East Side, West Side (1949)

Please don't spend money on this.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

As everyone knows, I don't like Ava Gardner, so usually if I like one of her movies, I say I like it "in spite of her." East Side, West Side is fantastic, including Ava, not in spite of her.James Mason is married to Barbara Stanwyck, and in the 1940s, it was unusual for Hollywood to cast a woman past per prime as the lead. Some would say that's still the case now, and Barbara Stawyck, in her gray-streaked splendor, does a fantastic job. As does the fantastically conflicted James Mason, who gets seduced by his old flame Ava Gardner. As if one temptation isn't complicated enough, Barbara Stanwyck gets distracted by policeman Van Heflin! It's a fantastic drama that turns into so much more as the film goes on, and I'd love to read Marcia Davenport's original novel, to see if the Ava Gardner scenes are even steamier on the page. I love the script and the characters, not to mention the compelling storyline. It's thrilling, smart, romantic, and intense. This is one classic you're not going to want to miss!

What a cast. I can enjoy this movie for that reason alone, and the stars really strut their stuff.The film is set in New York just after WW2. Jessie and Brandon Bourne (Barbara Stanwick and James Mason) a couple whose marriage has been jolted by his adulterous affair with Isabel Lorrison (Ava Gardner), try to put it behind them and move forward.However Brandon has a tendency to hang around the Del Rio nightclub where he meets young model, Rosa Senta (Cyd Charisse). Unfortunately, it's just at that moment that Isabel Lorrison arrives back on the scene and back into Brandon's life, despite his attempts to stay true to Jessie.At a party, Jessie meets Rosa's boyfriend, Mark Dwyer (Van Heflin), an intelligence operative and ex-cop turned novelist who has just returned from Europe. After a lot of musical chairs reshuffling of relationships, Rosa becomes the only one unseated while Jessie and Mark become an item, and Brandon can't help his attraction to Isabel. He explains to Jessie that his attraction is like a drunk who knows liquor will wreck him, but can't stop himself.When a murder takes place, Mark Dwyer's instincts as an ex-policeman take over. He actually walks into the murder scene and virtually runs the investigation – I guess that's why crime scene tape was invented to stop things like that happening – the case is solved but a lot of relationships change before the end.Although the story is pretty crazy, and would give any modern soapy a run for its money, "East Side, West Side" has a literate script with touches of wit, giving the stars plenty to work with. With that said though, Barbara Stanwick plays a role that she could put on like a dress straight from her wardrobe – she plays it well, but of course she did have plenty of practice.James Mason, he of the mellifluous voice, was always a scene-stealer, and smooth-talking cads like Brandon were his forte. On the other hand, Van Heflin was at his best as the honest, understanding, tower of strength. Whenever he played bad, it was so against type that Academy Awards weren't out of the question à la "Johnny Eager".Although their characters are different, the presence in the same film of both Ava Gardner and Cyd Charisse, two of the most beautiful women ever in movies, seems like overkill. On television shows like "MasterChef" and "Top Chef", when a contestant overdoes the spices, the dish can end up with just too many flavours, and that's what I felt when Ava and Cyd face each other in the same scene – you hardly know which way to look."East Side, West Side" has that indefinable MGM gloss plus a distinctive Miklos Rozsa score, but the stars make this movie; to paraphrase Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard", "They had faces then".

This is an edit of my original review, after watching the film a second time.Realism is what I see in this film. I don't necessarily mean in terms of plot. There are a few aspects of that which didn't seem logical, but no more so than most films. But the performances, in general, seemed very real.I've never been much of a fan of James Mason, and this film doesn't redeem him much in my eyes. But, funny thing is, his character in this film is just about what I have a feeling he was actually like. And that's not saying much. But, at least he has that wonderful voice.Barbara Stanwyck was excellent here, but with a problem. ON the positive side, she seems very realistic as the jilted wife who ultimately makes the best decision for her life. On the negative side, in the early part of the film she seems very wishy-washy in how she reacts to her husband's repeated infidelities, then, fairly suddenly, she becomes the tough lady we usually enjoyed Stanwyck being. I'm not sure that in real life many women (or men, for that matter) could change roles so easily.Van Heflin is not one of my favorite actors, but I would have to say this is the best role I have seen him in. He seems real in his acting, but his character seems rather contrived. Nevertheless, he shines here.This is not a role that Ava Gardner fans might appreciate...the ultimate bad girl...but she does it well. As for me, I rarely appreciated Gardner's acting.Cyd Charisse is very good as Rosa Senta, but she disappears after the first half of the film, never to be seen again. Her character seemed to be merely a contrivance for the overall plot line.Nancy Davis -- later Mrs. Ronald Reagan -- has a small role here, and she's not very believable as a concerned friend of Barbara Stanwyck.Gale Sondergaard's roles were often over the top. But here, she has a more normal role and is excellent!William Conrad is fine as a police detective, as is William Frawley as a bar tender.The worst acting in the film has to be that by Beverly Michaels. She was a B movie actress...although "B" might have been generous. Her talking here is the most unrealistic aspect of the movie.Mervyn Leroy is noted for other films far more than this one, but this is a pretty good story with some fine acting. Recommended.

I have always liked this movie and purchased it as part of the Barbara Stanwyck collection. Most of the reviews provided on East Side/West Side have hit the mark. Good melodrama and women knew how to wear clothes. One interesting point about this movie that has not been mentioned - the only scene between Barbara Stanwyck and Ava Gardner had pure tension. According to Robert Osborne (Turner Classic Movies Film Historian and biographies on Stanwyck and Gardner), Stanwyck was great friends with Nancy Sinatra, Frank's first wife. During the filming of this movie, Gardner was having an affair with Frank. Stanwyck did not like Gardner for trying and eventually breaking up their marriage. Also, Stanwyck knew that Gardner had an affair with her husband at the time, Robert Taylor during an earlier 1940s film. So the tension in that particular scene was real!