Julie (1956) - full review!
Written & directed by Andrew L. Stone (who received his only Academy recognition with an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay), this thriller is at times laughable, even though some of its subject matter is as timely as ever. Doris Day stars (& narrates) as the titled woman, who is tormented by her insanely jealous husband, played by Louis Jourdan. But alas, this is the only part of the story that could be ripped from today's headlines; the rest isn't very credible, especially its ending. It's possible this film was made before restraining orders were available; in any case, the issue of how one defends "herself" after receiving unwitnessed verbal threats from another, and the frustrations of the police given their inability to do very much in such circumstances, is still very real today. The cast also includes Barry Sullivan, Frank Lovejoy, Jack Kruschen, and Hank Peterson (among others). Ms. Day, who's husband Martin Melcher produced, sings the title song, which was Oscar nominated (Leith Stevens’s first, lyricist Tom Adair's only).
Julie (Day) is married to an unstable pianist, Lyle Benton (Jourdan); his irrational jealousy causes him to suffocate her with questions of who she's been speaking to and/or what she's been doing when he's not with her. After embarrassing her at their golf club in Carmel, he nearly kills them both in an insane car ride, made so by his pressing the accelerator to the floorboard. Her friend Cliff Henderson (Sullivan) is concerned for Julie, and plants seeds of doubt in her head about whether her first husband committed suicide, or was murdered by Lyle, who later admits the fact to her. With Cliff's help, Julie escapes Carmel, where the Bentons maintain a killer (if you'll pardon the expression) summer home, to San Francisco, where she & Lyle, and Cliff live. However, she's frustrated by the police's inability to help her in light of what she knows. Detective Mace (Kruschen) and Detective Lieutenant Pringle (Lovejoy) are among those who would like to help if they could, but fear a false charge given the evidence (e.g. her word against his).
Incredibly, Lyle is able to find Julie, no matter what steps she (and Cliff) takes nor where she "hides". He haunts her with his "evil" piano playing, by phone and/or tape recorder. She returns to work as a flight hostess, aka stewardess, for Amalgamated Air Lines to get away. But Lyle uses her connection to Cliff to find out where she is; he shoots Cliff, who is saved after he crawls to a nearby home (owned by Patterson's character), where he alerts the police. Coincidentally, Julie gets called by Amalgamated’s dispatcher and has to work the 11:45 PM flight. She inadvertently alludes the police, but not Lyle, who boards the flight she's working. The police get in touch with the pilot such that Julie discovers that her murderous husband is aboard. In fact, not only does he have a gun, but so does the pilot (as if it's standard cockpit issue). A shootout in the cockpit leads to Lyle's & the pilot's death, and a near fatal wounding of the co-pilot Jack (Jack Kelly). With help from a doctor on board (Barney Phillips), Jack is kept conscious long enough to convince, and then train, Julie to fly the airplane such that she can land it. Miraculously, it's now daytime (boy was that flight airborne a long time!) and of course she's able to pull off the improbable feat, with help from the tower (Carleton Young), of course.
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