The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955)
Directed by Richard Fleischer

Film Review

This fictionalised account of a major cause célèbre of the early 1900s is directed with flair by Richard Fleischer and boasts some lavish production values, although the story itself is somewhat bland and lacking in surprises.  Originally conceived as a full-blown musical, Marilyn Monroe was lined up to play the part of Evelyn Nesbit, but when she refused it went back to the drawing board and was refashioned as a conventional melodrama.  Despite the lacklustre characterisation, the three leads - Joan Collins, Ray Milland and Farley Granger - all turn in exemplary performances.  Granger is particularly chilling as a vicious and ever-so slightly unhinged playboy and Milland is magnificently convincing as a man torn between desire and duty.  However, the film belongs to Joan Collins who, in one of the highpoints of her early career, fills the screen with her beauty and charisma, whilst delivering one of her most compelling performances.

Film Synopsis

New York in the early 1900s.  As soon as he catches his first glimpse of Evelyn Nesbit, a dazzling young actress, Stanford White finds he is irresistibly drawn to her.  Although White, a prominent architect, is already married, he is easily caught up in a passionate love affair with Evelyn, but he knows he cannot leave his wife.  Harry Kendall Thaw, a young and arrogant tycoon, has the opportunity to settle some old scores with White by luring his mistress away from him.  Thaw's subsequent marriage to Evelyn proves to be a complete disaster and the tycoon is convinced his wife and White are continuing their erstwhile affair.  In a fit of jealousy, Thaw confronts his rival and shoots him dead.  At Thaw's subsequent trial, Evelyn is called upon to defend her husband, knowing that if she fails to win over the jury he is likely to be executed for murder...