An American Dream

[Night Editor]

'An American Dream' (1966) stars Stuart Whitman, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, Barry Sullivan, Warren Stevens, Lloyd Nolan, all of whom are asked to give performances they each probably chose to forget.

Based on a story by Norman Mailer, the film is basically a pile of over-the-top '60's melo-trash that appears to contain some of the most inane and shame-faced dialog ever spoken aloud.

Nevertheless, by the end, 'An American Dream' does manage to come into some sort of shape as a surprisingly bleak film noir, albeit an atonal and unlikeable one.

If 'American Dream' had been produced in France using the same script and starring Alain Delon and Marlene Jobert, it likely would have been seen and regarded still so today as a very powerful invocation of noir as only the French could be capable of making.

As is, too much is lost in its own vulgar translation.

[The Professor]

Thanks for bringing this up! Whitman was a pretty damn good actor who I really enjoyed - he does a good job as seemingly the only character in the movie who doesn't realize that he's doomed.

The first twenty or so minutes with Eleanor Parker is absolutely astonishing, I saw this shortly after watching her in Interrupted Melody, so the change of pace made my jaw hit the floor.

I'm not sure about the French angle, this was so rooted in American TV / Hollywood culture that it's hard to imagine it taking place outside L.A.

[Night Editor]

You're right about the film's situation. You'll find it on Aisle Nine at the California Cheese Counter along with other smelly delectables like 'The Valley of the Dolls', 'The Love Machine', "The Adventurers', The Carpetbaggers', 'Where Love Has Gone'.

But this movie has really stuck with me. Eleanor Parker is astonishing. She's terrifying. And in the end, everyone dies - violently. Which likely is why 'An American Dream' had a difficult release and has until recently been sitting on the shelf. Too dark, too unrelenting, too noir.

Which made me think somewhere along the way that the French audiences would have been only too prepared to dine out on such an unredemptive tale. Same script, different cast, with maybe Stephane Audran in the Parker role.

Meantime, I'm going to suggest to the folks at the Palm Springs Film Noir Festival that they have a serious look at 'An American Dream' for screening at next May's festival. This one is exactly right up their dark alley.

[Jay M]

Your comments remind me to watch the rest of this film. I recently got it and wasn't in the mood after the opening scene. But I think it's worth a look. Long ago, I read the novel when i was much to young to understand it. Thanks for bringing this movie up on the forum