Watching 'No Down Payment' from 1957 and it's interesting to see Tony Randall playing a sleazy philandering used car salesman.
This movie is actually pretty great so far. It's interesting to see films at the end of the 50s begin pushing the envelope on their stories and the edges of the Hays Code.
So a key plot part in 'No Down Payment' is that Jeffrey Hunter's character (who worked at Los Alamos during WWII) is an electrical engineer that is getting pressured by his company and his wife to do more of the sales for the increased pay and more job dynamics. He's resistant mainly because he only sees himself as an engineer. But he also has moral qualms because the machine he is working on is an automation system for a factory and he acknowledges that it will put 500 people out of a job.
It was rather striking how contemporary to our current situation that whole thing sounded like.
@fskornia Is this on Criterion? I have a fascination with salespeople stories.
@colorblindcowboy Yes. Another one of the murderous melodramas.
This is more a look at the lives of suburbanites as they deal with their problems and lives.
@fskornia I’m down with that.
Thanks for the recommendation.
@fskornia I added this to my list this morning.
@colorblindcowboy I really enjoyed it. Apparently it was a major inspiration for the TV soap Knot's Landing. It was multifaceted looking at how GIs managed their return from WWII, the demands of the new middle class society, role of education, and racism. And the cast was fantastic.
@fskornia Oh, really? Knots Landing? I’ll try and get to it this weekend, but also need to finish “Videoheaven” which is super good. I just think best watched in chunks.
@colorblindcowboy I LOVED Videoheaven. I've seen it twice. The second time was a showing at my library and we got the director to make the trip up from Brooklyn to do a Q&A.
@fskornia Oh, that must have been great. It’s just really more like an essay, so I’m watching it when I can concentrate on it.
Lately that has been tough. Also, it’s made me seek out certain films that it has mentioned.