Kirk times three
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 07/08/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The KIRK DOUGLAS TRIPLE FEATURE showcases three of the actor's earliest films.
In MY DEAR SECRETARY, Douglas seems so young he's almost unrecognizable. This screwball comedy has Kirk portraying a playboy-author who hires a gal straight out of a writing class to take shorthand for his next novel. A mutual attraction leads to marriage, and later, a rivalry. Keenan Wynn, as the zany next-door/live-in neighbor, steals the show.
THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS is the most famous movie in this small set. A classic film noir starring Barbara Stanwyck as a ruthless, domineering businesswoman with a deep, dark secret. Douglas, in one of his more complex roles, is her alcoholic D.A. husband.
THE BIG TREES is a tecnicolor feast about dishonest lumberman and all-around heel Douglas who cheats his workmen and alienates everyone closest to him. After relocating from Wisconsin to California, Kirk intends to rob land from a religious sect and cut down the ancient redwoods on it. Tragic events make him change his ways, and by story's end bad guy becomes hero.
(5.6) The Big Trees (1952) - Kirk Douglas/Eve Miller/Edgar Buchanan/Alan Hale Jr.
(5.8) My Dear Secretary (1949) - Laraine Day/Kirk Douglas/Keenan Wynn/Rudy Vallee
(7.5) The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) - Barbara Stanwyck/Van Heflin/Lisabeth Scott/Kirk Douglas/Judith Anderson"