KIT CARSON (1940)

In the mid-1800s, the western United States was still largely unexplored, and trappers often served as guides for pioneers seeking a route to California. When we meet trapper Kit Carson (Jon Hall, pictured), he is on the road with his buddies Ape (Ward Bond) and Lopez (Harold Huber); they'd be happy to settle in one place for a while, but as Ape puts it, Carson has "horizon fever," always wanting to see what's on the other side of the hill. The three run into an ambush by Shoshone Indians with rifles—Carson suspects that someone has armed them and put them up to mischief—but they escape. When they arrive at Fort Bridger in Wyoming, the last outpost of civilization before the long trek to California, and just when it seems like Carson might agree to stay a spell, he gets talked into guiding a wagon train of settlers led by Paul Terry (Clayton Moore) to California. For a while, they're accompanied by a group of cavalry led by Captain Fremont (Dana Andrews). Both Carson and Fremont wind up smitten with young and lovely settler Dolores Murphy (Lynn Bari); she seems to favor Carson at first, but soon comes to find him a bit too "savage" for her taste, a judgment triggered primarily by the way he and his men torture a captured Indian to get information—though as it turns out, the Indian is actually a Mexican, and Carson realizes that the Mexican General Castro is the mastermind behind the attacking Shoshones, trying to scare away settlers. Fremont and his men take their leave of Carson and Terry's wagon train, but further attacks drive them back together, and soon Carson and Fremont have put aside their differences to plan their move against Castro.

This indie western/adventure is quite fun, more compelling than many of the big studio westerns of the era. Part of it, somewhat surprisingly, is the solid acting. I don't typically associate Jon Hall, beefcakey star of mid-40s exotic adventure tales like ARABIAN NIGHTS, with good acting, but he makes a fine laid-back hero here, and Andrews is a good foil for him. Bari is just as good, and I like the fact that at the end, even though she settles for Andrews, she still seems torn between the two. Ward Bond makes a perfect sidekick to Hall, and distinctive-looking character actress Renie Riano does the same for Bari. Clayton Moore is surprisingly handsome as Terry—I'm more used to seeing Moore as the masked Lone Ranger—though he's not around very long. Good old C. Henry Gordon is quite villainous as Castro. The film also looks good—it helps that some of this was shot on locations in Utah and Arizona rather than just on Hollywood sets. I suspect that this strays pretty far from historical truth, but what 40s historical film doesn't? Good fun. [Netflix streaming]

NOCTURNE (1946)

This film noir has a beautiful nighttime opening shot, traveling from above the glittering Hollywood Hills down to a house in the hills, gracefully swooping through the open glass doors to focus on a man playing a piano, composing a nocturne and giving a girlfriend, sitting off in the shadows behind him, the kiss-off. As he begins to write the last notes, he is shot in the head. The cops think it was suicide, since only his fingerprints are found on the gun and there is a powder burn on his head, but the lieutenant (George Raft) thinks the set-up is fishy and suspects murder. Vincent, the philandering pianist, has portraits of all the ex-loves of his life on the wall, and the unfinished nocturne is inscribed, "To Dolores," but it turns out that he called all his girlfriends Dolores. Among the Doloreses: Vincent's busty blonde housekeeper (Myrna Dell) who insists she wasn't one of his conquests—"He was a ladykiller, but I’m no lady"; a bit-part actress (Lynn Bari); and her younger sister who sings in a nightclub (Virginia Huston). There's also a world-weary pianist named Fingers (Joseph Pevney) who had worked with Vincent on a song, and his assistant, a big lug named Torp who seems like he might have a vicious streak. Raft roughs some people up and gets in trouble with his bosses, and is on the verge of getting suspended when his mother (with whom he lives), in acting out a possible scenario for the killing, gives Raft a clue that might break the case wide open.

This is a nifty little noir that misses classic status due to its leading man; Raft, who peaked in the mid-30s, gives a listless performance that might pass muster in a B-movie second feature or series entry like The Falcon or Boston Blackie but is a big letdown here. His character is supposed to be obsessed with finding the killer to the point where it affects his life, but Raft just floats through the movie with a constipated half-smile on his face, connecting with no one else, not even Bari, with whom (I think) he's supposed to develop romantic feelings—they kiss at one point, but unconvincingly. (Frankly, between the way he plays the role and the fact that he still lives with his mother—and has more chemistry with his mom than with Bari—the character should probably have been played gay.)

