentage and was a spirited and heart warming Irish actress who appeared in British and Hollywood movies between 1947 and 1957.-Family:...
as Judy Tyler - Richard Carlson as Gil Stanton
- Lloyd BridgesLloyd BridgesLloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
as Jerry Slocum - Katherine LockeKatherine LockeKatherine Locke was a Broadway actress in the late 1930s. She was born in Kalakenchu, Russia and raised in the U.S. She appeared in films in the 1940s and 1950s as a supporting actress...
as Hazel Weatherwax - Adele JergensAdele JergensAdele Jergens was an American actress.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Jergen's birth date is sometimes listed as 1922. Jergens first rose to prominence in the late 1930s, when she was named "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 New York World's Fair...
as Velma - Art Smith as Editor Hal Clendenning
Critical reaction
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic, Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
, in a review of the film panned the film, writing "Although Mr. Endfield has directed the violent climatic scenes with a great deal of sharp visualization of mass hysteria and heat, conveying a grim impression of the nastiness of a mob, he has filmed the rest of the picture in a conventional melodramatic style. Neither the script nor the numerous performances are of a distinctive quality."
Noir analysis
A Panorama of American Film Noir 1941-1953 written by Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton notes, "The prison assault remains one of the most brutal sequences in postwar American cinema."External links
- The Sound of Fury at Film Noir of the Week by Glenn EricksonGlenn EricksonGlenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. He started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacities in such major films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 1941...