Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

hollywoodlegend I watched this film hoping to see some sizzle between Ava Gardner and James Mason. She was wonderfully wicked, but he underplayed it too much. Same great voice, but no passion in his role at all. Absolutely zero chemistry between Mason and Stanwyck. No wonder their marriage was in trouble! How did the studio ever think they would be believable together? I was eager to hear Mason's character's explanation at the beginning about why men cheat. Didn't impress me though. The best part of the film was the murder mystery aspect and a wonderful appearance by Cannon star William Conrad. Van Heflin played a former cop and a character you like right away. However, his part seemed like it belonged in a different film from the underused Ava Gardner's. The overall lack of excitement gives the viewer time to notice annoying things about the actors. Why did Barbara Stanwyck talk like she had false teeth? James Mason was curling and uncurling his fingers non-stop. Now the great comedy part: Man Hands! If you are familiar with the Seinfeld episode with Man Hands, you will certainly shout it out toward the end of the film.

mark.waltz Having just watched "BUtterfield 8", I saw this movie as an earlier attempt to tell the same story from the wife's point of view. Same story, basically: seemingly happily married couple deals with issues concerning a rather "loose" woman (a former fling, now back in town) with few (if any) morals. Instead of Elizabeth Taylor, the "other woman" is Ava Gardner (like Taylor, one of MGM's genuinely beautiful as well as talented stars), and in place of Laurence Harvey and Dina Merrill are James Mason and Barbara Stanwyck. "BUtterfield 8" told the story from the other woman's point of view, but "East Side, West Side" focuses on the long-suffering wife (Stanwyck). It is very apparent here that Gardner has no scruples when it comes to going after a married man, so is it any wonder she ends up a corpse? But the film is not about the murder; It is about the wife's fight for her marriage and how she manages to find herself in the process.If you can get past the fact that Barbara Stanwyck was only 8 years older than Gale Sondergaard (cast as her mother!), you can enjoy this lavish soaper, made for MGM's 25th Anniversary. James Mason (like "BUtterfield 8's" Laurence Harvey) is what Lucile Watson described to daughter Norma Shearer in "The Women"; the type of man who can't do his hair or redecorate his office when he's going through a change of life ordeal. He has to find himself in the arms of a younger woman. Unlike Taylor in "B-8", Gardner doesn't show any vulnerability or motivation for her loose lifestyle, certainly no apologies to either Mason or Stanwyck. I found it interesting that when Stanwyck finds out about Gardner's death, she is as stunned as if it were a neighbor or an old friend. Like she later did in the brilliant thriller "Jeopardy", Stanwyck provides an opening narration that seems unnecessary.Certainly, there is no realism in a lot of the movie, so you have to take it from an entertainment point of view. I was surprised by the performance of Cyd Charisse as a model who helps Mason out of a predicament and later befriends Stanwyck to explain a picture in the newspaper. Usually, Charisse seems distracted by something in her acting, but here, she was amazingly on the ball with everything she did. I was not surprised by the outstanding performance of Van Heflin as Gardner's friend who becomes Stanwyck's confidant when they pick him up at LaGuardia Airport. I do not recall seeing Heflin in anything where he was less than inside the role. Whether it was a musical ("Presenting Lily Mars"), film noir ("Act of Violence") or his award worthy performance as the man with the bomb in "Airport", Heflin was simply outstanding.I like Sondergaard in her two scenes; As a Broadway star from long ago (even though she's only 55-in real life only 50), she gave an interesting speech on society how in her day you couldn't just become a stage star to get into "Cafe Society". Sondergaard, a veteran of playing chilly characters, is nice here, although she has a moment alone with Mason where he gets to feel that chill. I liked the interaction between Stanwyck and her stepfather, one of mutual respect and affection. Nancy Davis (Reagan) gives a nice quiet performance as Stanwyck's pal who makes sweet observations about women's friendships going beyond cattiness and jealousy. You won't quickly forget Beverly Michaels as a mannish (yet well dressed) femme fatale. She may look like Diana Dors but has the masculinity of Hope Emerson! Veteran character actors and soon-to-be TV stars William Conrad and William Frawley have nice bits. This isn't a film that will be regarded as an all-time classic but is a fairly enjoyable "women's picture", made long after Hollywood really stopped making them.

