No Down Payment *** (1957, Joanne Woodward, Sheree North, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Patricia Owens, Barbara Rush, Pat Hingle, Robert H Harris) – Classic Movie Review 7900

Director Martin Ritt’s 1957 drama No Down Payment is based on the novel by John McPartland and offers a peek into the lives of the residents of the Sunrise Hills suburbs in a southern California housing development in 1957.

The marital problems of four young couples are dealt with behind closed doors in this Fifties post-war soap that paints a surprisingly frank, if melodramatic, portrait of upwardly mobile relationships.

It stars Joanne Woodward, Tony Randall, Sheree North, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Patricia Owens, Barbara Rush, Pat Hingle, and Robert H Harris.

Strong acting all round enlivens the well-written screenplay, which makes the potentially dull subject matter gripping.

For the screenplay, blacklisted Ben Maddow had to remain uncredited and be credited as Philip Yordan, who gets the sole screen-writing credit.

Also in the cast are Aki Aleong, Jim Hayward, Donald Towers, Mary Carroll, Mimi Gibson, Charles Herbert, Robert Burton, Frank Gerstle, William Murphy and Nolan Leary.

No Down Payment is directed by Martin Ritt, runs 105 minutes, is made by Jerry Wald Productions and 20th Century Fox, is released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Philip Yordan and Ben Maddow, is shot in black and white and CinemaScope by Joseph LaShelle, is produced by Jerry Wald, is scored by Leigh Harline and is designed by Lyle R Wheeler and Herman A Blumethal.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7900

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com