Ruthless is directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and adapted to screenplay by S.K. Lauren, Gordon Kahn and Alvah Bessie from Dayton Stoddart's novel Prelude to Night. It stars Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Sydney Greenstreet, Diana Lynn, Lucille Bremer and Martha Vickers. Music is by Werner Jansen and cinematography by Bert Glennon.

Even as a boy Horace Vendig always got what he wanted. Then into adulthood and he manipulates himself into high society. Now a fully fledged tyro of commerce he is even more cruel and impervious to how his actions harm others. But when Horace (Scott) reunites with his old best friend Vic Lambdin (Hayward) and he falls a foul of the bitter Buck Mansfield (Greenstreet),all the resentments come crashing together as one!

"Animals kill for food or love. You and I spoil the jungle because we kill for profit, a taste of victory and revenge. Then we destroy each other after"

It was a one time hard to locate picture, where even in early releases it had been shorn of 25 minutes, but now it's out there, a full one hour and forty four minutes of Ruthlessness! Ok, that might be over selling it a touch, but this is a pretty spicy piece of greedy film noir, a scathing attack on capitalism, a telling of the corruption of a man's soul and the bitter treatment he hands out to those who care for him.

Tagged as a sort of baby brother to Citizen Kane, which is fair enough in fact, but that be in narrative drive more than visual panache. There's some nice expressionistic touches, with Glennon (Crime Wave) proving what a very talented cinematographer he was (see his Westerns output),but the pic does lack for noirish visual menace to marry up with the sour lead characterisation. Which is a crime given it's Ulmer (The Black Cat/Bluebeard/Detour/Strange Illusion) in the directors chair.

However, where the pic shines bright is with the performances, Ulmer getting his cast to turn in impressive portrayals of the human condition. The ladies are especially great (Lynn has a dual role) as they nail the respective heartbeats of women buffeted by Horace's duality of twisted emotions and lofty avarice ambitions. In short we get very mature turns in a film that's very much mature in thematics. Add it to your Ulmer "to see lists" post haste. 7.5/10

Horace Vendig (Zachary Scott) is presented as a rich philanthropist. In the post-war world, he donates $25 million for a peace endowment fund. He has invited old friend Vic Lambdin (Louis Hayward) who has brought along Mallory Flagg (Diana Lynn). She has a striking resemblance to Martha Burnside from their past. In flashbacks, the movie shows the origins of the threesome. Horace comes from a broken home and Vic is his sidekick. They are on a row boat with their rich friend Martha when they capsize. Horace manages to save Martha.

Initially when we're told that Martha comes from a rich family, I assumed that Horace would marry Martha and kill her off for the money. I expected the murdering to happen earlier and much more often. This is more about greed and class and power. It wants to be something more profound. It's a little too melodramatic for that. Nevertheless, it has a compelling premise and it's an interesting group.

I am sure that Zachary Scott was cast in the lead role in Ruthless after the folks at Eagle-Lion remembered his debut in The Mask Of Dimitrios. As proof of that I'm sure that every effort was also made to acquire the services of Sydney Greenstreet who was also part of the cast of that film.

Under Edgar Ulmer's direction, Scott paints a careful and calculated portrait of a driven and Ruthless man going back to his childhood. Some elements of Citizen Kane are present here as in several flashback sequences we see what has made Scott what he is today.

What he's trying to do now is cover up what he's been in much the same manner as the robber barons of old by donating his vast sums of money. Like Andrew Carnegie when we meet Scott he's having a huge banquet where he's pledging the mansion and lots of money to a world peace foundation. Scott's invited a whole lot of people from his past including his oldest friend Louis Hayward who really knows him from way back when.

And it's back in his childhood just as we were introduced to Charles Foster Kane and the events that shaped we are likewise meeting Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, and Diana Lynn as the characters they are before they are adults. All I can say is that Scott as a kid was really traumatized by the antics of his parents. He goes to live with Dennis Hoey and his rich and genteel family which includes the daughter who grows up to be Diana Lynn and they give him a Harvard education.

But what makes this a real Zachary Scott role is that it's not just business he's in, it's business mixed with bedroom pleasure. He woos many a woman and discards them with equal abandon. He steals Sydney Greenstreet's trophy wife Lucille Bremer for the 48% of the stock she has in her husband's company.

Ulmer who may have done more with less than any other director around, gets if not a box office cast, a really competent one who suit their roles admirably. The script for Ruthless was written by Alvah Bessie of The Hollywood Ten and I can see why the GOP and Southern Democratic mastodons of the House Un American Activities Committee got their underwear knotted. Zachary Scott is Gordon Gekko 40 year ahead of his time. Some of the observations made by Bessie's characters could hold true for Lillian Hellman's Little Foxes as well as in Citizen Kane.

A real crackerjack film and a fascinating portrayal by Zachary Scott in the lead makes Ruthless a must see.