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Orchids and Ermine (1927)
Gwen Lee Almost Steals the Show!!
Even by 1927 Colleen Moore was tiring and trying to avoid flapper roles - after immersing herself and getting critical praise for her starring role
in "So Big" she felt she had earned her dramatic stripes but First National was in the middle of a flapper frenzy and she was the star who typified
that. And she was right to feel aggrieved - even though many of her films are missing, this is pretty light weight and obviously made at the height of
her popularity when just her name on a poster would have sold tickets.
She is Pinks Watson, a switchboard operator for Gotham Cement whose dreams of orchids and ermine and rich he-flappers takes her to the Deluxe
Hotel where her lack of artifice gets her a job as the receptionist!! Once on the job she becomes the innocent pupil of gold digging Ermitrude of the
notions counter and Gwen Lee almost steals the movie. She prances and poses and already on Pink's first day has a millionaire for them both to take
for a ride - unfortunately he takes them as he is only a chauffeur!!
In a plotline so old it has whiskers, millionaire Richard Tabor (Jack Mulhall) is fed up with the fortune hunters so he changes places with his valet (Sam
Hardy) who thinks he has all the right moves and wise cracks. The climax of the movie has Hardy marrying Ermitrude but because he is still using the
Richard Tabor name his picture is splashed over the front page which makes it very hard for the real Tabor to prove his identity. Apart from Mickey
Rooney, even at seven, frighteningly professional as a flirtatious cigar smoking midget, there is Hedda Hopper as a modiste and Alma Bennett as a
vamp. Gwen Lee almost steals the show!!
Fräulein Else (1929)
Fraulein Elsie
A film you could so easily lose yourself in,
direction was by Paul Czinner and his meticulous
attention to the beautiful landscape of St. Moritz
and the urban street scenes and home life makes
you feel as though you are really there. Adding to
that is the exquisite ethereal Elisabeth Bergner as
Elsie - even though by 1929 she was 30, she really
looked and acted like a child of 14. With a plot line
similar to "Effie Briest" Bergner's Elsie is having a
blissful time just being alive and excited about
holidaying in St. Moritz with her cousin Paul and
his family. While her parents are lavish with their
spending, her father has been speculating heavily
on the stock exchange and with Elsie sending letters
in rapture of new experiences she happens to mention meeting a business associate of her
father's. Her father is ruined and is facing time in
prison, he has had a collapse so her mother writes
to her begging her to do everything she can to get
the funds needed from this associate so her father
won't have to face prison.
It's obvious to the viewer that the associate wants
a relationship with the child. There are two amazing sequences - the first, a tracking shot as Von Dorsday
walks through the casino, Elsie just keeping her distance initially hesitant then eager, lastly realising
she doesn't have the confidence to ask. The next one
- when she talks to Von Dorsday all you have to do
Albert Bassermann plays the father superbly. Sixty by the time "Fraulein Elsie" was made, he later fled to America when he couldn't tolerate the way his wife (who was Jewish) was treated and then was nominated for a Best Supporting Academy Award for his role in "Foreign Correspondent" at age 70.
Forbidden Fruit (1921)
"Clothes by Poiret, Perfume by Coty, Jewels by Tiffany"!!
Agnes Ayres had started in films in 1915 and five years
later she was still grinding out quickies and shorts when
she came to the attention of Jesse L. Lasky. Under his
guidance she became a star at Paramount in her first film "Forbidden Fruit", a top flight Cecil B. DeMille production which had critics raving about her stellar performance. Variety noted "Agnes Ayres is given chief honors and wears them well". The film boasted an all
star cast (mostly DeMille regulars) and it was to Agnes'
credit that she was noticed and praised.
With a beautifully tinted print Agnes stood out with her beauty and performance - she plays Mary Maddox, tied to a shiftless lazy husband, who is reduced to taking in sewing to make ends meet. When one of her wealthy
clients asks her to help them out at a weekend party in
order to captivate a particular young man whom she and her husband are hoping to interest in an oil deal, Mary realises her dream of being Cinderella will be a reality.
"Clothes by Poiret, Perfume by Coty, Jewels by Tiffany" -
she becomes belle of the ball and Mr. Rogers (played by a very pop eyed Forrest Stanley) is smitten. Back at home, husband Steve is feeling very left out and broke and goes into partnership with the Mallory's crooked
butler, Petro, who assures him there are jewels and riches
for the taking, especially from the "wealthy woman" staying the weekend. During the break-in Steve recognises his wife and vows revenge on not only her but
the man who stole her heart.
I thought Clarence Burton as Mary's husband Steve was pretty good, he really conveyed a man who was shiftless and down on his luck but initially with some sympathy and wanting to try to do better especially the scene where he throws a shoe at the little singing bird - but events show he is never going to change. Kathlyn Williams, usually playing self sacrificing wives (as in
"Whispering Chorus") here plays a brittle society woman
who is not above manipulating the life of her poor employee to clinch her husband's business deal. Also
De Mille regular Julia Faye shines as a sassy maid.
