Director: Edmund Goulding
Starring: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney
If I think of an old black and white film, I think of attractive men, high society, glamorous women, a slight accent of melodrama. These are the Sunday afternoon films, at least when Kelly’s Heroes wasn’t on.
The Razors Edge is exactly that. I almost think it defines the genre, if “black and white films” are a genre of their own. Tyrone Power plays the lead, Larry. A man in love with Isabel but tortured by his experiences in The Great War, he opts to put their impending marriage on hold to travel and find himself like the darn-golly hippy he is. I don’t think Tie-dye was a thing then, though. Thankfully. He does spend some time not wearing a tie, so he is clearly rejecting society in some way.
Knowing how soon this film was produced after the Second World War, the idea of a film dealing with topics like this seems very progressive. But I am sad to say it feels a very superficial experience. It’s the engine behind his transformation from loafer to yogi via a coal mine and a bearded holy man on the steppes of the Himalayas. He comes back to high society with special healing gifts and a slight increase in his overall level of smugness, which were already pretty high. If I had a name like Tyrone Power and looked like I had been chiselled from the marble of Mount Olympus, I would be pretty smug too let me tell you. I won’t even begin to talk about his eyebrows, suffice to say they make mine look like two worms have been shot at my forehead with a casual disregard for aesthetics.
Part of the narration that ends the opening scene suggests that Larry might be one of the greatest men ever. I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone, and this is entirely subjective, but It is a prophecy which fails to come to pass. I think they did well to portray him as a humble man, a kind man in search of something greater than the life presented to him (and arguably embodied by the painfully snobby but immanently watchable Clifton Webb as Elliot Templeton) but the before and after of this intense, world rounding, spiritual and intellectual journey are almost non-existent. He starts off as a handsome, weary loafer with no money or real ambition and ends as one. Makes you wonder why Isabel ever fancied him really. Except, you know. He’s hot. Not hot hot. But hot.
Larry the Loafer
Almost (almost) more interesting is the character journey of his first love, and leading lady, Isabel played by Gene Tierney. Doe eyed and gorgeous and intensely in love with Larry, her scheming nature is nicely hinted at when she tried to seduce him into dropping trou before he leaves and force him to marry her post defloration.
Not like today when the kids are all tanked on pink alcopops and up in each other’s guts night and day like it’s going out of fashion, let me tell you.
However, Larry, being a conscionable sort of fellow politely avoids the situation and sods off to work in a coal mine. At first, she seems quite genuine and kind, but as the film progresses, it becomes clear she is everything Larry is trying to avoid; a social climber with a need for money and status.
She works well in thematic opposition to Larry. If anything, however, Larry is too small of a character and Isabel is too large. She is melodramatic to the core with intense words of love and actions that would better fit a soap opera than a movie tipped as one of the best. There is no denying her smoulder on camera, and as a person who is probably the villain of the piece (though perhaps a little strong of a term) you come away with a clear distaste for her and her attitude. Makes you wonder why Larry every fancied her, really. Except, you know. She’s hot. I mean, not hot hot, but hot.
Whilst the film is rife with characters, from the aforementioned grand old man of the scene Elliot Templeton, to the narrator himself W. Somerset Maugham (who in the real world wrote the book upon which this is based, and the first screenplay for this film which got rejected much to his chagrin) played by Herbert Marshall. The stand out of all the bit players is Sophie, presented brilliantly by Anne Baxter. This characters evolution through love, sorrow, alcoholism, a brief moment of redemption before succumbing to the bottle and eventually murder, is probably the most interesting storyline outside of Larry’s, but unlike Larry, this is bought to screen with personality and subtlety. I cannot help but think without Baxter, the film would be unbalanced and significantly less engaging for it.
It looks as smart and as stylish as any of this type, revelling in the 20’s glitz and grandiose life the characters generally lead. From the country house set and the first long shot following our leads through the party, to the coal mine and monastery, the technical departments did so well to create an interesting, lived in world. The plot relies so heavily on the idea that Larry is traveling, searching for himself wherever he can; had they not succeeded in giving this idea the truth it deserves, many aspects of the project would feel unrealised.
Larry the Dog
I feel like when I started this piece, I liked the film quite a lot, but now I am less sure. It’s an easy, enjoyable watch and typifies a kind of film making that became so associated the early studio flicks. It looks great, and the actors do well in their respective roles, but you can’t help but feel the lead is a pencil sketch where there should be an oil painting, and Isabel is a KISS concert where perhaps we needed the Rolling Stones.
The potential for a genuinely interesting story, looking at one man’s journey from hell in world war one and the survivors guilt that came with it to the heaven of enlightenment and perspective, was missed by several miles. You can feel it bubbling under, you can feel actual comment just wanting to explode and give us a film of depth and interest, which is arguably the most frustrating part of the experience. There was a remake done in 1984 with Bill Murray that I also haven’t seen and may look out, but I do wonder in this time of PTSD and Veterans issues, if this story might be worth a more in-depth look.
But, on a Sunday when Kelly’s Heroes isn’t on, there are worse things to watch.
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