The Other Man (1970) (original) (raw)
Synopsis
The neglected wife of an ambitious district attorney starts an affair with an ex-convict he had sent to prison. When her lover is found murdered, she begins to suspect that her husband did it.
Cast
Popular reviews
The Other Man, a TV movie which aired on NBC in 1970, demonstrably did not have enough plot to fill the 100ish minutes needed to make it run two hours, once ads were inserted. As a result, it offers a lot of tourism office-type footage of the California coast, and also falls into some serious narrative doldrums during its final third. Since everything but the twist has been revealed by that point, the movie wanders aimlessly for at least 15 minutes, introducing a bunch of new characters, and throwing in some nonsensical homeownership drama, just to kill time before the shocking!climax.
And yet — everything that surrounds that vast expanse of nothingness is ... kinda wonderful? The flirtation and romance…
Oh, this I loved.
I had been anticipating this with much fervor in my Year of Joan Hackett, because I also get my disaffected boy Roy Thinnes.
They are marvelous together! Look, Joan Hackett has never given an underwhelming performance. You always know she is present. This entire thing fits in her strengths so well too. The edgy vulnerability. The gentleness that can explode when provoked by cruelty. The fight between staying safe (internalizing emotions) and being authentic (emotions out loud). Your honor, I love her.
Roy Thinnes was also exactly what he does so well. The cold charm. The knowing vibes. A man who is always a bit perplexed to find he is feeling.
You know I love an isolated house on the Pacific Coast in the rain! Gah! That ending was a delicious morsel for the melodramatic id that is always trying to gain control of me. 😈
Equal parts absurd and operatic but still deeply enjoyable. Most of the pleasure of the film is derived from Joan Hackett's nuanced performance. A powerful presence her strange quality of a sort of restless stillness always draws your eyes to her. She's surrounded by a good cast but the film is all hers.