Why So Little Acclaim For 'No Down Payment?'
I saw "No Down Payment" on the Fox Movie Channel today and I'd never heard of it. It rarely plays on television and it was released as a second billing movie in 1957. Martin Ritt does a masterful job of direction and nearly every member of the ensemble cast delivers strong performances.
John McPartland's adapted screenplay of his own novel deserved a best adapted screenplay Oscar nomination, but this fine movie didn't receive a single nomination in a year when the banal melodrama "Peyton Place" received the most nominations.
My theory is that too many Americans were squeamish about the thorny social issues in "No Down Payment." McPartland's barbs against racial discrimination, segregated housing, mindless consumerism, the '50s cocktail hour lifestyle, marital infidelity and the limits of the American dream simply made too many people uncomfortable...especially at the height of the Eisenhower years. The social topics hit too close to home in Hollywood as well, at a time when many socially conscious screenwriters were on the blacklist.
That same year (1957) radio host John Henry Faulk was fired and blacklisted by CBS for his leftist political views and Faulk filed the lawsuit against CBS that eventually ended the practice. Blacklisting didn't end until 1962 when the Supreme Court heard the Faulk v. CBS case and ruled that employers were legally liable for the professional and financial damage they caused with blacklisting.
BTW Joanne Woodward did win a well deserved Oscar in 1957 for another film role for playing the multiple personalities of Eve Black/Eve White/Jane in "The Three Faces of Eve."
What do other forum members think?