Escape from Broadmoor (1948)
John Le Mesurier Does All Right in His First Movie
Director John Gilling packed quite a bit into his life - heading for
Hollywood in his teens he tried prize fighting, acting, stage managing
etc before returning to Britain in 1933 where he found work at
Gainsborough Studios. After the war he teamed up with producer Harry
Reynolds and began to make films that were extended shorts (35-45
minutes) and the first "Escape From Broadmoor" was not only notable
for John Le Mesurier's debut, it had extensive location shooting. This was
to be the first in a series of "psychic mysteries" that the writer/director
Gilling hoped would interest viewers.
The police have reopened the Pendacost case, a criminal has escaped from
Broadmoor Insane Asylum and the police hope he will revisit the house he
tried to rob ten years before. He is holed up in a deserted house with a
petty crim, Jenkins, who is bringing him supplies, not realising the identity
of the escapee but more than keen when the older man talks of a big time
robbery plan. The police have already staked out the house but the owner
is having premonitions that someone is trying to send him a message.
Slinky slatted shadows and a wandering cat conjures up the supernatural.
Interesting to see kindly John Le Mesurier of "Dad's Army" fame as an
unpredictable psychopath - for his first movie he does alright.
One Jump Ahead (1955)
Tight Noir Marred By Wishy Washy Ending
This movie started so strongly - a young woman is killed by an unknown
assailant as she retrieves some jewels she has hidden in a church, a young
boy on roller skates sees the murder and a few days later a boy's body is
found but in a grisly shock the police realise that the wrong boy has been
murdered. It seems, days before they had swapped caps and the cap the
killer found left behind at the church was not that of the boy who had
actually seen the act. Police realise they are dealing with a homicidal
maniac!!
Paul Carpenter was a Canadian who moved to Britain to sing with the Ted
Heath Band. He soon moved on to movies where he had an edginess that
a lot of British actors at the time could quite muster. In this one he plays
Banner, a newspaper man, who while on the spot of the first murder, finds
the child's cap in the bushes and starts to investigate down another track!!
Carpenter had a very breezy style that critics liked and had some witty
repartee with his sleuthing girlfriend and his femme fatale ex. This was were
the film came a bit unstuck for me - Banner was so down to earth and all
business but once he became entangled with his ex he became putty in her
hands. Jill Adams was good in a poor man's Diana Dors way but the ending
with her proving to be the brains behind a black mailing ring stretched
credibility especially when she was found to have killed the child and then
blithely gone on to try to murder the right one AND that Banner had to
think long and hard about turning her in. Very tight, gritty movie marred
by a cliched ending!!
The First Born (1928)
A Harsh Marriage Laid Bare!!
I don't know whether it was because Miles Mander not only directed
and starred but wrote the screenplay that he gave his leading character,
Sir Hugh, sympathy when he was a bully, a cad and also a violent husband.
As the film progressed Madeleine Carroll's character, also Madeleine, started
to look a bit of a dill because she couldn't stop loving him.
When the film begins Madeleine is once again imploring her husband to
forgive her jealous outburst - but she has every reason to feel like that
because of Hugh's reaction is to leave for an extended stay in South Africa,
Hugh calls it his "soul country", and right into the arms of a native girl and
her son who seems to be Hugh's. Maddy's reasoning for Hugh's continued
bad behaviour is that she has not been able to give him an heir - so she
concocts a plan with her pregnant manicurist to help her bring up the
child as Maddie's own - things go smoothly and Hugh hastens back but as the
years go on Maddie has her own child, Stephan, who becomes all in all to
Hugh and he barely acknowledges the other child.
Everything about Hugh would make any sensible woman pause - he never
shows any gentleness towards Maddy. When he wants to see the child, his
wish is law - even if it means waving a torch around and upsetting both
baby and nursemaid and when he increasingly comes to doubt that Stephan
is his, Maddy's refusal to clarify things leads to a brutal scene where he
almost kills her.
I was so hoping that when she was coaxed onto the platform to give a
speech for her husband's election campaign that she would denounce him
- but no, her appeal and tears get him elected!!
The movie was enthusiastically reviewed as stylistically inventive as Britain headed toward a more mature and sophisticated approach, as silents ended, and away from the overly stagey and melodramatic films of Britain's earlier attempts.
Paper Orchid (1949)
Didn't Quite Know Whether It Was a Romantic Comedy or a Murder Yarn!!
Because the murder doesn't take place until more than half way through
it's almost as though this film doesn't quite know what it wants to be -
is it a racy newspaper adventure that Hollywood did so well in the 30s
and 40s with beauteous Hy Hazell as Stella in the role that either Bette Davis or Glenda Farrell would have made their own? She gets a job on a paper with
false references - suave Hugh Williams is her boss but changes are
imminent with the death of the paper's owner. His widow takes charge and
one by one the reporters find themselves wending their way to the
rival paper.
