The Naked Edge
Encyclopedia
The Naked Edge is a 1961 thriller film starring Gary Cooper
and Deborah Kerr
. The movie was a British
-American co-production distributed by United Artists
, directed by Michael Anderson
and produced by George Glass
and Walter Seltzer with Marlon Brando Sr. as executive producer. The screenplay
was by Joseph Stefano
and Max Ehrlich, the music score by William Alwyn
and the cinematography by Erwin Hillier
and Tony White
. The production design was by Carmen Dillon.
The film was shot in London
and at Elstree Studios
, Borehamwood
, Hertfordshire
, and was Gary Cooper's last film.
Businessman Jason Root is stabbed to death on a night when George and a clerk named Donald Heath are the only other employees working at the office. A mailbag full of money is stolen in the process. George, who is seen sweating nervously both during the trial and later in the film, insists that Heath must have been the murderer, and Heath is convicted. Several months later, the mailbag is found, and the Radcliffes receive a letter that was in the bag. The letter, which Martha reads, contains a blackmail threat from Jeremy Gray (Eric Portman
) accusing George of the crime.
As the story unfolds, clues pointing to George quickly accumulate. These include a new business started by Radcliffe soon after the trial, using money that he claims to have made in the stock market; his own desperate desire for success; his lying to his wife in order to secretly search for Gray; some suspicious business with an unknown man; and Gray's claim, when Martha finds him, that he was an eyewitness to the crime and Radcliffe was the murderer.
Throughout the film, George and Martha repeatedly have conversations in which she vacillates between questioning him and insisting she believes in his innocence, and he alternates between insisting that she believe in him and telling her to make up her own mind. Tension is built and maintained between George and Martha by the repeated appearance of George's old-style shaving razor, his insistence that she join him at the edge of a cliff, references to his masculine virility, and his warning that her investigation could threaten his business. At the film's conclusion, a man tries to kill Martha after being seen sharpening George's razor, but the man turns out to be Gray. George rescues his wife just in time and subdues Gray as the police arrive.
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
and Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
. The movie was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-American co-production distributed by United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, directed by Michael Anderson
Michael Anderson (director)
Michael Joseph Anderson, Sr. is an English film director, best known for directing The Dam Busters , Around the World in 80 Days and Logan's Run .-Early life:...
and produced by George Glass
George Glass
George Glass was an American film producer and publicist, best known for his work with Stanley Kramer. In Kramer's 1997 autobiography, describing how he formed his first production company in the late 1940s, he called Glass "one of the best publicity men in town", and remarked "I was fortunate to...
and Walter Seltzer with Marlon Brando Sr. as executive producer. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was by Joseph Stefano
Joseph Stefano
Joseph Stefano was an American screenwriter, known to genre fans for writing the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and for being the producer and co-writer of the Outer Limits TV series.-Early years:As a teenager, Stefano was so keen to become an actor that he dropped out of high school two...
and Max Ehrlich, the music score by William Alwyn
William Alwyn
William Alwyn, CBE, born William Alwyn Smith was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher.-Life and music:...
and the cinematography by Erwin Hillier
Erwin Hillier
Erwin Hillier was a German-born cinematographer known for his work in British cinema from the 1940s to 1960s.-Early career:...
and Tony White
Tony White
Anthony Wilbur White is a former West Indian cricketer who played in two Tests in 1965....
. The production design was by Carmen Dillon.
The film was shot in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and at Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
, Borehamwood
Borehamwood
-Film industry:Since the 1920s, the town has been home to several film studios and many shots of its streets are included in final cuts of 20th century British films. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood"...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, and was Gary Cooper's last film.