But most everything else about this movie works well. The stylish cinematography is by Harry J. Wild, who did noirs, westerns, and even a couple of Tarzan movies. The director, Edwin L. Marin, though not especially distinguished, also had a wide range of genres under his belt. The best acting comes from Bari, a B-heroine stalwart (pictured above with Raft), and Pevney (pictured at right) who went on to be a very busy movie and TV director (best known for several episodes of the original Star Trek series). But even most of the supporting actors down to the smaller roles are good: Myrna Dell as the tarty Susan, Mabel Paige as Raft's mother, Bern Hoffman as the chunky Torp, John Banner as a gayish photographer. Even Edward Ashley as Vincent, whom we only see for two minutes, makes an impression. There’s a great windy night scene and a cute moment in which Raft visits Bari on the RKO lot and we see actual sets from SINBAD THE SAILOR. Despite the lackluster central performance, this is a solid noir that is worth seeing. [TCM]

THE SPY IN BLACK (1939)

In 1917, German submarine commander Hardt is looking forward to some rest and relaxation after 16 days underwater, but he is quickly called up for a secret mission—to travel to the Orkney Islands off of Scotland and make contact with an agent who will give him further instructions. Meanwhile, Anne Burnett is headed to the Islands to become a schoolmistress and get married to the island's minister, Rev. John Harris. An old lady offers to give her a ride to the train station, but once on the road, the lady uses a knockout drug on Anne, and another young woman takes her place. On the island of Hoy in the Orkneys, Hardt is dropped off and contacts Anne who gives him his assignment: with the help of Ashington, a British turncoat, Hardt will contact his submarine and have them attack a fleet of British ships. There's a slight hiccup when the Reverend shows up to meet Anne and, of course, doesn’t recognize her, though he does recognize Hardt's German uniform and says, "You must be a prisoner of war," to which Hardt replies, "No, you are." Soon, there are tender feelings between Hardt and Anne, but we learn that both Anne and Ashington are actually British agents out to befuddle the Germans. What will happen when Hardt finds out?

This WWI spy thriller was released just months before WWII broke out, and indeed watching it now, it’s easy to see it as a WWII story as there seems to have been little effort at giving the sets and costumes a period look. It also plays out like the average WWII spy story, though the setting on an isolated island is unusual. The lead actors are all very good: Conrad Veidt, best known as CASABLANCA's Major Strasser, is Hardt, a humanized German whom we actually like, even if we don't want his mission to succeed; Valerie Hobson as Anne (or, technically the spy who takes Anne's place, pictured above with Veidt) and Sebastian Stan as Ashington are fine, as is Marius Goring as a German officer. Torin Thatcher, who I know as the villain in JACK THE GIANT KILLER, one of my favorite movies as a kid, plays a German soldier. The first half plays out at leisure, allowing character development; the last section becomes more suspenseful but also a bit cluttered in terms of plot points. The print I saw on TCM was murky and scratchy, and had a few dead audio spots. [TCM]

DIARY OF A LOST GIRL (1929)

Thymian lives with her father above his drug store. On the day that she is being confirmed, the housekeeper is sacked for being pregnant and later kills herself, even as Dad hires a new one named Meta who quickly becomes his mistress. That night, Thymian is raped by her father's sales partner and becomes pregnant; her child is given away and she is sent to a home for wayward girls (when a few of those girls flirt with her) run by a sadistic lesbian disciplinarian. She escapes and meets up with the dissolute and penniless Count Osdorff who installs her in a brothel (as a dance instructor, in theory). Eventually, Osdorff marries Thymian, not out of love but convenience, and when her father dies, she gives her inheritance to Meta who, with her kids, has been left in bad straits. Osdorff, who was counting on that money, jumps out their window to his death. And et cetera until Thymian winds up more or less on an even keel thanks to the Count's uncle becoming her sugar daddy.

This German silent movie crams in enough plot for an entire season of a nighttime soap opera, and not always very skillfully, but there are at least two reasons to see it: the stylish direction of G.W. Pabst (PANDORA'S BOX, THE WHITE HELL OF PITZ PALU) and the lead performance of Louise Brooks as Thymian. She is riveting, even if she doesn't quite get to shine as she did as Lulu in PANDORA'S BOX. Her character here, like Lulu, is knocked around by life but Thymian doesn't have the same tragic ending as Lulu; she may wind up unfulfilled and relatively unhappy but she's respectable. At one point, she is referred to as "lost, as we all are" and the last message of the film, delivered by the sugar daddy, is "With a little more love, no one on this earth would ever be lost." Maybe, but the moral hypocrisy of the middle class is seen as the primary source of the "lost girl's" misery. At any rate, this is enjoyable on three levels: as a sensationalistic tract, as a exercise in visual style, and for a rare chance to see Brooks before her too-short career ended. [DVD]

WAR GODS OF BABYLON (1962)

As mounted warriors slaughter all those around her, young Myra goes into shock, desperately exhorting the dead to wake up. The wandering prophet Zoroaster finds her and prays to the Sun God to bring her back to sanity then takes her with him to Nineveh as he preaches in the town square. He is promptly arrested by King Sardanapolos for treason but when young Prince Samos, the king's younger brother, takes a liking to Myra, she becomes his mistress and Zoroaster is freed but sent in exile to the mountains. Samos is about to be made king of Babylon, which was conquered by Nineveh, but jealousy over Myra causes the brothers to clash, and the wicked Arbaces of Babylon plays on that to get Samos to lead Babylonian warriors against Nineveh. An oracle tells Arbaces that as long as the Tigris River stays within its course, his victory is certain, and nothing could possibly cause the river to move, right? As Shakespeare’s Macbeth has taught us, however, oracles are tricky, and when a huge storm causes flooding and the river overflows its banks, all bets are off.

