By Richard Harland Smith
Inside Straight
Brief Synopsis
A tycoon rises to the top in 19th-century San Francisco through greed and corruption.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Gerald Mayer
Director
David Brian
Rip MacCool
Arlene Dahl
Lily Douvane
Barry Sullivan
Johnny Sanderson
Mercedes Mccambridge
Ada Stritch
Paula Raymond
Zoe Carnot
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Western
Release Date
Mar
16,
1951
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: 13 Mar 1951; New York opening: 15 Mar 1951
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 29m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,816ft
(9 reels)
Synopsis
In 1870s San Francisco, as Ada Stritch's bank faces a run, newspaperman Johnny Sanderson goes to ask millionaire Rip MacCool if he will save the bank. Even though the state's economy depends on the bank's survival, Rip refuses to help. Soon Flutey Johnson, an old associate of Rip, also comes begging for his help, as does Ada, who needs three million dollars. Rip deals a hand of cards and suggests that Ada, who loathes him, bet her bank against the money. Before calling the bet, Johnny suggests that they learn more about Rip. Ada then recalls their first meeting, more than fifteen years before: Ada, a widow, runs a modest hotel at which Rip and his Serbian friend Shocker rent a room. Rip confides to Shocker that he wants to buy the hotel and learns from a prominent financier that $3,000 would be a fair price. When Ada suggests to Rip that she wants to sell the hotel and return East, he invites her to his room and, while making love to her, offers $3,000 in cash and $1,000 of stock in the Mona Lisa mine, somewhat less than she had wanted. She agrees, but her affection for him turns to hate when he callously tricks her out of $300 of the hotel's income and she learns that the stock is worthless. Ada concludes her story, and Johnny begins: After Johnny badly loses a boxing match, Rip defends his honor against a man who wrongfully accuses him of throwing the fight. Rip then offers Johnny, who is an aspiring writer, a job as night manager of the hotel. Some time later, Rip loses all of his cash in the stock market and becomes even more determined to become rich. Two years later, Rip has turned the hotel into a luxurious place and made $8,000, but confides to the sympathetic Shocker that he fears he will never rise high enough. One day, Rip hears that the Mona Lisa stock is about to skyrocket and secretly buys enough shares to net him a $250,000 profit. Although he is happy that Ada, too, has become rich with the stock, she does not believe him. The next day, Rip saves the wealthy and influential Alexander Tomson from an embarrassing encounter with his wife while Tomson is romancing the beautiful Lily Douvane. In gratitude, Tomson gives Rip some inside stock tips and Rip becomes a millionaire. Flutey then picks up the story: Within five years, Rip is one of the city's most important men and employs Lily as a singer in a fancy restaurant managed by Flutey. Sensing that Johnny, who nows runs a newspaper, is attracted to the gold-digging Lily, Rip proposes to her, confessing that he is not romantically interested in her. She agrees, but on their honeymoon, admits that she does not even like him. Despite the circumstances of the marriage, she gives birth to a baby boy, whom Rip names after Johnny. Neither parent shows interest in the boy, who is lovingly cared for by Zoe Carnot, a French nanny whom Rip has hired on Shocker's recommendation. Rip is soon caught in a compromising situation by Lily, who demands a million dollars for an annulment and custody of the child. During the next year, Johnny sees a lot of the boy and Zoe, with whom he has fallen in love. He proposes, but she tells him that both little Johnny and Rip need her. Rip then proposes, suggesting that it will quiet the gossips and help the child. Rip does not return or appreciate Zoe's love, but is jealous of Johnny's devotion to her and the child. He begins to drink and carouse too much, causing his business to fail. Zoe, whose only concern is for Rip, borrows money from Shocker to help Rip regain his fortune. At a party, she learns that the Mona Lisa mine, part of the Comstock load, may have a new, rich vein of ore. She gets money to buy more stock by mortgaging the house at Ada's bank while Rip and Shocker secretly investigate the quality of the mine. Despite Ada's intervention, Rip is able to confirm that the mine is rich and makes a fortune when the stock climbs. Rip basks in his regained fortune, and, though grateful to Zoe, seems uninterested when he learns that she is pregnant. On the day that Zoe gives birth, though, he realizes his feelings and is shattered when both she and their baby daughter die. Johnny then explains that after Zoe's death, Rip had no interest in anything but the stock exhange. After Rip briefly leaves the room, Shocker explains what happened to Rip when he was sixteen: On a wagon train west, Rip's parents die of cholera and Rip is unable to raise the money necessary to give them a proper funeral. The hard-headed mortician refuses to let him work for the money, saying that in the West, having "the jack" is the only thing that is important. Rip then goes to work as a miner and meets Shocker, who later helps him dig his parents' graves. With only Shocker and shares in the supposedly worthless Mona Lisa mine, Rip then determines to earn his fortune. As Shocker finishes his story, Rip comes in and asks Ada to call her hand. Rip then looks at his last card and tells her the money will be at her bank in the morning. Ada leaves, suspicious that Rip did, indeed, have the cards needed to win, but he merely walks upstairs, smiling.
