- Edgar G. Ulmer's Ruthless is an odd film noir that tracks the rise and fall of Horace Vendig (Zachary Scott), a wealthy businessman who devotes most of his life to treating people badly. The sole exception to his heartless behavior is a childhood act of heroism in which young Horace (Robert J. Anderson) selflessly rescues his friend Martha (Ann Carter) from drowning. Although Horace's parents (Joyce Arling, Raymond Burr) fail to recognize his potential, he is adopted by Martha's family (Dennis Hoey, Edith Barrett) and grows up to be engaged to Martha herself (played as an adult by Diana Lynn). The fact that Martha had been dating Horace's best friend Vic (Louis Hayward) is hardly viewed as an impediment.
- Once enrolled at Harvard, however, Horace quickly falls into a pattern of romancing women in order to exploit their social connections. In the first instance, he uses Susan Duane (Martha Vickers) to land a meeting with banking magnate Bruce McDonald (Charles Evans). Later on, he woos Christa Mansfield (Lucille Bremer) to thwart her husband Buck (Sydney Greenstreet) in a corporate takeover. Needless to say, Martha is left stranded somewhere in the film's second act, although the appearance of her doppelgänger Mallory (also played by Lynn) is what set of the film's flashback narrative in the first place. Naturally, Mallory is dating Vic and, just as naturally, Horace tries to steal her away.
- I suppose that Ruthless could charitably be viewed as a criticism of unfettered greed or an indictment of the myth of the self-made man. Horace is presented as such an unlikable and unrepentant cad, however, that the audience never feels the sort of sympathy designated for the Charles Foster Kanes of the world. Moreover, none of the lead actors are magnetic enough to help out the film's weak script, although Greenstreet, Vickers, and Burr all do great work in supporting roles. Greenstreet is especially entertaining as an initially domineering businessman who dabbles unconvincingly in both romance and violence. The rest of a film is a fairly long sequence of flashbacks for events that never quite justify being remembered.