There aren't enough shirtless studs here for this to qualify as a muscleman movie (hell, there aren't any as far as I could see), but as a low-budget Italian action epic, it works well. The narrative is clear and has just enough intrigue to make it fun to follow. I have no idea if any of this is grounded in history; Nineveh and Babylon are both in the Bible, there was an Iranian priest named Zoroaster, and one secondary character is named Hammurabi which is the name of a Babylonian king—but does it really matter? American actor Howard Duff brings some understated gravitas to the role of Sardanapolos, and Luciano Marini (pictured) is a handsome-enough Samos. The battle scenes are so-so, but the climactic flood destruction is quite impressive, even though much of it was clearly done with miniatures. Interestingly, one major character gets killed off earlier than you would expect. Recommend for the 60s epic fan. [DVD]

KNIVES OF THE AVENGER (1966)

On a beach, an old oracle named Jona tells Karin that her Viking husband Arald, missing at sea for years, will return soon, but she also tells Karin that she is in danger and should take her son Moki and leave. Slowly, the backstory is revealed: two Viking tribes, one ruled by Rurik and one by Arald's father, were enemies for some time, but they agreed to a peace pact. But on the wedding day of Arald and Karin, Hagen, a rough and brutish warrior who had been hired as a protector of Aarld's people, rides in with the heads of Rurik's wife and son, apparently not realizing that peace had been reached. Arald's father exiles Hagen, but later that day, Rurik and his men ride in, killing the king and razing their village. Rurik himself, his face hidden by a helmet, rapes Karin. Back to the present, where Karin and her son, suspicious of everyone, turn away a hungry blond begger; just as he leaves, a gang of Hagen's brutes attack Karin and the blond man comes back to kick ass, axing the lead attacker right in the chest. Karin gratefully takes him in, and we soon find out that the blond protector is Rurik, and, though he does not reveal his identity to Karin, he suspects that Karin's son is the fruit of his rape. Rurik has turned over a new leaf, but what will happen when: 1) Arald does in fact return, and 2) Hagen also returns with intent to kill Karin and Moki?

This Italian action melodrama from Mario Bava, better known for his horror and fantasy films (BLACK SUNDAY, DANGER DIABOLIK) was a very pleasant discovery. Bava’s visual sense is always interesting—though you need to see it widescreen—and the plot and characters are fairly complex for the genre; it combines elements of the western SHANE and the epic tale The Odyssey. The American star who anchors the film is Cameron Mitchell (with his hair dyed radioactive yellow) and he's not bad, even though he doesn’t have the physique one might expect for this Viking hero. Better is Fausto Tozzi (Americanized as Frank Ross) as the vicious Hagen; I never exactly sympathized with him, but he does come off much more rounded than most such stock villains. Both Giacomo Rossi-Stuart (aka Jack Stuart, pictured to the left of Mitchell) as Arald and Elissa Pichelli as Karin are fine. There is a lot of violence but very little gore, and the long one-on-one knife fight between Rurik and Hagen conjures up memories of the big fight in THE QUIET MAN. The theme music is quite catchy. Overall, a little gem. [DVD]

Q PLANES (1939)

aka CLOUDS OVER EUROPE

Released just before the outbreak of World War II, this is a delightful little anomaly: a cross between spy thriller and screwball comedy. Ralph Richardson is a slightly eccentric Scotland Yard secret agent who is investigating the problem of why experimental test planes are taking off and disappearing, never to be found. Though his superiors aren't convinced that there's a problem, Richardson gets word that there may be a spy working at Barrett and Ward, the aviation company producing the planes. When a plane carrying something called a Supercharger takes off, we see what's behind the disappearances: men on board a salvage ship called the Viking use a secret new ray to disable the plane and cut off its communications; they pull the plane out of the water, put the pilots in the hold, and steal the apparatus. Except this time, Richardson had the Supercharger taken off at the last minute. Meanwhile, a hotshot pilot (Laurence Olivier) also suspects sabotage at the plant, and he's suspicious of Valerie Hobson, a young woman who works at the plant diner. But it turns out that Hobson is a reporter, and also Richardson's sister. Soon, the three of them are working together to catch the saboteurs.

"Delightful" is the perfect word for this. The breezy tone reminds me of the wonderful NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH; the characters are likeable, the actors seem to be having fun, and despite the dangers the characters face, we know they'll come out unscathed—which might not have been the case if the film had been made a couple of years later after the war had taken its toll on Europe. Richardson, who had a penchant for a wee bit of overacting later in his career, is absolutely right as the almost whimsical agent; Olivier (pictured behind Richardson), who also did his share of going over the top, seems to realize there's no competing with Richardson so he plays it fairly straight; Hobson keeps up with them both, doing a nice job with some rapid-fire dialogue. I don't want to push the "screwball" comparison too much, but if an American version had been made, William Powell and Myrna Loy would have been great in the Olivier and Hobson roles, though no one comes to mind to replace Richardson—maybe a young Edmund Gwenn? Very fun and highly recommended. [Criterion streaming]

THE GRASS IS GREENER (1960)

