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The film opens as obviously mega-wealthy advertising executive Eddie (Kirk Douglas) wakes up and, silently, prepares for work. He frequently checks in to listen to his latest creation -- an ad for Zephyr cigarettes -- as he motors along to work. But suddenly, he decides to take his hands off the steering wheel. Then he puts them back on... and slams the car under the wheels of a tractor trailer riding alongside him. What the heck!?
Eddie wakes up in a hospital, finally says he won't be returning to work, and spends the days daydreaming. Those daydreams mainly concern Gwen (a platinum blonde Faye Dunaway at her most beautiful), with whom he had an affair, largely with the knowledge and implicit approval of his wife (Deborah Kerr, in her last film role before she retired for over a decade). The film largely follows the love triangle as it comes together and apart, repeatedly... until finally we become rooted again in the present, which concerns the wife's attempt to get Eddie committed, so she can abscond with his fortunes. There's a lengthy bit with Eddie's indigent father, too, who ultimate becomes one too many crazies in the same film.
The Arrangement is bizarrely disjointed, but that's likely an effect of Kazan writing a script of his own novel, then directing from that script. This project is a textbook example of needing an outside influence to provide a little guidance and much-needed structure. Kazan tries to take us into Eddie's mind more than once (with rather ham-fisted special effects, flashbacks, and camera tricks), and invariably it comes across as laughable. The film is at its best when the three main players spar on camera, in the present and in real time. With such a collection of amazing actors, Kazan didn't need to try to gussy up the film with trickery. He had everything he needed right in front of him.
The DVD includes a vintage featurette about the making of the film.
Baby on board.
