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The Big Knife Overview:

The Big Knife (1955) was a Drama - Film Noir Film directed by Robert Aldrich and produced by Robert Aldrich.

SYNOPSIS

A dark, cynical probing of Hollywood and the studio system. When matinee idol Palance refuses to renew his studio contract, an autocratic movie mogul stoops to blackmail to force him back onto the lot. Based on an Odets play.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

The Big Knife BlogHub Articles:

Day Seven of Noirvember: The Big Knife (1955)

By shadowsandsatin on Nov 7, 2017 From Shadows and Satin

Not your typical noir, The Big Knife focuses on screen star Charlie Castle (Jack Palance), who’s in the center of a maelstrom – his dictator-like studio head, Stanley Hoff (Rod Steiger), is pressuring him into signing another seven-year contract; his beloved, estranged wife, Marion (Ida Lupino),... Read full article

The Big Knife (1955)

By Beatrice on Mar 20, 2016 From Flickers in Time

The Big Knife Directed by Robert Aldrich Written by James Poe from a play by Clifford Odets 1955/USA The Associates & Aldrich Company First viewing/Netflix rental Charlie Castle: Oh, there’s room in the world for ’em. This is a Hollywood expose along the lines of Sunset Blvd. or T... Read full article

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The Big Knife Quotes:

Charlie Castle: There's a word for you.
Connie Bliss: Why don't you say it, darling?
Charlie Castle: Am I the worst oaf in the world?
Marion Castle: The world's a big place. You're the worst one in my life.
Stanley Hoff: [to Castle, after being slapped] I'll - break - you!
Dixie Evans: I don't care if I do see a snake. I'm sure I'd much rather see a snake than a Hollywood producer.
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The Big Knife Facts
Shot in 15 days.
Two years later, Robert Aldrich's career looked all but over when he was fired from a Columbia movie called The Garment Jungle. Columbia head Harry Cohn happily handed him his marching papers when he realized halfway through filming that this was the same director who had made The Big Knife. Although he was never officially blacklisted, Aldrich had real difficulty securing other work and had to go to Europe where he made the Hammer film Ten Seconds to Hell and the Biblical epic Sodom and Gomorrah.
Stanley Shriner Hoff was an amalgam of various studio heads and not - as many believed - a direct parody of Columbia head Harry Cohn. (Hoff's penchant for crying was borrowed from one of Louis B. Mayer's more idiosyncratic traits.) Nevertheless, Harry Cohn took personal offense at the characterization.
The part of Charles Castle was originally written for John Garfield. He was supposed to play the part in the film version but died in 1952 of a premature heart attack.
The scandalous cover-up depicted in the film is supposedly based on a real-life incident involving a young John Huston. Louis B. Mayer apparently paid gossip columnist Louella Parsons a large sum of money not to disclose the incident in her column.
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