Director
Gerald Mayer
Director
Cast
David Brian
Rip MacCool
Arlene Dahl
Lily Douvane
Barry Sullivan
Johnny Sanderson
Mercedes Mccambridge
Ada Stritch
Paula Raymond
Zoe Carnot
Claude Jarman Jr.
Rip MacCool, age 16
Lon Chaney [jr.]
Shocker
Monica Lewis
Cafe singer
John Hoyt
Flutey Johnson
Roland Winters
Alexander Tomson
Barbara Billingsley
Miss Meadson
Richard Hale
Undertaker
Hayden Rorke
Carlson
Jerry Hartleben
John MacCool, age 3
Dale Hartleben
John MacCool, age 8
Lou Nova
Connegan
Richard Hale
Mr. Deering
Percy Helton
Lawyer
John R. Hamilton
Jim Walters
Marshall Bradford
Bearded man
Bert Roach
Broker
Matt Moore
Broker
Cameron Grant
Broker
William Lewis
Broker
Sherry Hall
Broker
Wheaton Chambers
Broker
Philo Mccullough
Broker
Stanley Holbrook
Aide
George Sherwood
Caller
Jack Shea
Detective
Jim Pierce
Detective
Joel Allen
Guard
James G. Harrison
Guard
Nikki Juston
Mrs. Tomson
Bobby Johnson
Attendant
Nedrick Young
Accountant
Dee Tatum
Brunette
Harry Lauter
Hal
Leslie Kimmell
Minister
Erville Alderson
Minister
Frank Wilcox
Doctor
Mae Clark
Nurse
Dick Curtis
Marshal
Earl Lee
Marshal
John Bryant
Wagon captain
William Thourlby
Immigrant
Mitchell Lewis
Immigrant
Emmett Lynn
Proprietor
Ralph Montgomery
Foreman
Hal Fieberling
Foreman
Richard "dick" Alexander
Assistant foreman
Dewey Robinson
Paymaster
John Damler
Miner
Gene Roth
Doctor
Lew Smith
Ray Macdonald
Crew
Daniel B. Cathcart
Art Director
Al Colombo
Addl Music Arrangements
Jim Dundee
Stunts
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
A. Arnold Gillespie
Special Effects
Richard Goldstone
Producer
Sydney Guilaroff
Hair styles Designer
Lennie Hayton
Music
Ray June
Director of Photography
Newell P. Kimlin
Film Editor
Arthur Krams
Associate (Sets)
Warren Newcombe
Special Effects
John Radic
Serbian lyrics teacher
Al Sendrey
Addl Music Arrangements
Al Sendrey
Composer
Douglas Shearer
Recording Supervisor
Guy Trosper
Writer
William Tuttle
Makeup created by
Charles Wallace
Sound
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Dolph Zimmer
Assistant Director
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Western
Release Date
Mar
16,
1951
Premiere Information
Los Angeles opening: 13 Mar 1951; New York opening: 15 Mar 1951
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 29m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,816ft
(9 reels)
Articles
Inside Straight -
The California Gold Rush of 1848-1855 changed the shape and the fortune of North America's western coast, making a hub of the port city of San Francisco and ensuring statehood by 1850. The founding of Wells Fargo in 1852 and the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883 gave rise to endless speculation, investment, and entrepreneurship inside the Golden Gate, providing Hollywood with a steady supply of rags to riches sagas. Howard Hawks' Barbary Coast (1935) with Edward G. Robinson, Lloyd Bacon's Frisco Kid (1935) with James Cagney, and Raoul Walsh's Gentleman Jim (1942) with Errol Flynn all purported to expose the brutality behind the dazzle of San Francisco's red light district, where saloons, casinos and brothels satisfied a public appetite for recreation and release. That cinematic tradition was continued by Gerald Mayer's Inside Straight (1951). Starring Joan Crawford-discovery David Brian as the aptly-named profiteer Rip MacCool, the son of 49ers whose deaths from cholera forced their only son to claw his way to the top of society in a ravening fit of bastardy, this MGM release is told in flashback fashion from the lips of Oscar winner Mercedes McCambridge (in her second film), Barry Sullivan and Lon Chaney, Jr. as MacCool's loyal Serbian buddy Shocker. Look fast for a pre-Leave It to Beaver Barbara Billingsley and for Frankenstein's Mae Clark in an unbilled cameo.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Inside Straight -
The California Gold Rush of 1848-1855 changed the shape and the fortune of North America's western coast, making a hub of the port city of San Francisco and ensuring statehood by 1850. The founding of Wells Fargo in 1852 and the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883 gave rise to endless speculation, investment, and entrepreneurship inside the Golden Gate, providing Hollywood with a steady supply of rags to riches sagas. Howard Hawks' Barbary Coast (1935) with Edward G. Robinson, Lloyd Bacon's Frisco Kid (1935) with James Cagney, and Raoul Walsh's Gentleman Jim (1942) with Errol Flynn all purported to expose the brutality behind the dazzle of San Francisco's red light district, where saloons, casinos and brothels satisfied a public appetite for recreation and release. That cinematic tradition was continued by Gerald Mayer's Inside Straight (1951). Starring Joan Crawford-discovery David Brian as the aptly-named profiteer Rip MacCool, the son of 49ers whose deaths from cholera forced their only son to claw his way to the top of society in a ravening fit of bastardy, this MGM release is told in flashback fashion from the lips of Oscar winner Mercedes McCambridge (in her second film), Barry Sullivan and Lon Chaney, Jr. as MacCool's loyal Serbian buddy Shocker. Look fast for a pre-Leave It to Beaver Barbara Billingsley and for Frankenstein's Mae Clark in an unbilled cameo.
