The Strange One (1957)

(On Cable TV, July 2022) The 1950s are not known for disquieting cinema—the Hollywood studios still being under the grip of the Production Code, the audiences not asking for anything more, and the social mores of the time being somewhat (but not entirely) conservative, truly upsetting 1950s cinema is a rarity even in watered-down format. But there was some steam gathering under the staid façade: an intention to adapt more daring novels, frustration at not being able to portray a wider range of stories, and subversion in being increasingly able to suggest disturbing content without quite showing it. One of the enduring appeals of film noir is how close it often came to that edge. By contemporary standards, The Strange One is rather mild stuff—the story of a sociopathic military cadet able to manipulate others into destroying lives through disgrace. But by the standards of the time—whew, there’s some strong material here, as the film portrays homosexuality and dehumanization within the context of a military academy. A few factors explain why the film is so daring—for one thing, it adapted material from a novel turned into a theatrical play (those being “easier” to justify to the censorship authorities); for another, it starred a young cast from the then-revolutionary Actors Studio, eager to push the envelope. The ways in which The Strange One is limited are more obvious to us now—the homosexual character is carefully coded to be deniable if needed, the events are naughty rather than violent and, perhaps more surprisingly, the despicable lead character is punished by the end of the film. Still, Ben Gazzara does leave quite an impression as the sadistic, untouchable protagonist of the film in his screen debut alongside George Peppard. Taken at face value, the film is most remarkable for its portrait of a charismatic evil protagonist—and putting in subtext themes and situations that would be explicitly shown today. Still, The Strange One remains a surprise if you’re not used to the nastier side of 1950s Hollywood and how it went out of its way to bend the Production Code requirements as much as possible.