Suddenly an artist, a "lame dog" being championed by a dizzy news
photographer is found murdered in Stella's flat and things turn dramatic.
The film had been bouncing along and I think at 90 minutes it was too
long to sustain the light weight plot and the murder investigation seemed
like an after thought. Sid James is fabulous, he has a couple of those
famous chuckles but it's interesting that he seemed to be thought of as
a heavy in the early part of his career. Not really a "heavy" here but his
character has a lot of light and shade as Freddy Evans, a news hound who falls for Stella deeply, too deeply for this light weight yarn.
The Plane Makers (1963)
Soaring Series!!
Bought this along with "The Power Game" but have only just got around
to watching this. Series may seem a bit patchy because only one episode
of the first series survives. While "The Power Game" is all big business with
Wilder's Machivellian machinations in taking control of Bligh Constructions
this series, initially, has a bosses vs workers theme.
Reginald Marsh is superb as Sudgeon, the managing supervisor who is
suddenly thrust onto the board, as his old union chum says "we need
someone like you on the board to fight for us but the workers will hate
you"!! So while Wilder (Patrick Wymark) episodes are to do with wheeling
and dealing in the board room and he is portrayed as ruthless, Marsh
shows a man who is fair and human, although as in "Don't Stick Your
Head Out" gets a glimpse into how Wilder operates. Once the series
settles in it becomes a slice of life into the many departments of the
Scott Furlong Air Company. In "Any More for the Skylark?" Wilder tries
to put a stop to the practice of issuing free passages on test flights and
a young clerk (Rodney Bewes) finds courage he never knew he had.
"A Matter of Self Respect" finds Sudgeon giving a helping hand to a
friend who has just been released from prison for manslaughter - this
is particularly emotive as the man struggles to cope with his first visit
to his young daughter!!
Unfortunately mid way through series 3 Sudgeon is forced to resign - I
noticed that throughout the start of the season Marsh's role was
diminished and Alan Dobie who played the icy David Corbett gained
prominence. Corbett was as coldly calculating as Wilder but he just
didn't have the older man's passion and emotion to say nothing of
charisma - I found him impossible to warm to. So without a character
who audiences could relate to - the ying to Wilder's yang, the edginess
went out of it and I can understand why the show ended when it did!!
A Family at War (1970)
Monumental Series
Can remember viewing this back in the day - I've just spent the last few months being thoroughly
gripped by the realness of this family - it should be compulsory viewing
for anyone interested in war history. This series makes other family sagas
pale in comparison, sometimes the people at home suffer just as much
psychological trauma as those who go off to fight and often if a person
has deep character flaws, going through the war does not necessarily
make everything rosy. They emerge at the end unscathed by what they
experience.
Towering above all is Colin Douglas as the father Edwin Ashton, a man who,
as he describes himself, has spent most of his life working under a man
whom he can't respect - that's his brother-in-law Sefton. Edwin, originally a
miner, married out of his class - Jean, and as the series progresses he finds
himself questioning whether marrying for love was the right decision. Their
children - idealistic Phillip who is involved in a couple of episodes depicting
the Spanish Civil War. By the time he comes home, he realises the hell of
war but can't believe his effort was in vain. Margaret (Lesley Nunnerley) is
brusque, opinionated and determined and marries John Porter (Ian
Thompson) mainly because she feels it is her last chance - Porter's
character goes through a complete change within the series - from a shy,
mother dominated clerk to a complex man struggling to come to terms with
his wife's affair.
David is the black sheep but again so real - he is a man with whom failures
are always someone else's fault and who sees the war as something where
he will make his mark but once back in civvy street all his weaknesses return.
When his job turns sour he runs, leaving gallant Sheila with the kids and a
mortgage to pay. Last episode finds him bragging around the table - those
people just don't change.
Standing beside the standout Colin Douglas would have to be Margery
Mason (who seemed to make a career out of sour faced personalities) - she
is Mrs. Porter, a mother-in-law that even hell would quake before. Apart from
Colin Douglas who was older and had another standout role as a stubborn
factory owner in a few episodes of "Telford's Change", only John Nettles
as Frieda's husband, the forward thinking doctor, found "The Family at
War" a springboard to bigger things ("Bergerac", "Midsomer Murders") - that's the show's real mystery. Everyone
had a role they were born to play but somehow it didn't propel anyone to
stardom. Maybe the trouble was they were too good. Colin Campbell had had
his moment in "The Leather Boys" - he was outstanding as the selfish David.
Coral Atkins broke your heart as the long suffering Sheila. Barbara Flynn
as the mercurial Frieda and Trevor Bowen as the very decent Tony who
looks upon Edwin as more of a father figure than his own, Sefton.
Die Puppe (1919)
Dear Little Ossi!!
Was so excited to see this as it featured darling Ossi Oswalda, so very
popular during silent times but could not make a go of it in talkies.
