The Eclectic Choice: Ruthless

Ruthless (1948)
dir. Edgar G. Ulmer


Ulmer was a real king of the B film world and ruthless is no exception. It may not carry over a lot of the visual flourishes from his masterpiece Detour (1945), but it is a fascinating little noir that looks at love, greed and ambition with a fun story and some pretty well drawn characters.

It's a bit like Citizen Kane (1941) with its flashback structure as we follow the life of Horace Woodruff Vendig. Opening at a party celebrating Vendig's philanthropy, we're introduced to people from his past. This triggers the flashbacks, starting with his impoverished childhood and the act of humanity that begins his cutthroat journey to the top of the investment world.

The acting is par with the exception of the always awesome Sydney Greenstreet as Buck Mansfield, the big financial fish that Vendig sets his eyes on destroying. Greenstreet is one of those character actors that light up the screen and give anything he does a level of energy and easy charm. There is a very small cameo by a mustachioed Raymond Burr that is also fun as he passes on money and advice to a young Vendig in an early flashback, but Greenstreet steals the show.

Ulmer was a filmmaker that was known for squeezing as much as possible out of a ten dollar budget. The seams always show, but there are always moments that rise above it's poverty row roots and delve into a dark side of humanity that very few big budget filmmakers could have gotten away with.

I can't really recommend a purchase though because of the quality of the print. But it's well worth a rent and discussion with fellow film nerds after.