Mister Cory *** (1957, Tony Curtis, Martha Hyer, Charles Bickford, Kathryn Grant) – Classic Movie Review 8083

Director Blake Edwards’s 1957 film noir-style crime comedy drama Mister Cory stars Tony Curtis twinkles pleasantly in this fairly droll and engaging movie about the street-smart young Mister Cory (Curtis).

Mister Cory is a charming kid from the wrong side of the Chicago tracks who teams up with gambler Jeremiah Caldwell aka ‘Biloxi’ (Charles Bickford) and makes his fortune as his partner in a top gambling casino and comes home showing off as Mister Big Shot.

Even if more laughs would be welcome, as it is much more of a drama than a comedy, there are many amusing scenes in Edwards’s screenplay, based on a story by Leo Rosten, and Curtis is amusing too in a highly engaging performance.

Curtis recalled: ‘It was a good part and it gave me a chance to do something a little different.’

It is stylishly shot in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope by Russell Metty.

Henry Mancini (composer source music, uncredited) recalled: ‘I didn’t write the score for that picture, but as often happened when they needed music in a pop vein, I had been brought in for some source cues.’ The score is by Herman Stein (uncredited) and Joseph Gershenson (music supervisor).

The situation recalls the later The Hustler (1961), now remembered as a classic of this genre, while Mister Cory is unfairly forgotten.

Also in the cast are Martha Hyer, Kathryn Grant [Kathryn Crosby], William Reynolds, Russ Morgan, Henry Daniell, Willis Bouchey, Louise Lorimer, Joan Banks, Harry Landers, Dick Crockett, Hylton Socher, Glen Kramer, Paul Bryar, George Eldredge, Charles Horvath, Jack Gargan, Dick Monda, Billy Eagle and Anna Stein.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8083

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