East Side, West Side

Director Mervyn Leroy lends a burnished MGM gloss to this sordid tale of infidelity among rich New York East Siders. Barbara Stanwyck stars as Jessie Bourne, a charming society woman whose finds out that her husband Brandon (James Mason) is guiltily indulging in an illicit affair with the earthy ...more

Although the title seems to promise a "clashing cultures" film, East Side, West Side is really about life among Manhattan's café society. To be sure, the film includes a couple of salt-of-the-earth types and makes passing reference to differences in social status, but for the most part, it's just trappings on top of this glossy and superficial, but nonetheless enjoyable, look at a difficult Park Avenue marriage. East/West's screenplay is a bit of a hodgepodge, pulling in elements of romance from ...more