Cinema: View from the Sofa

Cold Wind in August (Troy; Aidart), a rutty melodrama about a thirtyish stripteaser (Lola Albright) who falls in love with a 17-year-old janitor's son (Scott Marlowe), does not merely invite cynicism, it drags cynicism in off the street and loosens its tie. Obviously, the film will be a financial success, because it is loaded with skin-on-skin sex. No cynicism here, nor in the observation that part of the film's distinct, if flawed, artistic success is due to a tight budget.

What curdles the viewer's admiration is the suspicion that the film also profits...

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