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A Hatful of Rain from 1957 with Anthony Franciosa, Don Murray, Eva Marie Saint, Lloyd Nolan, Henry Silva and William Hickey
While England in the late 1950s and early 1960s was making its powerful "kitchen sink" dramas about the struggles of the working class, America had already started making similar movies a bit earlier, but lacking a catchy title, they get less attention from movie fans today.
A Hatful of Rain is a "kitchen sink" film done American style as we see a working class family in New York City all but fall apart owing to one family member's drug addiction, which eventually drags out every skeleton in the family's closet.
Don Murray plays a morphine addict, a habit he acquired in the Army recovering from wounds in Korea. His pregnant wife, played by Eva Marie Saint, doesn't know about his addiction, but his faithful brother, played by Anthony Franciosa, knows all too well about it.
The last piece of the family puzzle is the brothers' father, played by Lloyd Nolan, who lives in Florida. He, too, doesn't know anything about his favorite son's problem, but at the movie's opening, he shows up for an unannounced visit.
The movie looks at a few days of Murray's life as a drug addict, now reaching a crisis stage. This forces the family to face many of their problems, which includes the boys both resenting their father for not being there for them after their mother died when they were just infants.
The father, Nolan, a selfish braggart with a thin veneer of charm, resents that the boys don't worship him enough, even though they have good reason not to. Time and again, we see Nolan's pleasant facade quickly dissolve into an angry tirade when he doesn't get his way.
Saint, looking too blonde, pretty and clean, to have married into this mess of a family, thinks Murray is cheating on her as he never explains his long absences related to his drug addiction. Saint, pregnant, lonely and scared, also develops feelings for Franciosa, which are mutual.
Amidst all this family dysfunction bubbling just below the surface of normalcy the family attempts to maintain, is Murray's frightening drug dealer, "Mother," played by Henry Silva, and his two henchmen, one of whom is played with a sinister creepiness by William Hickey.
Look for the scene where a strung-out Murray begs "Mother" for a free fix, while Hickey - a fidgety and insignificant looking man - gleefully begs Silva to let him work Murray over with "the pipe" (a heavy piece of metal). One shivers knowing that there are soulless sociopaths like Hickey in the world.
A series of crises follow as Murray's addiction has Franciosa bankrupting himself to pay Murray's dealer off so that he won't harm his brother. Saint, meanwhile, considers leaving what she believes is her philandering husband.
Catalyzing all of this is Nolan, who walks through his family quietly throwing hand grenades about his sons letting him down. This becomes too much for the boys to take as Murray's addiction consumes him, while it also buffets Franciosa and Saint.
Director Fred Zinnemann captures all of this with a surprising realism for the era. While you don't see Murray shooting up, his addiction, withdrawal, despair and the lurking violent threat of his drug dealer are on full display, as is the crushing burden it places on the family.
Enough can't be said about the performances either, as Murray looks like Captain America with a drug addiction, which is part of the point. Franciosa gives one of his career-best performances as the not-favorite son who quietly and thanklessly tries to hold the family together.
Saint, too, deserves note. Like the angelic Mary Ure in the 1959 English kitchen sink drama Look Back in Anger, you wonder how Saint, an ethereal-looking, sensitive woman, ended up in this broken, angry and uncouth family. Yet she's there, and her performance is moving.
Filmed in black and white - the only way, back then, a movie like this should be - Zinnemann's on-location shooting captures New York City as the turn from 1950s sparkle to 1970s urban jungle was beginning. It's a better look at the city at that moment than most documentaries.
A Hatful of Rain, despite not receiving a lot of attention today, remains a poignant exploration of the complexities of addiction and the debilitating ripple effects it has on family and identity.
While it may not be easy to watch, its unflinching portrayal of these struggles ensures that it will resonate just as powerfully today as it did in 1957.