East Side, West Side (1949) - Drama with Barbara Stanwyck and James Mason

This film is so full of interesting characters, each needs his or her own separate movie to get enough screen time.

East Side, West Side (1949)  follows James Mason and Barbara Stanwyck who are a happily-married couple. However, the marriage may falter if Mason cheats again. He has a weakness for only one woman - Ava Gardner, who slinks back into his life.

Gale Sondergaard plays Stanwyck's long-suffering mother who has an intriguing background in show business.

Cyd Charisse plays the girl-next-door, second generation Italian- American who is engaged to Van Heflin, a journalist who is drawn to Stanwyck. I wanted to spend more time with Charisse's family's story, but, alas, it is not to be.


My favorite is the story of a man we never see. Heflin plays Mark Dwyer who explains that he was adopted after a restaurantuer named Marco found him as a baby left in a box of Dwyer apples at his doorstep.  We never see the adoptive father, but Heflin does such a great job infusing gratitude and sentiment in his brief story that you want the movie to flashback a bit to his childhood. But we don't have time.

Suddenly, the twisted triangle switches gears and becomes a murder mystery. 

East Side, West Side is a taut, little drama filled with unexpected turns. You won't guess the ending.