By Richard Harland Smith
Mercedes McCambridge (1916-2004)
She was born Charlotte Mercedes McCambridge on March 16, 1916, in Joliet, Illinois. After graduation from Mundelein College in Chicago, she acted in local radio, doing everything from children's programs to soap operas. By the early '40s, she relocated to New York, where her powerful voice kept her busy as one of the top radio actresses of her day, including a stint with Orson Wells' radio dramas.
In the late '40s she appeared successfully in several Broadway productions, and this led a call from Hollywood. In her film debut, she was cast as Broderick Crawford's scheming mistress in All the King's Men (1949) and won an Oscar® for her fine performance.
Despite her strong start, McCambridge's film roles would be very sporadic over the years. Her strengths were her husky voice, square build, and forthright personae, not exactly qualities for an ingenue. Instead, McCambridge took interesting parts in some quirky movies: playing a self-righteous church leader opposite Joan Crawford in one of the cinema's great cult Westerns, Nicholas Ray's kinky Johnny Guitar (1954); a key role as Rock Hudson's sister in George Stevens' epic Giant (1956, a second Oscar® nomination), and as a gang leader in Orson Wells' magnificent noir thriller Touch of Evil (1958).
By the '60s, McCambridge's career was hampered by bouts of alcoholism, and apart for her voice work as the demon in William Friedkin's The Exorcist(1973, where the director cruelly omitted her from the credits before the Screen Actors Guild intervened and demanded that she receive proper recognition), the parts she found toward the end of her career were hardly highpoints. Some fairly forgettable films: Thieves (1977), The Concorde - Airport '79 (1979) and guest roles in some routine television shows such as Charlie's Angels and Cagney & Lacey were all she could find before quietly retiring from the screen.
It should be noted that McCambridge finished her career on a high note, when in the early '90s, Neil Simon asked her to play the role of the grandmother in Lost in Yonkers on Broadway. Her return to the New York stage proved to be a great success, and McCambridge would perform the play for a phenomenal 560 performances. They were no surviving family members at the time of her death.
by Michael T. Toole
Mercedes McCambridge (1916-2004)
Veteran character actress Mercedes McCambridge, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar® for All the King's Men, and later provided the scary voice of a demon-possessed Linda Blair in The Exorcist, died from natural causes on March 2 in a rest home in San Diego. She was 87.
She was born Charlotte Mercedes McCambridge on March 16, 1916, in Joliet, Illinois. After graduation from Mundelein College in Chicago, she acted in local radio, doing everything from children's programs to soap operas. By the early '40s, she relocated to New York, where her powerful voice kept her busy as one of the top radio actresses of her day, including a stint with Orson Wells' radio dramas.
In the late '40s she appeared successfully in several Broadway productions, and this led a call from Hollywood. In her film debut, she was cast as Broderick Crawford's scheming mistress in All the King's Men (1949) and won an Oscar® for her fine performance.
Despite her strong start, McCambridge's film roles would be very sporadic over the years. Her strengths were her husky voice, square build, and forthright personae, not exactly qualities for an ingenue. Instead, McCambridge took interesting parts in some quirky movies: playing a self-righteous church leader opposite Joan Crawford in one of the cinema's great cult Westerns, Nicholas Ray's kinky Johnny Guitar (1954); a key role as Rock Hudson's sister in George Stevens' epic Giant (1956, a second Oscar® nomination), and as a gang leader in Orson Wells' magnificent noir thriller Touch of Evil (1958).
By the '60s, McCambridge's career was hampered by bouts of alcoholism, and apart for her voice work as the demon in William Friedkin's The Exorcist(1973, where the director cruelly omitted her from the credits before the Screen Actors Guild intervened and demanded that she receive proper recognition), the parts she found toward the end of her career were hardly highpoints. Some fairly forgettable films: Thieves (1977), The Concorde - Airport '79 (1979) and guest roles in some routine television shows such as Charlie's Angels and Cagney & Lacey were all she could find before quietly retiring from the screen.
It should be noted that McCambridge finished her career on a high note, when in the early '90s, Neil Simon asked her to play the role of the grandmother in Lost in Yonkers on Broadway. Her return to the New York stage proved to be a great success, and McCambridge would perform the play for a phenomenal 560 performances. They were no surviving family members at the time of her death.
by Michael T. Toole
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although the screen credits and a newspaper headline within the film list the main character as "Rip MacCool," a cross on the character's parents' graves lists spells the surname as "McCool."