She happened to catch the eye of budding director Ernst Lubitsch who
used her as a leading lady in a few of his early directorial efforts. Based
on the story of "Coppelia" it is, supposedly, one of the first of Lubitsch's
films to show his magic touch and Ossi is delightful.
Just an enchanting story - the old Baron has decreed that all maidens
shall present themselves in the village square so his nephew Lancelot
can marry and the line shall not die out. Lancelot is a milquetoast and
cries when he hears the news and runs away to a monastery!! If you've
only seen Herman Thimig as an older character actor, he is absolutely
super in this as the effete prince who thinks that marrying a doll is
going to answer all his prayers!! And darling Ossi Oswalda is bewitching
as (who else) Ossi, the cheeky, spirited daughter of a doll maker. Lancelot
has bought the doll modeled on the doll maker's daughter but when
the boisterous apprentice (young Gerhardt Ritterband's career was
stopped when the Nazis rose to power because of his Jewish heritage -
he is fabulous in this, a real show stopper) breaks the doll, the real
Ossi takes her place!! There are hi jinks at the wedding ball and in the
wedding night when Lancelot, still believing Ossi is a doll, uses her as a
coat and hat stand!! She is not amused!!
A tremendous fun movie!!
Reckless Youth (1922)
A Young Constance Bennett Adds Sparkle!!
Once billed as "The Screen's Brightest Star" Elaine Hammerstein was a
protege of Lewis Selznick who acquired her for his Select Pictures after
Clara Kimball Young deserted him to form her own production company.
He thought Elaine, with her impeccable theatrical pedigree was a name
he could exploit. Selznick Pictures were lavish productions and Elaine
proved a popular personality - her flippant attitude to her career came
across in her screen portrayals in movies like "Reckless Youth".
"Youth chained to a house of decay, like a racing motor boat tied to a
crumbling old wharf" - hard words indeed as applied to beautiful Alice
who feels her spirit is being stifled by the austere family - even the
butler spies on her comings and goings!! Just a beautifully restored film
although there are missing scenes at the start - you don't meet her
parents, even though her mother, played by the lovely Myrtle Stedman,
has prominent billing.
Alice makes the break and confides to her friend John that she wants to
go to the city and find out what it's like to be young and who cares about
paying the piper, to which her friend replies "there'll be a bill all right"!! In
order so she will not be forced home they marry but Alice sees it as an
emancipation and just gallantry on John's part. She soon gets entangled
with Harrison Thornby (Huntley Gordon), a playboy who is called dangerous by his sister. She sails close to the edge - Harrison tells her to call him when
she has grown up a bit. Too late, John has already left her for his lodge. He is
in a drunken haze and can't quite remember he has a house guest - "Tootles" a tough little flapper and it's Constance Bennett in her first adult role!! She
is terrific and gives the movie a big boost - not playing a slinky sophisticate
but a girl who "after a two by four hallway off Broadway find's John's
cottage a paradise"!! Elaine Hammerstein is a darling as Alice, a spoiled
girl who doesn't know what life is all about but Constance's "Tootles" is
the character you remember. The ending is a let down!!
Emil und die Detektive (1931)
The Man in the Bowler Hat!!
"Emil and the Detectives" was the only one of Erich Kastner's pre
1945 works to escape Nazi censorship and what made it so popular
in it's day was the setting in contemporary Berlin and the 1931
adaptation followed on by setting it during the Weimar Republic. The
film found international acclaim and with a team of writers as Billy
Wilder, Erich Kastner and Emeric Pressburger - how could it fail?
Mordaunt Hall (of the New York Times) praised it fulsomely and also
must have been at the German premiere because he predicted stardom
for a few of the young boys who appeared in person, commenting that
America didn't have the monopoly on talented juvenile players.
Emil is being sent to Berlin by his mother, a hairdresser, to give his
grandmother his mother's monthly salary of 140 marks - it is a big
responsibility but Emil also gives care and attention to packing his marbles
and slingshot. On board the train all the passengers are kind - except the
man in the bowler hat!! Fritz Rasp is superb, he plays to the hilt the
evilness and creepiness of the sinister gentleman. With all the reality
and resourcefulness of children, Rasp is a standout and memorable!!
First he tells Emil some very weird stories about life in Berlin - and
succeeds in putting everyone in the carriage offside with his eeriness.
He then takes the little boy on a hallucinating journey, flying over
Berlin with an umbrella after he offers Emil a drugged chocolate.
Emil awakes in the train to find his money gone and while cousin
Pony is waiting at the station, he is getting to know the local street kids
who are enthused about helping him find his money. With Pony along
on her push bike they track the "bowler" to a posh hotel - and by
bribing a page boy they find that the enemy is in room 9!!
So many delightful and resourceful children playing and living to their
own rules - Gus and his horn, Hirsch who speaks like an Indian (as in
cowboys and indians) shows how much influence the American movies
had world wide and little Mittenzwei who is the only boy with a home
phone so he has to stay at home and mediate, much to his disgust!!
