The Razor's Edge (1946)

Written by HarrisonHanksHackman on August 16, 2019

I will admit after seeing Gene Tierney in Laura a few years ago I am always looking for movies on TMC with her in them. While this movie doesn't live up to several others I have seen with Ms Tierney, such as: Laura, Leave Her to Heaven, or Heaven Can Wait, it is certainly worth a viewing.

The cast is first rate and even though I am not a huge Tyrone Power fan, he won me over a tad in this film. Clifton Webb is brilliant again (he was in Laura) playing a person who continues to remind everyone he is not a stuffy socialite who is all about wealth, control, and status, even though he is just that.

Anne Baxter whose tour-de-force IMO will be four years later in All About Eve, has less to do here and a character that is there to serve as Tierney's victim; much like Jeanne Crain was in Leave Her to Heaven. Although in both movies Tierney is more or less her own victim.

I have to also mention Herbert Marshall who plays the writer of the book this movie is based on. His voice does some narration in the movie. More about that in a moment. But we also see him being a confidant and adviser to this circle of "friends" as he sits back and observes their behavior that becomes his novel.

My one problem with this movie that takes my rating from a 9 to a 7 is the length. At 2 hours 25 minutes it tends to drag and if I were editing I would start with Tyrone Powers journey to India. That could have been another place we could have used Herbert Marshall's narration.

I suspect the reason they did not cut that scene is because they devoted so much time to several of the other characters that Power would not have found himself on screen as often as a male star of a movie would expect to be.

So even if you are not someone like me that wants to gawk at Tierney or Mr Power (for you females), it is a movie well worth watching. Just be prepared for some moments that drag and a couple unanswered plot holes at the end.