Scandal Sheet

A very good and fast paced film that deals with a newspaper editor assigning his top reporter on a murder case, with a great ending to this film!! I noticed that the first two commentors were harping about Donna Reed smoking on-screen. Heck far, there is more to this film than THAT!! I did not hear any crying around from those two about Harry Morgan smoking a cigar in this film. Great performances all around and a performance by Rosemary De Camp, that is against the grain, as she always seemed to play the sweet motherly types, but not in this one!! Don't miss this one if it appears on television!!

Well paced movie that delivers the drama, noir, tension, etc. Brod Crawford is at his best as his character is seemingly on top of the world, then slowly chipped down by a good plot and script. It is interesting to watch his character desperately scheme and scramble, rather than suddenly falling off his pedestal. Watching Brod sweat it out and mop his brow is priceless. The acting is good by all the cast, but you will especially notice Rosemary DeCamp and also Henry O'Neill as old Charlie. Every second of screen-time and every word of these two performances is carefully studied and masterfully delivered, so if you observe them closely you will be richly rewarded. Intelligently written. Complicated (but still plausible) plot wherein all the pieces fit together nicely.

Shades of 1948's "The Big Clock"! Reporters on an East Coast newspaper diligently attempt to find the killer of a middle-aged, female "lonely heart" who was found murdered in her bath...but the culprit may be closer to them than they think! This must have been an embarrassment for John Derek, playing one of those cocky young journalists who keeps turning away crucial evidence out of sheer inexperience...and who doesn't even believe a witness who exposes the killer right in front of him! Donna Reed, as a writer with ethics, comes off somewhat better, while sweaty editor Broderick Crawford (looking more like Fred Flintstone than ever) goes a bit overboard with the tight grimaces and steely-eyed glares. Still, not all bad; the noir-styled cinematography is excellent, and the script, adapted from Samuel Fuller's novel "The Dark Page", is quite absorbing despite so many familiar ingredients. **1/2 from ****

Broderick Crawford stars in this exciting film noir from 1952..Fast paced & keeps viewer in suspense till the end..Excellent cast, including Crawford, handsome John Derek, intelligent beautiful, Donna Reed.and Harry Morgan..However..ROSEMARY DeCAMP, is outstanding in her brief but important scenes.. This is unlike her other screen work..Rosemary ,for me, steals the show!.Worth seeing ..Thanks again to TCM for showing this today on Broderick Crawfords day a fine, underrated actor . I started watching @ 20 minutes after film began ( I don't usually do this)and I was "hooked" as I saw Rosemary DeCamps close up at rally for "forlorn lovers" DeCamp recognizes Crawford ,her former husband, who has now changed his name and persona.. I stopped everything and could not stop watching till the end I wont tell you what happens.I hope TCM shows again soon so I can view the scenes I missed at the beginning

Entertaining noir directed by Phil Karlson, who also did the excellent Kansas City Confidential the same year, and based on a novel by Sam Fuller (and the film can be found in a box set of Fuller films Columbia released a while back). Broderick Crawford stars as the editor-in-chief of a scandal sheet. He runs into an ex-wife whom he dumped years earlier, before changing his name and climbing to his current position. The woman wants to spoil his success, so he kills her. Of course, such a sensational and mysterious murder is just the kind of thing his newspaper covers, and the story, much to Crawford's chagrin, makes his paper more popular than ever. Reporters Donna Reed and John Derek are getting closer and closer to the truth, and Crawford, though he tries to throw them off his scent, is basically trapped by his position. Henry O'Neill is also excellent as the broken-down drunk who first uncovers the secret.

Remarkably solid little crime/actioner. Derek is a weasely but apparently attractive young reporter for a city paper. He's convinced that his boss and mentor, ballsy editor Crawford, is a swell guy who can teach him the business, but he doesn't know that he's also a murderer, hiding a previous marriage through his crime. When the reporter initiates a sensational search for the identity of the killer, he comes closer to the truth, but places others in danger as he unwittingly informs the murderer of his every step by telegram and phone. Solid suspense, sparse action, good script make for a B++ film.

Gripping storyline fueled by some heavy duty irony. Crawford plays a ruthless tabloid newspaper editor who has the tables turned on him when he commits a crime, then finds himself having to encourage his top reporter to get to the bottom of the story, in order to deflect suspicion. Top notch suspense as Crawford gambles that he can keep his cool and get away with it, even as the walls close in and the odds look worse and worse. The dialogue is typical Samuel Fuller, (he wrote the novel upon which the film was based) colorfully gritty but at times head-scratchingly obtuse. Crawford is at his no-nonsense, take no prisoners, mince-no-words best, and able support from a young John Derek and Donna Reed (smoking cigarettes and a little less squeaky clean than usual). Good stuff.