Cary Grant is a British earl who has fallen on hard times; he and his wife (Deborah Kerr) have turned their mansion into a tourist attraction and have a butler just for show—the butler complains that he has nothing to do; he's trying to write a novel but doesn't have enough insecurity or despair to succeed. When a rich American oilman (Robert Mitchum) arrives, he begins a flirtation with Kerr that leads to a full-fledged affair when she trots off to London for a few days to be with him. Jean Simmons, the friend that Kerr is supposed to be staying with, goes to Grant with stories of Kerr's infidelity. At a house party weekend, Grant plans to get Kerr back, and sarcastic jabs turn into a duel between Grant and Mitchum. And since this is a comedy, things get righted in the end, and the butler winds up with some juicy plotlines for his novel. This was directed by Stanley Donen, and much as I love SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, I have not really liked any other Donen films; his non-Gene Kelly musicals aren't very fizzy and his comedies and caper films fall flat for me. This has potential in the farcical plot and the more than competent actors, but the farce flops and the actors feel at sea. Simmons in particular seems out of place, not so much her as her character who feels wedged in for plotpoint reasons only. There is a very amusing split-screen scene as Grant (with Simmons) talks to Mitchum (with Kerr) on the telephone. Moray Watson (pictured to the left of Mitchum and Grant) does well with the role of the butler. Not terrible but disappointing. [TCM]

HUNGRY HILL (1947)

Big multi-generational family saga of two feuding Irish families: the lower-class Donovans and the wealthy Brodricks. Copper John Brodrick starts up a copper mine on land once held by the Donovans, and old Morty Donovan curses them, saying the hill will destroy them. Copper John has four sons, and two of them, Henry and Greyhound John, vie for the affections of the saucy Miss Fanny. When a theft occurs at the mine, the Brodricks accuse the Donovans of being behind it. There follows death, fire and destruction (an especially well-shot scene) and Henry is killed in an explosion. John goes away to become a lawyer, eventually returns  and weds Fanny; they raise the next generation of Brodricks (including Wild Johnnie who is, per his name, wild and ill-mannered) who will continue to clash with the Donovans, though Johnnie becomes smitten with a Donovan girl, young Kate. Copper John dies of typhoid, contracted through a Donovan, and Fanny winds up alone, gambling desperately in London, and winding up with the means to end the long feud. There are some nice setpieces, including the above-mentioned fire at the mine and a rare light-hearted moment involving a fiddle player at a fancy party who takes the guests from a slow stately dance to a wild jig. This is based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier; I have not read it, but I suspect that the movie has to drop a lot of plotlines and move quickly through others because of time constraints. What's left is engrossing enough with some decent acting all around: Cecil Parker as Copper John, Dennis Price as Greyhound John, Dermot Walsh as Wild Johnnie, Michael Denison as Henry, Margaret Lockwood as Fanny, and, in other roles, Jean Simmons, Eileen Herlie, and Siobhan McKenna. Pictured are Dennis Price and Margaret Lockwood. [TCM]

THE RELUCTANT SAINT (1962)

In Cupertino Italy in 1623, a young man named Joseph (Maximillian Schell) is growing up, well on the road to becoming the "village idiot"—at 20, he still attends school but the teachers finally tire of him and "graduate" him, leaving him at home with his industrious but impatient mother and his lazy drunken father. Mom convinces her brother, Father Giovanni, to take Joseph in at the local monastery, but he even has a rough time there—sent out on the streets to beg with other novices (to counteract "the poison of vanity"), he is set upon by rowdy youths who steal his robe. The monks make him a stable boy to keep him out of trouble but when a visiting bishop arrives, Joseph makes an impression by explaining the mystery of the Trinity better than a boringly serious monk does, so Father Raspi (Ricardo Montalban) is ordered to have Joseph study for the priesthood. You already know where this is going, don't you? Joseph is a "holy fool" figure, a bit like Saint Francis, and every time it seems like he's going to trip himself up, he is somehow saved; eventually, he does become a priest. But a supernatural aspect soon enters the picture: when Joseph accidently smashes a statue of the Virgin Mary, he takes the head of the statue and prays to it, and while he prays, he levitates. This isn't just in his head; he is seen by others who don't know what to make of it.

This is based on the legend of Joseph of Cupertino who is the patron saint of air travelers, pilots, and poor students, and in outline this is a gentle religious fantasy with the requisite amount of sweetness, humor, and moral lessons, but a mistake in casting makes this somewhat uncomfortable viewing: Maximillian Schell is far too intense (and, over 30 at the time, too mature) to play the holy fool. His brooding intensity doesn't strike the right note, and the intelligence behind Schell's eyes is too obvious for him to be effective even though he tries hard. The plot twists, especially those involved in his attaining of the priesthood, are fun, and Montalban (pictured at left, to the right of Schell) is very good as the skeptical priest who is torn between a genuine fondness for Joseph and worry that the boy's journey will scar him—and belittle the genuine students of the priesthood. The first episode of levitation is pulled off nicely, but by the end, one wishes they had spent some money on special effects or at least some more creative visual approaches. The last shot of Schell floating and Montalban grabbing his robe so he doesn’t take off like a Macy's Day balloon is cute but is badly staged. An odd little movie. [DVD]

KING RICHARD AND THE CRUSADERS (1954)

