''Valerie'' is a 1957 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Gerd Oswald Gerd Oswald (June 9, 1919 – May 22, 1989) was a German director of American films and television. Biography Born in Berlin, Oswald was the son of German film director Richard Oswald and actress Käthe Oswald. He worked as a child actor be ...

and starring

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...

Anita Ekberg Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg (; 29 September 193111 January 2015) was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and stunning figure. She became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini ...

and Anthony Steel. The film was apparently inspired by

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

's 1950 classic ''

Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/ crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura as v ...

''.

Plot

Rancher John Garth is arrested for critically wounding his wife Valerie and killing her parents. During Garth's trial, contradictory flashback sequences are depicted.

Cast

Production

Filming for ''Valerie'' started in December 1956. It was the only film that Anthony Steel and Anita Ekberg made during their marriage.

Reception

''Variety'' called the film "a challenging experiment." In a contemporary review in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

's '' The Evening Sun'', reviewer Hope Pantell wrote: "This opus opens with an assortment of bodies, then proceeds to show, sometimes in painfully long-winded fashion, how they got to be so stiff." Writing in ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

'', reviewer Samuel L. Singer assessed the lead actors' performances: "Lovely Anita Ekberg, Swedish beauty, displays her charms and engages in a limited amount of histrionics. Sterling Hayden is grimly nonsmiling as her husband, and Anthony Steel, her real-life husband, is convincing as the minister."

Home media

''Valerie'' was released on DVD by MGM Home Video on September 26, 2011 via MGM's MOD ( manufacture-on-demand) program through Amazon.com.

References

External links

* * * 1957 films 1957 Western (genre) films United Artists films American Western (genre) films Films directed by Gerd Oswald Films scored by Albert Glasser 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{1950s-Western-film-stub