Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed, and John Derek all work for a "Scandal Sheet"

Scandal Sheet (1952) is an American film noir directed by Phil Karlson and starring Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed, and John Derek. The strong supporting cast includes Rosemary DeCamp, Harry Morgan, and Strother Martin.

Mark Chapman (Crawford) is a newspaperman with a lot of experience in the business. He has turned the New York Express into a successful paper by focusing on the sensational. Steve McCleary (Derek) is the paper’s ace reporter and likely successor to Chapman. Julie Allison (Reed) is the features editor who is growing weary of the paper’s turn toward yellow journalism.

When Chapman is confronted by his estranged wife (DeCamp), things begin to unravel. Will Chapman become the subject of his own scandal sheet?

Phil Karlson (1908 – 1982) was a Chicago-born and raised American film director specializing in B pictures at various studios. Karlson was the original choice to direct Dr. No (1962) but his salary requirements were too high. He made a series of successful films noir with actor John Payne in the 1950s. He directed Elvis Presley in Kid Galahad (1962), one of the biggest box office success of that year. Later in his career, he directed Dean Martin in two films in the Matt Helm series, The Silencers (1966) and The Wrecking Crew (1968). He had a huge success in 1973 with Walking Tall. Its success made him a very rich man since he owned a percentage of the film. Other films directed by Karslon include Hornet’s Nest (1970) starring Rock Hudson, and Ben (1972).

Broderick Crawford (1911 – 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor. Born in Philadelphia to a show business family, Crawford acted with his parents on stage and then established himself as a talent on his own by winning acclaim as Lenny in the original Broadway production of Of Mice and Men in 1937. He later moved to Hollywood and began acting in small roles and bit parts throughout the 1940s. He finally got his chance at stardom in All the King’s Men (1949), the film version of Robert Penn Warren’s award-winning novel. The film was a big hit and Crawford won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Willie Stark. Now a star, Crawford starred in more prestigious productions including Born Yesterday (1950) receiving top-billing over co-stars Judy Holiday and William Holden. Crawford became a television icon as Dan Matthews in the police dram Highway Patrol (1955 – 1959.) 

Donna Reed (1921 – 1986) was an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the war drama From Here to Eternity (1953). But perhaps she is best known to film fans as Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) co-starring James Stewart. Reed enjoyed success on television as Donna Stone, a housewife in the sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958 – 1966). She won a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star in 1963. Later in her career, Reed replaced an ailing Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow in the 1984 – 1985 season of Dallas.

John Derek (1926 – 1998) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Derek who said he never liked acting, appeared in over 30 films during his career. Some of the films Derek starred in include All The King’s Men (1949), Prince of Players (1955) where he played John Wilkes Booth, and The Ten Commandments (1956) as Joshua. Derek quit acting in the late-1960s to focus on directing and photography.

Donna Reed, John Derek, and Broderick Crawford

Scandal Sheet trivia

• William Holden was supposed to co-star with Broderick.
• Director Howard Hawks was attached to the project early on; he want Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart as the male leads.
• Scandal Sheet was adapted from the novel The Dark Page (1944) by Samuel Fuller.
• John Payne was also in the running to star due to his successful relationship with director Karlson.

To watch the film on YouTube, clicked the link below.

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Discussion questions

1. Did this feel like a film noir to you? If not a film noir, what category would place it?
2. What did you make of the newsroom setting? Was it realistic to you?
3. Was there a performance that stuck out to you or was more memorable than the others?
4. Did anything about the film surprise you?