The Big Knife (1955, USA) Directed by Robert Aldrich Starring Jack Palance, Ida Lupino - Film Noir

Charlie Castle, a very successful Hollywood actor, lives in a huge home with all the amenities associated with his stardom. Influential gossip columnist Patty Benedict visits him to get the lowdown on his marriage, but Castle refuses to confirm anything for her. His wife Marion has taken their young son and is living separately from him; she is, in fact, on the verge of filing for divorce. She has had enough of his drunken womanizing and of his having relinquished his ideals for lower Hollywood expectations. Marion does not want him to renew his contract with powerful studio boss Stanley Shriner Hoff, and will not agree to a reconciliation with her husband if he signs. An emotionally-tortured Castle wants desperately to win back Marion, who has been proposed to by writer, and friend of Castle’s, Hank Teagle. Castle agrees, wanting to be free of the studio’s grip on his life and his career, and to be able to do more inspiring work than the schlock films Hoff pushes on him.