In 1191, King Richard of England (George Sanders) leads a loose-knit group of European royalty, soldiers and mercenaries on the Third Crusade to free Palestine from the Muslims—here referred to as Saracens—currently ruled by Saladin. The hot-headed Scot Sir Kenneth (Anthony Harvey, at right) is a thorn in Richard's side, though Kenneth soon becomes his trusted aide—but Richard does not know that Kenneth is in love with the King's cousin, Lady Edith (Virginia Mayo). Richard leads the Crusade in name, but there are pretenders to the position, including Sir Giles (Robert Douglas) who hires a marksman to kill Richard using a Saracen arrow. The assassination attempt is foiled when Richard is only wounded, and he winds up being attended to by Emir Ilderim (Rex Harrison), a Saracen physician sent by Saladin himself, who is fascinated by Christian ideas of chivalry. Ilderim talks of a world of tolerance in which Christians and Muslims can co-exist peacefully, and we soon discover that Ilderim is actually Saladin himself in disguise. He develops a crush on Lady Edith and he also realizes that taking a Plantagenet as a bride could cement a relationship with England. But Saladin will not take Edith against her will; can he turn her attentions away from Kenneth? Can he make Richard accept him? And will Sir Giles be able to whip up enough support to topple the King?

Setting aside completely the historical aspect, there are many bad things about this movie, but let's start on a positive note. This is a spectacularly colorful movie, with every color of the rainbow in evidence throughout. I would say it's an example of Technicolor at its best, but it was filmed in a process called Warnercolor. Still, every frame looks fabulous and that reason alone almost makes it worth seeing. Anthony Harvey is good as the Scottish hero; he's also quite fetching, even if his long blondish hair and brown outfits make him look like a cowboy. And Rex Harrison, under brownface (pictured at left with Harvey) acquits himself nicely as Saladin. Sadly, almost everything else about this movie winds up in the minus column. The dialogue is leaden, most of the other actors are serviceable at best, and the pace is sluggish; even the supposedly rousing action finale seems to go on forever. I usually like George Sanders very much, but he is hopelessly miscast—he can do snarky, cynical, sinister, and even quietly heroic, but he's not robust royal material, especially the Action King type. The fact that he gets the best of young Harvey in a joust is unbelievable. Based on a Sir Walter Scott novel called The Talisman. [Warner Archive streaming]

THE TEMPTRESS (1926)

The streets of Paris, so we are told by a costumed troubadour, throb with love and desire in the spring. At a crowded masked ball, the beautiful Elena (Greta Garbo) turns away Fontenoy, her ardent suitor, and gets swept up and lost in the masses, but the handsome Robledo (Antonio Moreno), an engineer who is visiting from the Argentine, rescues her. They unmask, he claims that fate has brought them together, and they see a falling star. She tells him her heart is free and they spend a lushly romantic night together. The next morning, when Robledo visits his old friend the Marquis, he gets a shock when he discovers that his wife is none other than Elena. All three attend an elaborate dinner party thrown by Fontenoy, climaxed by Fontenoy announcing his financial ruin, blaming Elena, on whom he wasted his fortune, and killing himself at the head of the table by drinking poison. Robledo returns to the Argentine (the "Land of Men," we are constantly reminded by intertitles) where he is supervising the building of a dam and tries to forget Elena, but soon she and the Marquis arrive for a visit, and Elena's presence throws the male workers for a loop. Friends fight with friends over her, and Robledo winds up in a bullwhip duel with the bandit Duras, both for mastery of the area and for Elena's honor. At the climax, Duras kills the Marquis and blows up the dam. Will Robledo be able to salvage anything from the mess that Elena has triggered?

This silent film often teeters on the verge of camp, what with the exaggerated gestures and facial expressions of the supporting cast and the crazy ups and downs of the characters' fates, but for the most part, this is a fun, sometimes deliriously so, melodrama. Though Garbo is the title figure, she is shoved aside for most of the last third, and the story is really about Robledo and how he suffers for love and career, and Moreno is more than able to carry the film, giving a fairly modern-feeling performance, as opposed to much of the rest of the cast, including Lionel Barrymore as a dam worker, Armand Kaliz as the Marquis, and Garbo herself, who, to be fair, doesn't have a strongly defined character; we learn almost nothing about her as a person because she isn’t really a person but a temptress stereotype who leads men to their doom and moves on. The worst performance comes from Roy D'Arcy as Duras, who has a goofy, almost comical hairstyle and an evil grimace plastered on his face all the time. There are a number of fine scenes: the first ten minutes, tinted in blue and set at night at the masked ball, are lovely and atmospheric; the dinner party scene includes a marvelous tracking shot down the table with nearly a hundred guests seated; the bullwhip fight is very well staged, though it goes on a smidge too long (I enjoyed Garbo's looks of lust as the men strip to the waist); and the climactic dam explosion, followed by storms which cause flooding, is exciting. I know that love and lust are often irrational feelings, but it was never clear why, after one evening, Robledo and Elena continued to feel such a strong bond. Despite my caveats, I did enjoy this and would recommend it those seeking more silent movie experiences. [DVD]

CITY STREETS (1931)