Plot
The film follows the aftermath of a theft and murder, especially the fears of Martha Radcliffe (Kerr), who, as she investigates the crime, increasingly suspects her husband George Radcliffe (Cooper), whose testimony in court convicted the main suspect, of being the real culprit. Only at the end of the film is another man revealed to be the killer.Businessman Jason Root is stabbed to death on a night when George and a clerk named Donald Heath are the only other employees working at the office. A mailbag full of money is stolen in the process. George, who is seen sweating nervously both during the trial and later in the film, insists that Heath must have been the murderer, and Heath is convicted. Several months later, the mailbag is found, and the Radcliffes receive a letter that was in the bag. The letter, which Martha reads, contains a blackmail threat from Jeremy Gray (Eric Portman
Eric Portman
Eric Portman was a distinguished English stage and film actor...
) accusing George of the crime.
As the story unfolds, clues pointing to George quickly accumulate. These include a new business started by Radcliffe soon after the trial, using money that he claims to have made in the stock market; his own desperate desire for success; his lying to his wife in order to secretly search for Gray; some suspicious business with an unknown man; and Gray's claim, when Martha finds him, that he was an eyewitness to the crime and Radcliffe was the murderer.
Throughout the film, George and Martha repeatedly have conversations in which she vacillates between questioning him and insisting she believes in his innocence, and he alternates between insisting that she believe in him and telling her to make up her own mind. Tension is built and maintained between George and Martha by the repeated appearance of George's old-style shaving razor, his insistence that she join him at the edge of a cliff, references to his masculine virility, and his warning that her investigation could threaten his business. At the film's conclusion, a man tries to kill Martha after being seen sharpening George's razor, but the man turns out to be Gray. George rescues his wife just in time and subdues Gray as the police arrive.
Cast
- Gary CooperGary CooperFrank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
as George Radcliffe - Deborah KerrDeborah KerrDeborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
as Martha Radcliffe - Eric PortmanEric PortmanEric Portman was a distinguished English stage and film actor...
as Jeremy Gray - Diane CilentoDiane CilentoDiane Cilento was an Australian theatre and film actress and author.-Biography:Cilento's parents, Sir Raphael Cilento and Lady Phyllis Cilento, were both distinguished medical practitioners....
as Mrs. Heath - Hermione GingoldHermione GingoldHermione Gingold was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric persona, an image enhanced by her sharp nose and chin, as well as her deepening voice, a result of vocal nodes which her mother reportedly encouraged her not to remove. She starred on stage, on radio, in films, on...
as Lilly Harris - Peter CushingPeter CushingPeter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
as Mr. Evan Wrack - Michael WildingMichael Wilding (actor)-Early life:Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.-Career:...
as Morris Brooke - Ronald HowardRonald Howard (British actor)Ronald Howard was an English actor and writer best known in the U.S. for starring in a weekly Sherlock Holmes television series in 1954. He was the son of actor Leslie Howard.- Life and work :...
as Mr. Claridge - Ray McAnallyRay McAnallyRay McAnally was an Irish actor famous for his performances in films such as The Mission, My Left Foot, and A Very British Coup.-Background:...
as Donald Heath - Sandor ElèsSandor ElèsSandor Elès was a Hungarian-born actor....
as Manfridi St John - Wilfrid LawsonWilfrid Lawson (actor)Wilfrid Lawson was a British character actor of stage and screen.-Life and career:...
as Mr. Pom - Helen CherryHelen CherryHelen Cherry was an English stage and film actress.-Career:Helen Mary Cherry was born at Thurgarton, Worsley, Lancashire, the daughter of John William Cherry, a works manager then serving as a captain in the 45th Provisional Battalion, and his wife, Annie Nall.Educated in Harrogate, Helen Cherry...
as Miss Osborne - Joyce CareyJoyce CareyJoyce Carey, OBE was a British actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1984, and she was performing on television in her nineties. Though never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen...
as Victoria Hicks - Diane ClareDiane Clare-Filmography:* Ice-Cold in Alex * Indiscreet * The Reluctant Debutante * Let's Get Married * The Green Helmet * The Naked Edge * Out of the Shadow * Lunch Hour...
as Betty - Frederick LeisterFrederick Leister-Filmography:* The Glorious Adventure * The Message * Bracelets * Dreyfus * Down River * The World, the Flesh, the Devil * Evensong * The Iron Duke...
as Judge