Also nice, the way the children are believed - all roads lead to the local
police station and when Emil pleads that the notes will have pin pricks
because he had pinned them to his pocket "Mr. Bowler Hat" is jumped on!!
It seems he is not quite the small time thief as first thought but an
escaped bank robber whose capture leads to a big reward. The end shows
much rejoicing - all the boys wishing to marry Pony who sensibly tells
them that she can be friends with all. Inge Landgut who is well known
for playing Elsie in "M" makes an adorable Pony. Very sadly Rolf Wenkhaus
who played Emil and others of the main juvenile cast died during the
second world war. Hans Richter who played Hirsch, the Indian speaker
found a phenomenal success, if type cast, as a freckled faced kid and had
a long and fruitful career.
Very Recommended
Regine (1935)
A Blue Diamond!!
Luise Ulrich bought to life a gallery of uncomplaining, subservient
women, exactly the type of film heroine embraced by Germany in the
mid 1930s - although sparkling Olga Tschehowa threatened to eclipse
Luise before she had even entered the movie. The very dependable Anton
Walbrook plays Frank Reynolds, an industrial magnate, who is returning
to Germany for the first time in 10 years. On the boat home he captures
the heart of sizzling Floris but after ten years of work he finds her too
capricious, she is a "charming adventure" - he is looking for a "blue
diamond".
Staying in Bavaria, Frank is taken with the guileless Regine and after a
whirlwind romance they marry but she also has family secrets - a father
and brother who are layabouts and see her marriage as a chance to bleed
her dry of money!! Blissfully happy at first, Frank engages an old family
friend to polish off her gaucheness and she enchants everyone with her
freshness and honesty. Suddenly Floris reappears and under a guise of
"friendship" offers to take Regine under her wing when Frank is called
away on business but in reality she is a trouble maker and wants to
entangle the young girl in a romantic predicament in which she almost
succeeds with tragic results.
The critics of the day praised the movie but felt Ullrich was the principal
reason for the movie's success. True to the feeling in Germany in the
1930s, one reviewer carped that once Regine entered high society she
forgot her wholesome values (she didn't). There was some breath taking
location scenes along the Rhine and through the Bavarian alps. Director
Erich Waschneck had already directed an earlier version of "Regine" in
1927 (from a popular German novella) with 1920s star Lee Parry in the
title role.
Very Recommended.
Sailor's Luck (1933)
Victor Jory Gives This One Pep!!!
Sally Eilers and James Dunn were given the roles of a life time as the
pair of street wise New Yorkers who face trials and tribulations when
they marry. Sally was originally a Sennett girl whom Sennett called "the
most beautiful girl in movies" - she did get around socially but movie
stardom evaded her. With "Bad Sister" both she and Jimmy could show
their true talent but even though both they and the film were praised to
the skies, Fox saw them as a B team - Sally may have scored a hit on her
own with "State Fair" but together their films were double bill fare. Sally
was also having marriage problems which along with her forth right
opinions and salty language may have been why Fox never really got
behind her. "Sailor's Luck" was her first movie after her divorce woes and
once again she was co-starred with Dunn.
Dunn plays extrovert sailor Jimmy who meets swim instructress Sally (who
can't swim!!) - which makes for shennanighans at the local pool. Not a
movie up there with Raoul Walsh's best, seems to rely on comic turns from
the supporting cast, as well as the charm of Jimmy and Sally. Victor Jory
helps a lot - he does his best to give the film a bit of grittiness, he is
Baron Portolo, the sleazy hotel manager where Sally is staying. Jimmy
promises to return but once he is aboard all leave is cancelled!! So the
Baron moves in on her!!
There is the usual misunderstanding - Jimmy returns and feels Sally's
room is like Grand Central station - what with the Baron and frazzled
Mr. Brown, whose little boy Elmer Sally is minding. Sally gets fed up
with Jimmy's moods, impulsively enters a dance marathon organised
by the Baron and soon there is a free for all on the dance floor!!
Victor Jory had a bumper movie year in 1933 with 9 releases. This is
very light weight fun!!
Nedbrudte nerver (1923)
Everything's Murder!!
A 1923 comedy mystery movie from Denmark. The titles were very satirical, I found
myself laughing out loud - some of the jokes I didn't quite get until they
were almost gone but it was because they were witty and the titles played
around with some of the scenes.
Erik Brandt is an ace reporter with shot nerves because he has just
apprehended a murderer - he's a wreck!! but back at his flat with the
prospect of 2 weeks leave he looks out and thinks he sees another!!
Worse is to come - now a jittery mess he visits the seaside and his friend
introduces him to Joan - the prettiest girl on the beach and he recognises
her as being the assailant. Williams, his policeman friend is working on
another murder so Erik thinks he will help by bringing in Joan!! Of course
by this time they have fallen in love with each other so Erik tries to protect her even to the extent of going to the police station and confessing himself!!
All to no avail - Joan has committed a crime she feels she will never live
down - but it's not murder!!