marcslope Lush big-city melodrama from MGM, with what looks surprisingly like some on-location shooting, where highfalutin Barbara Stanwyck and James Mason's marriage is threatened by an impossibly gorgeous, impossibly evil Ava Gardner, while Mason flirts mildly with Cyd Charisse, who's hooked up with Van Heflin, who's increasingly intrigued by Stanwyck. Screenwriter Isobel Lennart was usually good for some smart dialog, and she's reliably industrious here, though there's no truth at the center of these doings: People just don't fall in and out of love as quickly as they do here, and the plotting takes some very improbable turns, such as Charisse's gallant and uncomplaining exit from Heflin's life, Heflin's solving of a murder, and Mason's inability to escape Gardner's clutches. On second thought, that's not that improbable: She's lust incarnate, and there are some intriguing intimations of a sadomasochistic relationship between them. Believable it's not, but it's very entertaining, with smooth Mervyn LeRoy direction, sumptuous gowns, and a swanky sort of pseudo-sophistication that no major-studio movie today would even attempt. I never knew what was going to happen next, and kept right on watching, till 2 a.m.

Terrell-4 We're going to have to keep some things straight, so please pay attention. "A" is loyal, sincere and society-style rich. Her mom's even richer. She's in love with "B," a charming, compulsive philanderer and nicely turned-out cad. They're married. Every Thursday they go to Mom's mansion to have dinner for three. "C" is a luscious, high-gloss tramp who knows what she wants and when she wants it. Now that "B" is into the money, she might want to take up where things left off with him before he married "A." "D" is decent, honorable, and patriotic, with a past that's part detective, part U. S. spy. He loves "A," who sees him as a wonderful friend. He detests "B," and sees him for what he is, the rain on "A"'s obliviously happy parade. "E" is a nice kid to come home to after a hard day's work. She'd have dinner ready and the pillows plumped. "E" may seem a little bland but she's got great legs. She loves "D," but he's too decent to be anything but decent toward her. With Mom observing, with the drinks poured, with easy morals on the East Side, with loving commitment on the West Side and with everyone extremely well groomed, the anguish starts and the tears flow. If it weren't for murder and two other elements, East Side, West Side would probably only be worth remembering by the fans of women's weepies. The murder and the hunt for the murderer take up the last half of the movie. Death provides some great, gloomy photography and some needed energy. Stanwyck as the murder suspect provides...I guess she provides the plot. The best things about this movie, however, are those two other elements: Barbara Stanwyck and James Mason. Just for the record, Stanwyck is "A," Mason is "B," Ava Gardner is "C," Van Heflin is "D," and Cyd Charisse is "E." And we shouldn't forget Gale Sondergard, one of Hollywood's great character actors who plays Stanwyck's mother. Mason may pull the wool over Bab's eyes (and we kind of like him when he does), but Sondergard, as gracious and as smooth as old gold dollars, is a woman to be wary of when she smiles sympathetically. One can understand why Stanwyck agreed to the movie. She was still a major name-above- the-title star, but she was on the down slope of age. East Side, West Side gave her a chance to play believably younger than she was, to look stylishly dressed and coifed at all times, to move around in the kind of upper-crust apartments only Hollywood could decorate, to emote everything from love to regret, from anxiety to calm resolution. It's her movie, and she risked loosing it only when James Mason decided to take the intriguing part of the hopeless, hapless, assured and self-deceiving cad Stanwyck has married. Stanwyck remains Stanwyck, one of Hollywood's rare stand-alone actresses on whom any film she's in seems always to focus on her. Mason usually had that same affect. He could come off as cruel (The Seventh Veil), or a rogue (The Wicked Lady) or hopelessly sad (Odd Man Out), but it was hard not to concentrate on him. When cruel, he could be romantic. When a rogue, he could be dangerous and good company. When hopelessly sad, he could embody feelings close to tragedy. But, my goodness, just look at the roles he picked to play when he came over to Hollywood in the late Forties. Mason made his own choices. He was intelligent and a risk taker. He liked working for first-rate directors. He often made possible small films by agreeing to star in them. He was a superb film actor. And here he is in East Side, West Side as Barbara Stanwyck's husband, a man unable to keep his pants zipped. Stanwyck brings authenticity to the movie, even though it's all Hollywood. She has to contend with too many major characters and too many balls in the air. Mason, however, makes us like the situation. Two scenes toward the end of the movie, the first when he has a conversation with Gale Sondergard as Stanwyck's mother, and the second when he leaves a message over the phone to be delivered to Sondergard, are both high-class bits of immensely satisfying comeuppance acting. Mason had a long career and played in some real doozies, but I can't think of a performance of his I've seen that I didn't enjoy. Try him in The Reckless Moment, (1946) a great film directed by Max Ophuls, or, at the end of his career, in The Shooting Party (1985). As for Stanwyck, there are a lot of movies to like. For melodrama, death and under-appreciated Hollywood angst, try The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946).