What might be more fascinating to me than the psychological drama playing out between the man on the ledge and the beat cop trying to talk him down, is the cross section of humanity on the street below with disparate views on how to interpret the situation. They range from the compassionate woman Ruth (Debra Paget) who skips work to voice moral support for the troubled man, right up to the cynical cab drivers making book on how soon Robert Cosick (Richard Basehart) will jump. Never let it be said that it's only modern times in which callous disregard for human life could rear it's ugly head if a dollar could be made off it. Or in this case, twelve 'tax free' bucks for the dubious winner of the suicide pool.
The event takes place on St. Patrick's Day in the Big City, lending some backdrop to Officer Dunnigan's (Paul Douglas) efforts to reason with the young man contemplating his one way mission. As the story unfolds, we learn that Cosick's family life was roiled by a mother (Agnes Moorehead) who didn't want him, and an alcoholic father who left because of the constant carping and complaining. The police shrink brought in on the case laid out a fairly well rationalized life pattern for the suicidal man, but it sounded just a bit too pat for my understanding, even if he hit the highlights.
Nice support work here from a cast filled with future luminaries of the movie and TV screen, with a young Grace Kelly in her first film appearance, Barbara Bel Geddes, Howard Da Silva, Frank Faylen and Jeff Corey. And while troubled relationships remain the focus of the story, it's interesting that love blossoms down below on the streets of the city as the compassionate Rita is won over by the earnest entreaties of a co-worker who consistently misses her by a half hour each morning on the way in to the office. It looked to me like Jeffrey Hunter and Miss Paget would have made a nice couple.
The event takes place on St. Patrick's Day in the Big City, lending some backdrop to Officer Dunnigan's (Paul Douglas) efforts to reason with the young man contemplating his one way mission. As the story unfolds, we learn that Cosick's family life was roiled by a mother (Agnes Moorehead) who didn't want him, and an alcoholic father who left because of the constant carping and complaining. The police shrink brought in on the case laid out a fairly well rationalized life pattern for the suicidal man, but it sounded just a bit too pat for my understanding, even if he hit the highlights.
Nice support work here from a cast filled with future luminaries of the movie and TV screen, with a young Grace Kelly in her first film appearance, Barbara Bel Geddes, Howard Da Silva, Frank Faylen and Jeff Corey. And while troubled relationships remain the focus of the story, it's interesting that love blossoms down below on the streets of the city as the compassionate Rita is won over by the earnest entreaties of a co-worker who consistently misses her by a half hour each morning on the way in to the office. It looked to me like Jeffrey Hunter and Miss Paget would have made a nice couple.