Gorm Schmidt was very good as the intrepid Erik and although his career
only lasted until the end of the silents he was famous for his portrayal
of David Copperfield. Olga Belajeff was the beauteous Joan and she was
lovely. Again, another casualty of sound, she appeared in Italian, Danish
and German movies.
Shoes (1916)
Sold!! - For a Pair of Shoes!!!
When Mary MacLaren was spotted by director Lois Weber standing
with a group of extras, she never realised what a life changing event
it would be. As Mary recalled, she often walked to the Universal Studios
to save bus fare and one day Weber came across her looking pretty
bedraggled, looked down at her feet and exclaimed "Shoes"!! - Mary
didn't know what she meant!! Lois' husband Phillips Smalley recognized
her from small roles in "Where Are My Children" etc, he started to
tell her about a story they had found in "Colliers" magazine and gave it
to her to read. By being cast in "Shoes" Mary was elevated from extra to
leading lady and Weber had nothing but praise for her, saying "she was
the luckiest find I ever made". She also told the "Motion Picture World"
that "when the movie was run, everyone in the room fell in love with
her. She was only 16 but is the most sensitive and intelligent girl I've
ever directed".
Mary MacLaren was an amazing find, she was a natural actress in the
Mae Marsh tradition. She was a standout as Eva, the
breadwinner of a poverty stricken family in which the father sat about
and read magazines all day. She is desperate for a pair of shoes to
replace the ones which have been worn threadbare in her daily struggle.
Every night she cuts out cardboard soles, careful that she doesn't strain
the already worn out leather. Then comes a week of rain - not only are
Eva's shoes wrecked but she soon becomes seriously ill because of
standing around in wet shoes all day. She is praying for the day when
her mother can give her money for shoes but week after week she is
disappointed. She becomes desperate.... Meanwhile her friend from the
notions counter is enjoying a very different life because she is free with
her favours. Her man of the moment - a sleazy cabaret singer has his
eye on Eva and invites her to "The Blue Goose"....
Directed with Weber's style and attention to detail, the viewer experiences
the poverty and desolateness first hand, the end scene is particularly
chilling. The scene where Eva just about to go out on that fateful night,
and views herself through a cracked mirror.
Weber's predictions of Mary's stardom came true but she performed best
under Weber's guidance - without her Mary was reviewed harshly by
critics. Lacks personality, acts mechanically, lack of beauty and never
smiles were some of the comments. Who would smile having to read those
reviews!! Unfortunately her older sister wanted a career and also took over
the management of Mary's with disastrous results. Still Mary could always
point with pride to her career highlight of "Shoes".
Very Recommended.
Suspended Alibi (1957)
Secrets and Alibis!!
Even though Patrick Holt's anti-hero was wooden and didn't really
make you care about his plight this movie got a lot of praise in it's
day - Honor Blackman as his harassed but cool wife elevated proceedings
and Alfred Shaughnessy in his directorial debut made it brisk and
efficient. Quite densely plotted about the sexual activities among the
middle class it has Holt as Paul Pearson, newspaper editor and "family
man" - in fact the opening scene explores the duality as a pair of
shadowy legs creep down the stairs, furtive with gun in hand but it is
only Pearson playing cowboys and indians with his son. A secret phone
call between him and Diana (Naomi Chance) reveals his double life -
but someone else knows, it is his nosy neighbour from across the street
who often listens into the party line and can't wait for him to get his
comeuppance!! He has quite a bit to hide as well - it seems that his
dalliance with Diana has been going on for years and friend Bill often
has to supply him with alibis!! On this occasion he asks whether Lyn (Blackman) knows about his gambling debts - she doesn't!! More secrets!! The alibi usually involves a card evening but things go wrong when Lyn rings and while on the phone Bill notices through a mirror that his partner is cheating at cards. A schuffle breaks out and Bill is stabbed - with the knife Paul has left behind after confiscating it from his son!!
The police visit and the truth about the affair comes out - Paul is now
banking on Diana giving him a truthful alibi - the only problem is Paul
had threatened her with harm if she reveals their meetings. A thoroughly
nice chap - NOT!! So initially she lies to the police but when she realises
the gravity of the charges she is keen to put things right - but someone
wants her to maintain the deception!!
Even if you are never in sympathy with Holt's character, "To-Day's Cinema"
called it "an hour of very honest enjoyment". Alfred Shaugnessy may have
only directed four films but they were all good ones. He later turned to
writing and was a main stay of "Upstairs, Downstairs".
Children of Pleasure (1930)
Wynne Gibson is Adorable!!
Lawrence Grey had quickly been promoted from unit production manager
to leading man at Paramount and he went through the 1920s as a
solid support to some of the screen's most popular actresses. When
MGM saw the good notices he garnered for his work with Marion Davies,
Bernice Claire and the Duncan Sisters, they rewarded him with the lead in
"Children of Pleasure" a modest programmer that took advantage of the
musical mad times and Grey's pleasing but modest vocal talents. Based
on a play "The Song Writer" by Crane Wilbur, an early matinee idol who
had since turned his hands to other behind the scenes talents, it was about Danny, a young singer song writer and his two very different women. Pat (Helen Johnson) is an heiress who determines that marriage with Danny is not going to end her affair with actor Rod Peck (Kenneth Thomson boo hiss).