Gary Cooper is a lanky, good-looking guy with not a lot on the ball, working as a carnie. Sylvia Sidney, his girlfriend, pushes him to make something of himself. Her father (Guy Kibbee) is a small-time hood working under the Big Fella (Paul Lukas), but when Kibbee kills off a rival for Lukas, he lets his daughter take the fall and go to prison. While she's in stir, Cooper starts to work for Lukas in his bootlegging operations and begins to make a name for himself. Once Sidney's out, a tangle of jealousies takes its toll: Lukas wants Sidney, as does Cooper, and Kibbee's former moll (Wynne Gibson), who has become Lukas's moll, feels slighted, setting in motion a climactic series of events leading to a murder and a wild and wooly car chase. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian and shot by Lee Garmes, this is chiefly notable for its visual style, making it a forerunner of what would be the noir look of the 40s. It's a relatively early sound film but it's not hamstrung by an immobile camera or wooden actors standing front and center; it's in motion, or feels like it, most of the time. Cooper, just 30 and handsome as all get-out, is fine, but Sidney (pictured at left) is even better. Lukas makes a good villain among villains, and it's very strange to see Guy Kibbee as a tough-skinned bad guy when I usually associate him with an absent-minded, good-hearted uncle (or would-be philandering husband). Dashiell Hammett wrote the screen story which, as a pre-Code film, lets some folks off without punishment. [TCM]

THE SQUEAKER (1937)

aka MURDER ON DIAMOND ROW

When the latest diamond robbery occurs and a Scotland Yard man talks about trying to follow the crooks, flippant reporter Alastair Sim suggests that they follow the diamonds instead. Indeed, this is the latest in a string of incidents involving an underworld fence nicknamed "The Squeaker"; he gets a low price for the booty offered to him because if he doesn't get it, he threatens to call the police on the thieves. The Squeaker knows who pulled the job, but they never see him. Meanwhile, jewel thief Robert Newton pulls one last job, stealing the Van Rissik pearls, before settling down with exotic singer Tamara Desni. The pearls are worth quite a bit of money but the Squeaker, who deals with the thieves from inside his darkened car, writing his offers in the fog on the car window, only offers a pittance and Newton says no. As the Squeaker drives away, Newton thinks he recognizes him. Scotland Yard winds up getting assistance from a disgraced alcoholic former detective (Edmund Lowe) who goes undercover at a company run by Sebastian Shaw, who specializes in hiring men who need a second chance. Lowe and Ann Todd, daughter of the company's owner, carry on a flirtation while he tries to tie up all the threads of the case and catch the Squeaker.

This mild thriller is based on a story by prolific English author Edgar Wallace, and has been adapted at least three other times. The gimmick of the mysterious tattletale fence known as the Squeaker is a good one and this adaptation is fine, though because Lowe is a weak leading man, the movie belongs to the supporting cast. He and Todd have no chemistry, though Todd tries hard. Newton (pictured to the left of Lowe) and Shaw are both very good, and Sim gives an eccentric comic performance; he is not central to the plot but he's fun when he's on. There are some awkward jokes made at the expense of Lowe's alcoholism, and the climax, which involves a strange set-up by Lowe as he tries to trap the Squeaker, is odd and a little creepy. Desni has a couple of musical numbers in which she comes off as a second-tier Dietrich. [Criterion streaming]

OUR WIFE (1941)

On a cruise ship we meet a scientist (Ruth Hussey) traveling with her father (Charles Coburn) and brother (John Hubbard), all in academics; Hubbard complains that Hussey hasn't been having fun because she doesn't have a romantic bone in her body. Enter Melvyn Douglas, a bandleader whose wife has left him. Quite drunk, he tumbles overboard and later annoys Hussey with his late-night trumpet playing. The next day, Douglas goes ashore at Christobel intending to stay there, but Hussey and family see him, again quite drunk, and assuming he needs to get back to the ship, take him with them. When he sobers up and they realize his room is no longer available, they let him stay with them and they all get very chummy, to the point where Douglas invites the family to stay at his house on Long Island for the summer. They do, and he stays as well, sober and in the process of writing a serious concerto mixing jazz and classical (didn’t Gershwin get there first?). At the concert premiere of Douglas' piece, Hussey runs into Douglas’s wife (Ellen Drew) who is having second thoughts about leaving him, especially when she sees that Douglas and Hussey are hitting it off. When Drew visits Douglas at home and falls down the stairs, she is bedbound for an indeterminate amount of time, and a battle of wills between Drew and Hussey—who is convinced that Drew is faking her injury—begins.

