Ohne Erbarmen (1948)

Ohne Erbarmen: Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. With Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Sydney Greenstreet. A poor boy who saved a rich girl from drowning is adopted by her family but he grows into a money-hungry ruthless businessman who would step on others to get to the top of the social ladder.

“Ruthless is directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and adapted to screenplay by S.K. Lauren, Gordon Kahn and Alvah Bessie from Dayton Stoddartu0026#39;s novel Prelude to Night. It stars Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Sydney Greenstreet, Diana Lynn, Lucille Bremer and Martha Vickers. Music is by Werner Jansen and cinematography by Bert Glennon.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEven as a boy Horace Vendig always got what he wanted. Then into adulthood and he manipulates himself into high society. Now a fully fledged tyro of commerce he is even more cruel and impervious to how his actions harm others. But when Horace (Scott) reunites with his old best friend Vic Lambdin (Hayward) and he falls a foul of the bitter Buck Mansfield (Greenstreet), all the resentments come crashing together as one!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Animals kill for food or love. You and I spoil the jungle because we kill for profit, a taste of victory and revenge. Then we destroy each other afteru0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was a one time hard to locate picture, where even in early releases it had been shorn of 25 minutes, but now itu0026#39;s out there, a full one hour and forty four minutes of Ruthlessness! Ok, that might be over selling it a touch, but this is a pretty spicy piece of greedy film noir, a scathing attack on capitalism, a telling of the corruption of a manu0026#39;s soul and the bitter treatment he hands out to those who care for him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTagged as a sort of baby brother to Citizen Kane, which is fair enough in fact, but that be in narrative drive more than visual panache. Thereu0026#39;s some nice expressionistic touches, with Glennon (Crime Wave) proving what a very talented cinematographer he was (see his Westerns output), but the pic does lack for noirish visual menace to marry up with the sour lead characterisation. Which is a crime given itu0026#39;s Ulmer (The Black Cat/Bluebeard/Detour/Strange Illusion) in the directors chair.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, where the pic shines bright is with the performances, Ulmer getting his cast to turn in impressive portrayals of the human condition. The ladies are especially great (Lynn has a dual role) as they nail the respective heartbeats of women buffeted by Horaceu0026#39;s duality of twisted emotions and lofty avarice ambitions. In short we get very mature turns in a film thatu0026#39;s very much mature in thematics. Add it to your Ulmer u0026quot;to see listsu0026quot; post haste. 7.5/10”