Emma Gray (Wynne Gibson) was Danny's former vaudeville partner and is
now a co-worker in a Tin Pan Alley publishing house and is also true blue in
her devotion. I know within a couple of years Gibson's movie personality would not be described as adorable but she definitely was in this movie!!!
Danny is on cloud nine and dreams of a quiet wedding but Pat has big
wedding plans - just before they walk down the aisle Danny overhears
Pat flippantly proposing that she still keep up her relations with Rod.
To his credit Rod is horrified but Danny goes to pieces and on a bender.
It is Emma who finds him and tries to sober him up but while still under
the influence he asks Emma to marry him. Realising he is still on the
rebound she devises an ingenious plan!!
If anyone stood out in this pretty so-so movie it was Wynne Gibson -
could this be the actress who the next year gave Sylvia Sidney such a
hard time in "Ladies of the Big House"? Here she was sparkling and snappy
and she really put over her song - there was a voice there!! Helen
Johnson was pretty enough as Pat - she later changed her name to
Judith Woods and wowed them on Broadway in "Dinner at Eight".
Benny Rubin and May Boley provided the comic relief and with Kenneth
Thomson playing the cad with a heart there was not much for poor
Lawrence Grey to do - the movie proved he was better at supporting
dazzling leading ladies than having to carry a whole movie.
The songs seemed to pick up in catchiness as the movie went on - I
know "Leave it That Way" seemed promoted as the song hit but "The
Whole Darned Thing's For You" was the movie toe-tapper in my opinion.
It was sung at the bridal party and a popular band The Biltmore Trio
joined in. Big musical number was the ambitious "Dust" which in any
other movie of the time would have been the finale but here was
presented 15 minutes in. A combination of "Dancing the Devil Away" and
"I Want to Be Bad" - meaning lots of odd costumes, billowing smoke
and an original Technicolor sequence although now only remaining in
black and white. It had dancers on tiers with a few of the better ones
out front, none better than Ann Dvorak who was giving it all she had.
Unfortunately for most of her dance, the photography was bad and you
couldn't see her feet!! If the sets looked similar to the "Singin' in the
Rain" sequence from "Hollywood Revue of 1929" it's because the see
through drapes were first used in that earlier movie.
Very Recommended.
Devil's Bait (1959)
Breadhunt!!!
A village baker is having a problem with rats in his bake house but his
abrasive phone manner means he is put to the back of the queue when
he rings the local authorities for help. He is finally given the number of
a rat catcher but the man is an alcoholic and uses out dated methods -
like potassium cyanide.
Pretty unusual start for a tension packed film but the stars - Geoffrey
Keen and Jane Hylton make it work as a very unlikely husband and
wife, he dour and uncommunicative, she attractive and trying to get
the marriage over a rough patch!! I think there was a bit too much
time given to the rat catcher and his behavioral quirks but I realise
it was establishing just why he used such antiquated and dangerous
methods!!
It's not "which is the poison bread" but one lonely loaf that has been baked in a broken pan which the workman used to mix the poison - he goes
down to the pub intending to return later to clean up, becomes involved
in an accident and never returns!! Gordon Jackson then makes his
appearance as a harassed cop - initially Frisby muddies the waters when
he realises his bakery could be shut down - then there is a bread hunt as
the loaf's journey is tracked down!!!
Very recommended.
Unseen Forces (1920)
The Girl Who Could See Around Corners!!
Sylvia Breamer was a beautiful Australian girl who got her start in
J.C. Williamson's theatrical troop. Unlike other stock companies
Williamson had a strong American connection and that's were Sylvia
decided to go - to New York and not the West End. From the start she
was appearing in stage productions and caught the attention of Thomas
H. Ince. Everyone predicted a glowing future for her and "Unseen Forces"
is a chance to see Sylvia in a leading role and surrounded by talented
players.
Born under a stormy sign Miriam Holt (Breamer) grows up with the
nickname "the girl who could see around corners" - she has second sight
and is a puzzle to the small farming community. When Clyde Brunton
(a very youthful Conrad Nagel) renews his childhood friendship with her
they imagine a sunny future but a misunderstanding (he returns
unexpectedly to the house and sees her in the arms of a devoted cousin)
sees him, a couple of years after, in a disastrous marriage (to a stately
Rosemary Theby). Miriam goes to New York to see if she can develop
her psychic gifts and an old friend Captain Stanley, who has always
believed in her powers, throws a party for her and she comes face to
face with Clyde. Thrown into New York society she not only has to
deal with skeptics and Clyde's devotion but also "idler and trifler"
Arnold Crane. The closer he gets the more powerful her psyche becomes
- she knows that years before he had wronged a girl whose face is
This was one of the films found in a New Zealand vault - so apart from some disintegration it can be viewed just the same as it was seen by cinema audiences at the time. Sylvia Breamer was so pretty and really carried the movie - she was good!! Also the film benefited by Sidney Franklin's sensitive direction.
