The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing

The true story of the murder of prominent architect Stanford White is the inspiration for this highly fictionalized drama, set in Manhattan just after the turn of the century. The film speculates on the motivation of White’s murderer, placing the blame on jealousy over a woman., Joan Collins, in one of her early roles, stars as Evelyn Nesbit, a beautiful Broadway showgirl who becomes the object of desire of two men. One is ageing, rich architect Stanford White (Ray Milland), the other impetuous, youthful Harry Kendall Thaw (Farley Granger). She marries the latter but is still pursued by the former and Thaw becomes so consumed by jealousy that one night, as Evelyn is on stage, watched by White, he commits one of America’s most famous murders… Loosely based on the true-life case, Richard Fleischer’s film saw the real life Evelyn offer technical advice, which means her character comes out blameless, but the interplay between the three leads is fascinating, particularly Collins as the beautiful young ingenue. The film’s title comes from the swing White set up in his apartment for Nesbit. In the film, Collins remains decorously clothed but allegedly the real life Nesbit would satisfy White by swinging completely naked., The murder of architect Stanford White (Ray Milland) by Harry K. Thaw (Farley Granger) over Evelyn Nesbit Thaw (Joan Collins) in 1906. Delmas: Luther Adler. Mrs. Thaw: Cornelia Otis Skinner. Mrs. Nesbit: Glenda Farrell. Gwen: Gale Robbins. Good performances. Directed by Richard Fleischer.