The Arrangement ** (1969, Kirk Douglas, Faye Dunaway, Deborah Kerr) – Classic Movie Review 6168

Writer-director Elia Kazan’s really tedious 1969 think-in romantic drama movie comes from his period of sharp decline. And, try hard though they do, it is not among the distinguished stars’ most glorious moments.

Kirk Douglas is surely miscast as Eddie Anderson, a wealthy advertising executive who spends his convalescence after a car crash and a failed suicide contemplating his hollow life and loves.

But thank goodness he still impresses and there is some distinction in the acting department because the film has got little else to recommend it. Faye Dunaway and Deborah Kerr, both in their prime, are also impressive even if they are largely thrown away as Eddie Anderson’s mistress Gwen and his wife Florence Anderson.

To distract the attention, there is a first-class support cast, including Richard Boone, Hume Cronyn, John Randolph, Michael Higgins, Carol Rossen, Charles Drake, Harold Gould, Michael Murphy, William Hansen, Dianne Hull and Anne Hegira. It is well shot by Robert Surtees, scored by David Amram and designed by Malcolm C Bert in a crafted production.

However, something has gone seriously wrong with the good intentions of this film.  The fault lies in Kazan’s struggling screenplay, which is based on Kazan’s own novel.

Kerr quietly retired from the cinema after this and didn’t make another theatrical feature for 16 years, The Assam Garden, her last.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6168

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