This is a mild romantic comedy which draws on some of the trappings of the screwball genre (meeting cute, divorce proceedings, zany schemes) without ever quite working up the energy needed to go full screwball. Hussey and Hubbard are likeable and Drew makes a good foil for Hussey. Coburn is fine though underused, but Douglas (pictured above with Hussey) is the weak link: he's not a very convincing drunk and he seems too bland to be fought over. Much of the dialogue is snappy but Douglas just doesn't have the fizz to carry his weight (that sounds paradoxical but you know what I mean). Lloyd Bridges has a tiny early role as a taxi driver. The title is a bit strange; I guess Drew is Hussey and Douglas' wife, though "Our Husband" would seem to be more appropriate. [TCM]

THE FLYING SERPENT (1946)

At the site of an Aztec temple in New Mexico, a treasure is rumored to exist, guarded by the flying serpent god Quetzalcoatl. Slightly demented archeologist Forbes (George Zucco) has found the treasure and also discovers that Quetzalcoatl (known hereafter as Q) is real: when his wife was holding an ancient feather from the bird, the flying serpent attacked and killed her. Somehow, he manages to trap the creature in a cell in the ruins. Forbes and his grown daughter Mary (Hope Kramer) live near the ruins, and Forbes has tried to keep others away from the temple. All this is presented as exposition; when the film begins, Forbes is upset that an ornithologist named Lambert has published an article about the ruins. So he does what any mad scientist would do: he plants a Q feather on Lambert, then lets Q out of its cell so Q can attack and kill Lambert, drain his blood, and fly back to the temple with the feather in its mouth. As more people get interested in what's happening, Forbes repeats the above, over and over, until radio journalist Richard Thorpe (Ralph Lewis) catches on and sets up a plan that involves catching Forbes and Q during a live radio broadcast.

Despite the nicely exotic touch of Quetzalcoatl in the title role, this is essentially a Poverty Row remake of an earlier Poverty Row film, THE DEVIL BAT which featured Bela Lugosi in the George Zucco role. Most critics disparage this film, mostly for the cheap puppet with the visible wires that is used for the serpent, but I rather like Q; he's creepy looking, generally not visible too long so he doesn’t look too Muppety, and he's certainly better than the sad-looking buzzard of THE DEVIL BAT. The serpent attacks are quite effective for this grade of movie. I like Zucco, but he doesn't hit the campy heights that Lugosi does. Ralph Lewis is quite acceptable as the B-movie hero, and Hope Kramer is fine as the heroine. Less fine is Eddie Acuff in a lame comic relief role. No gem, but slightly better than its reputation. [DVD]

CAST A DARK SHADOW (1955)

Great opening: a close-up of a middle-aged woman in darkness, screaming, then quick shots of scary figures in the dark. It turns out that the woman, Monica (Mona Washbourne), is in a Tunnel of Love ride with her handsome and considerably younger husband Teddy—full name Edward Bare (Dirk Bogarde). Her lawyer is convinced that he married her for her money and counseled her to make a will leaving the house to him but her money to her sister Dora who lives overseas, but now she is ready to change her will to leave both the house and her money to him. Teddy finds out she's making a change and, thinking it will leave him out in the cold completely, kills her and makes it look like an accident. Of course, he winds up with just the house, so he goes on vacation looking for another rich meal ticket, which he finds in Freda (Margaret Lockwood), an attractive widow. She's on her guard, but thinking that he has a fortune, she marries him. He then begins plotting how to get her money. Meanwhile, a woman named Charlotte (Kay Walsh), new in the neighborhood, gets friendly with the couple, and maybe a little too friendly with Teddy, making Freda jealous, despite her suspicions about her new husband. Soon tensions between the three explode, but I can say no more about the plot except to note the satisfying ending.

Though I don’t see this as a film noir as some critics do, this is definitely a solid woman-in-peril thriller in the mold of NIGHT MUST FALL—young psychopath terrorizes older woman—but with a couple of interesting twists. The first is that Teddy misreads the situation in the beginning, leading to the murder of Monica—it's based on a play called Murder Mistaken; if he hadn't been so quick to assume, he would have been in clover for the rest of his life. The second twist is that Freda is no naïve and helpless damsel; she's aware that Teddy might have ulterior motives, and she goes into the marriage as something of an arrangement rather than "true love." The third twist is that there is more to Charlotte than meets the eye. The look of the film (inky shadows, odd angles) is probably what gets it called a noir, but Bogarde (pictured) is no anti-hero, he's a bad guy, plain and simple, though a charming one. He gives a strong performance, but Lockwood is every bit his equal. The only other notable performance comes from the reliable character actress Kathleen Harrison as Monica's (and then Teddy's) maid.  A very good thriller, recommended. [TCM]

THE PLEASURE SEEKERS (1964)

Rarely has a movie title been more misleading. This is a remake of THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN in which three young American women spent time in Rome looking for love. The title of this version, along with the presence of three sexy 60s starlets, might indicate a high quotient of hedonistic activity, but these rich girls are actually looking for commitment rather than sheer pleasure. Carol Lynley, a secretary at a news agency, and Ann-Margret (pictured), a lounge singer and dancer, share a fabulously spacious apartment in Madrid; as the movie begins, they welcome their friend (Pamela Tiffin), the least worldly of three who is (gasp!) still a virgin. Romantic complications occur as follows: 1) Lynley is trying very hard to have an affair with her married boss (the considerably older Brian Keith), ignoring the hunky but somewhat prickly reporter (Gardner McKay, pictured below) who is clearly in love with her; 2) Ann-Margret is grazed by a hunky but shy doctor (Andre Lawrence) on a motorcycle; they strike sparks but her money comes between them; 3) Tiffin falls hard for a hunky but philandering playboy (Anthony Franciosa) who had dallied with Lynley last year; Lynley warns Tiffin about his nasty ways, but Tiffin is sure she's tamed him—until she goes to meet his family.

