Deadly scandal

Movie
German title	Deadly scandal
Original title	Slander
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1957
length	81 minutes
Rod
Director	Roy Rowland
script	Jerome Weidman Harry W. Junkin
production	Armand German
music	Jeff Alexander
camera	Harold J. Marzorati
cut	George Boemler
occupation
Van Johnson : Scott Ethan Martin Ann Blyth : Connie Martin Steve Cochran : HR Manley Marjorie Rambeau : Mrs. Manley Richard Eyer : Joey Martin Harold J. Stone : Seth Jackson Philip Coolidge : Homer Crowley Lurene Tuttle : Mrs. Doyle Lewis Martin : Charles Orrin Sterling Malcolm Atterbury : Byron Irene Tedrow : Marion Gregg Robert Burton : Harry Walsh Robert Carson : Allen J. Frederick

Deadly Scandal is an American drama from 1957 . The film noir is based on the television play Public Figure , which was written by Harry W. Junkin in 1956 and broadcast by Studio One .

action

HR Manley runs one of the most controversial magazines in the country with his magazine Real Truth , which he founded two years ago and has around 5 million readers. Because he submitted to the criticism of printing less dirty stories, he has lost more and more readers in recent months. However, his articles are still so objectionable that one of his funders, Harry Walsh, withdraws his $ 100,000 investment. To pay him off, however, Manley has to reprint another big dirty story. He wants to print a story about the ever popular, scandal free and happily married actress Mary Sawyer. Unfortunately, little can be found out about her, which is why one tries to get hold of the popular puppeteer Scott Ethan Martin, who like her grew up in Brooklyn . After years of failure, he has finally got a job as an advertising character for Sterling Breakfast Foods , which has made him a popular star with all children. He is so successful that he can finally finance a house for his family.

But Manley soon contacts Scott Martin's wife, Connie, and threatens her to publish an article about her husband's jail sentence over the years. The only way he could save his career was to cooperate with him and publish a dirty story about Sawyer. Connie and Martin's agent Jackson try to convince Scott. But Scott doesn't want to save his career with such machinations. So Connie gives him the ultimatum that he can choose between his family and Sawyer, whom he has not seen in 20 years and hardly knows. But Scott chooses his sincerity not to say anything bad about Sawyer, visits Manley, tells him how his wife left him, reproaches him morally, and knocks him down. Shortly thereafter, he tells his son Joey how he once grew up on the street, attacked someone with a knife, stabbed his victim and was imprisoned for four years. He received his sentence and has been a righteous person ever since.

Manley now publishes a story about Martin instead of a story about Sawyer. Scott Martin then loses his job. Connie is relieved that the story is over and Joey will be teased at school from now on. When he wants to defend himself and his father's name, he is hit by a car and dies. Manley's mother visits Connie shortly afterwards because she wants to find out if her son is to blame for Joey's death. Mrs. Manley herself is ashamed of her son and asked him to give up his newspaper business and do something honest.

Shortly thereafter, Scott Martin attends the TV show What do you read and explains alongside presenter Alan J. Frederick that the story published by Manley destroyed his life and killed his son. This statement becomes a scandal and, with all the newspapers reporting on it, Manley's magazine is on the verge of collapse. However, he also knows that his latest edition will be bought accordingly often. He can finally pay off Walsh. His mother hears this, is deeply hurt by her son's statement and shoots him with a firearm.

criticism

"The film initially denounces the abuse of freedom of the press, but then it is too thick and loses itself in unbelievable melodrama."

- Lexicon of international film

"Routinely played, outdated humbug"

- Cinema

publication

The film was first shown in cinemas on January 16, 1957. In Germany, the film was broadcast for the first time on November 14, 1990 on West 3 .

Web links

• Deadly scandal in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Deadly scandal at Rotten Tomatoes (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Slander, Notes at tcm.com (English), accessed September 14, 2012
2. ↑ Deadly scandal. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .  
3. ↑ Deadly scandal on cinema.de , accessed on September 14, 2012