- Actors: Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Sydney Greenstreet, Lucille Bremer
- Directors: Edgar G. Ulmer
- Writers: Alvah Bessie, Dayton Stoddart, Gordon Kahn, S.K. Lauren
- Producers: Arthur S. Lyons, Joseph Justman
- Format: PAL, Black & White, Full Screen
- Language English
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Classification: PG
- Studio: Second Sight
- VHS Release Date: 24 Jan 2000
- Run Time: 100 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- ASIN: B00004CVT6
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 27,456 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Product details |
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:VHS Tape
Eagle-Lion Films presents "RUTHLESS" (1948) (104 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Starring Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Sydney Greenstreet & Lucille Bremer
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Told in flashback, this is the story of the rise and fall of unscrupulous financier Horace Vendig. Hiding behind a veneer of respectability, Vendig steps on and rolls over anyone who stands in his way, including his lifelong friend Vic Lambdin, utilities executive Buck Mansfield and various and sundry women, among them Susan Duane and Christine Mansfield. Poor Diana Lynn is subjected to Vendig's cruelties twice, in the dual role of Martha Burnside and Mallory Flagg.
It is a tribute to the acting skills of Zachary Scott that he makes his despicable character somehow likable and, in the end, rather pathetic. Based on a novel by Dayton Stoddart, Ruthless, like many Eagle-Lion films of its period, was top-heavy with loaned-out Warner Bros. contract players. It was also one of the few big-budgeted projects helmed by "cult" director Edgar G. Ulmer
BIOS:
1. Edgar G. Ulmer [Director]
Date of Birth: 17 September 1904 - Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]
Date of Death: 30 September 1972 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
2. Zachary Scott
Date of Birth: 21 February 1914 - Austin, Texas
Date of Death: 3 October 1965 - Austin, Texas
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 3 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 104 min on DVD ~ Eagle-Lion Films ~ (10/16/2007)
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Told in flashback, this is the story of the rise and fall of unscrupulous financier Horace Vendig. Hiding behind a veneer of respectability, Vendig steps on and rolls over anyone who stands in his way, including his lifelong friend Vic Lambdin, utilities executive Buck Mansfield and various and sundry women, among them Susan Duane and Christine Mansfield. Poor Diana Lynn is subjected to Vendig's cruelties twice, in the dual role of Martha Burnside and Mallory Flagg.
It is a tribute to the acting skills of Zachary Scott that he makes his despicable character somehow likable and, in the end, rather pathetic. Based on a novel by Dayton Stoddart, Ruthless, like many Eagle-Lion films of its period, was top-heavy with loaned-out Warner Bros. contract players. It was also one of the few big-budgeted projects helmed by "cult" director Edgar G. Ulmer
BIOS:
1. Edgar G. Ulmer [Director]
Date of Birth: 17 September 1904 - Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]
Date of Death: 30 September 1972 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
2. Zachary Scott
Date of Birth: 21 February 1914 - Austin, Texas
Date of Death: 3 October 1965 - Austin, Texas
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 3 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 104 min on DVD ~ Eagle-Lion Films ~ (10/16/2007)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
SUPERB Movie, Extremely POOR QUALITY VHS tape!
29 Mar 2007
Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a superb movie with Zachary Scott at his rattiest, Diana Lynn at her prettiest, and Sydney Greenstreet in his best performance outside of the Maltese Falcon. Unfortunately, the VHS tape by Terra Entertainment is the LOWEST quality tape I've ever seen!!! It is literally painful to watch. It is certainly RUTHLESS to sell such a low quality product to unsuspecting people who just want to own a memorable 1948 movie. In the product details it says "Studio: Terra". Whenever I buy another VHS tape, I will be looking for the name Terra or Terra Entertainment and avoiding it like the plague. I only hope that someone comes out with a digitally re-mastered DVD version of this excellent movie.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
"He wasn't a man. He was a way of life."
22 Jan 2006
Made in 1948 during the golden years of film noir, "Ruthless" was another low-budget gem directed by the great Edgar G. Ulmer, famous for the cult classic "Detour". It was released by the Poverty Row studio Eagle-Lion, the same studio responsible for B film noir classics such as "He Walked by Night", "Hollow Triumph" (AKA "The Scar"), "Raw Deal", "The Spiritualist" (AKA "The Amazing Mr. X"), and "T-Men". Edgar Ulmer considered this movie as his "Citizen Kane", and Ulmer fans will surely agree that this movie was much more ambitious and had a far more impressive cast than "Detour".
Zachary Scott stars as Horace Woodruff Vendig, a heartless cad who plots and schemes his way from the slums to the big time, eventually being in charge of a multi-million-dollar business industry. He uses everyone on his climb to the top, including three beautiful women, and then discards them when he's tired of them. His best friend Vic Lambdin (Louis Hayward) has known him since childhood, but it takes Vic a very long time before he realizes just how cold-blooded Horace is. Horace ruins the lives of everyone he comes in contact with, and eventually his wicked ways catch up with him as he realizes he has no one left to use.
"Ruthless" was the perfect showcase for Zachary Scott, cinema's "king of the cads" in my opinion. He was a highly underated actor and appeared in numerous noir films, including classics like "The Mask of Dimitrios", "Mildred Pierce", "Danger Signal", "The Unfaithful", "Flaxy Martin", and "Flamingo Road". The rest of the cast in "Ruthless" was excellent as well and for a Poverty Row movie the list of stars was quite impressive: Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Sydney Greenstreet, Lucille Bremer, Martha Vickers, and an early appearance by Raymond Burr. This movie is a definite must for any film noir enthusiast. Let's hope a DVD release is not too far away.
Zachary Scott stars as Horace Woodruff Vendig, a heartless cad who plots and schemes his way from the slums to the big time, eventually being in charge of a multi-million-dollar business industry. He uses everyone on his climb to the top, including three beautiful women, and then discards them when he's tired of them. His best friend Vic Lambdin (Louis Hayward) has known him since childhood, but it takes Vic a very long time before he realizes just how cold-blooded Horace is. Horace ruins the lives of everyone he comes in contact with, and eventually his wicked ways catch up with him as he realizes he has no one left to use.
"Ruthless" was the perfect showcase for Zachary Scott, cinema's "king of the cads" in my opinion. He was a highly underated actor and appeared in numerous noir films, including classics like "The Mask of Dimitrios", "Mildred Pierce", "Danger Signal", "The Unfaithful", "Flaxy Martin", and "Flamingo Road". The rest of the cast in "Ruthless" was excellent as well and for a Poverty Row movie the list of stars was quite impressive: Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, Sydney Greenstreet, Lucille Bremer, Martha Vickers, and an early appearance by Raymond Burr. This movie is a definite must for any film noir enthusiast. Let's hope a DVD release is not too far away.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Interesting Movie of Low Video Quality
7 Jan 2008
good price, fast delivery, but barely watchable. I expected not the highest quality, but it was the poorest quality video I've ever watched.
Fuzzy, Muddy, scratchy describe the picture
Fuzzy, Muddy, scratchy describe the picture
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