This isn't really a bad movie—after all, Ann-Margret dances in skimpy clothes (at least twice, her wardrobe conjures up her character in BYE BYE BIRDIE) and there are some nice shots of Madrid, and a short art history lecture in the Prado about El Greco—but it is very predictable. The only two who seem to actually engage in anything remotely scandalous are Ann-Margret and her doctor who spend one illicit night together before they decide to commit. [Spoiler (but not really): they all wind up happy with their appropriate hunky men.] All six of the lead couples are attractive, though the acting is variable; Tiffin is one-note and irritating, and Lawrence is rather bland. The apartment set is very cool—I wish they had spent more time there, though the few scenes that do take place there are marred by the running joke of a peeping Tom neighbor. There’s a weird "private weekend" middle-aged men orgy that Keith takes Tiffin to in order to finally start their affair, but Keith's wife (Gene Tierney, in her last screen role) gives Tiffin a scolding and a slap, and that's that. Contrary to some reports, this isn't really a musical. Annie does get to sing and dance a few times—the best number is "Everything Makes Music When You’re in Love" which she performs on a beach—but most of those songs are in the context of her job as a singer. Ultimately, rather ho-hum. [FMC; be sure to catch a widescreen airing]

SHE'S MY WEAKNESS (1930)

Young Marie Thurber has been dating young Tommy Mills, and he plans to marry her whenever he sells some land that was left to him. Marie's folks like Tommy, but Marie has gotten tired of Tommy being such a goody-goody around them, with Tommy going so far as to choose to play bridge with the parents rather than go out on the town with her. Marie's uncle David, who lives with them, thinks more of young Bernie Norton as he's more of a go-getter—he has an orange and green car, after all! Things come to a head when Mr. Thurber tries to get his town's civic improvement association to buy some property from him. Problem #1: Tommy is making arrangements to sell his land to them first, not aware of Mr. Thurber's attempt. Problem #2: Uncle David actually prefers Tommy to Bernie but thinks that Tommy needs some more backbone, so he encourages Tommy to act sourly toward the Thurbers, assuming that will impress Marie. Problem #3: Bernie has already gotten a marriage license. After more complications and crossed signals, Marie eventually chooses Tommy, and both Tommy and Mr. Thurber get to sell their land.

This is a cute B-romantic comedy, though your enjoyment of it may depend on your tolerance for Arthur Lake (Tommy), known best as Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie movie series of the 30s and 40s. Here, he's a lanky juvenile who bounces between cocky and mild-mannered. IMDb reviewers tend to find him irritating but I thought he was fine—certainly no more bothersome than the average comic juvenile. Sue Carol, who made only a few more movies before retiring from the screen in 1937 (and who later married Alan Ladd), is charming as Marie. The only other actor to stand out is William Collier Sr. as Uncle David. There are a number of fun scenes: in one, Mr. Thurber and Uncle David argue over Tommy and Bernie; in another, Tommy tries his best to be rude to the Thurbers. The final scene, played in pouring rain (see picture), has the drunken Tommy sneaking into the Thurber house through a window to tell off Marie—which, of course, leads to their reconciliation. A cute movie considering its age and its static, stagy style. [TCM]

WHIPLASH (1948)

Dane Clark is a struggling young artist who lets café owner S.Z Sakall put his stuff up on the walls, even though Clark is embarrassed at the crudity of his work. One day Sakall sells one of Clark's pictures to the lovely Alexis Smith (pictured with Clark), visiting from New York City. Clark goes to get it back, but after a brief period of verbal sparring, they wind up taking a moonlight stroll along the beach and he declares his love. The next morning, as Smith waits in Sakall's café for Clark, a slimy looking guy pops in and plays the jukebox, leading Smith to leave and head back to NYC. After some soul-searching, Clark follows and discovers that Smith is unhappily married to bitter, crippled nightclub owner and fight promoter Zachary Scott, a former boxer now confined to a wheelchair, who sent the slimy jukebox guy out to find her. Scott is able to hang onto Smith because of the power he has over her brother (Jeffrey Lynn), a surgeon whose botched operation may have been responsible for Scott's disability. To stay near Smith, Clark, who boxed in the past, agrees to be become Scott's protégé, but during a tussle with one of Scott's thugs, he gets a concussion which could mean dangerous brain damage. Still, Scott insists that Clark fight, hoping that he'll get a blow which might kill him.

I like all three leads (Clark, Smith and Scott) and they're all at pretty close to full strength, so I enjoyed this, even though I am not a fan of boxing movies. To be fair, the boxing scenes take up a small part of the film and the rest is an average noir-tinged romantic triangle melodrama reminiscent of GILDA. The acting is fine and the dialogue a notch above B-melodrama fare. The wonderful Eve Arden lends strong support as a sympathetic neighbor of Clark's. There's a cute club number, "The Guy with the Spanish Drawl" with the chorus "Besame mucho, y'all." Jimmie Dodd, later the host of the original Mickey Mouse Club, is seen briefly as a piano player. [TCM/DVD]