Very Recommended.
Children of Divorce (1927)
Travis Banton's Luminous Gowns Are the Star!!!
It didn't seem to matter if the story was flimsy - Gary Cooper was
already a heart-throb around the Paramount studio and being teamed
with Clara Bow, his female equivalent, was viewed with anticipation.
But it didn't go to plan - Cooper who had been mainly in out door epics,
was like a fish out of water in this sophisticated drama. After a few days
Cooper was sacked and replaced by Douglas Gilmore a more experienced
actor but Clara had campaigned behind the scenes on Cooper's behalf
and he was reinstated.
The movie started out as a daring, topical drama but not even Clara could
save it. Most cinema goers found Esther Ralston mechanical and Gary
Cooper unconvincing. I thought it was a case of Paramount trying to
widen Clara's appeal but it didn't really work - apart from her initial
scenes there was just too much pathos and until the end her character
was unsympathetic.
Jean and Kitty meet in a French convent, both products of the divorce
rage with parents eager to get back into the single swing and not
wanting a child cramping their style (Joyce Coad makes a very appealing
Kitty).
Years later they are both young debs - Kitty (Clara Bow) is the life of any
party, yet as a child she lacked confidence. Maybe explained by her
mercenary mother (Hedda Hopper, who else?) that because of their
financial position she must marry money!! That's too bad for Prince Vico
(Einar Hansen) an impoverished aristocrat who really loves Kitty who in
turn returns his love. Jean (Ralston) on the other hand is supposed to be
the richest girl in America - she catches the eye of Ted Larabee (Cooper),
the wild boy of the group who remembers a childhood promise of marriage
they both made to each other. Jean will not agree to the marriage - Ted
is now one of the idle rich where once he had ambition to be an
engineer and she wants him to find his self respect again. Kitty is determined
that the only bridges he will be connected with are the ones he burns!!
She takes him out for a night of revelry and he wakes up married - to
Kitty who has tricked him into it!! Two years later, Jean has vowed never
to marry even though receiving a proposal from Vico who truthfully
confesses he can't give her his love!!
You can see it's a pretty doleful movie, no one is really happy and when
Kitty finally tries to make amends by asking for a divorce when she
realises that Vico still carries a torch for her, she finds no joy there either
as his family will not allow him to marry a divorced woman. Clara has
some emotive moments but Gary Cooper was the only actor to receive
any glory - for his first leading role he is a stand out, you can't take your
eyes from him!! And the restoration just illuminates Travis Banton's
(although uncredited) luminous gowns, they are breath taking.
A bit of back stage gossip - none of the big wigs liked the movie but
they couldn't shelve such an expensive A grade movie so they got in
Josef Von Sternberg as a "movie doctor" to fix up many of the scenes.
Since all the stars had already started their next movie filming was done
at night and the non stop schedule was brutal!!
Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957)
"Everyone in the World Will Win the Lottery - but not us"!!
To describe this as a "man discontented with his marriage, seeks solace
with younger girl" is too simplistic. Anthony Quayle plays "Jimbo", a
drab, rather ordinary clerk whose private life is in chaos due to his
slovenly but sweet souled wife Amy. He desperately needs order and
finds it with Georgie, the office secretary, the initial scenes contrasting
the complete mess of his own home to the stark simplicity in which
Georgie lives. Young Sylvia Sims was really making her way in the film
world and she is fine as Georgie. Both she and Jimbo are living in a
fantasy of love although Jim tellingly says at the start that her attraction
for him was due to his just being there and that he isn't such a great
catch!! But by the film's showdown she has steeled herself to fighting
for Jim - as Amy says, he will not be doing any fighting himself as he
is defeated!!
Yvonne Mitchell is a revelation as Amy - so chaotic, the type of person
who can work all day and the house still looks like a bomb has hit it!!
From the opening scene with the blaring radio, you are part of Amy's
world and you really understand Jim's need to escape but Amy has the
sweetest nature. She cooks both Jim and son Brian's (a very good
Anthony Ray) meals and serves them on little trays with all the
condiments (all the while keeping up happy chatter about her day) but
the bacon is burnt, the chips are peculiar ("I've found the best recipe
for chips") - it seems whatever she tries will always be second rate.
The only person who loves her unequivocally is Brian and it's his
bewilderment at the situation that hastens the climax. Jim tells Amy
that he wants a divorce but she pleads with him to bring Georgie back
to the flat so that they can talk sensibly.
Amy has a plan - she pawns her engagement ring and with the money
goes to the hairdresser and buys a small bottle of whiskey, enough for
the three of them but everything goes wrong. She gets caught in the
rain and her hair is ruined, her best dress has a broken zipper and a well
meaning neighbour plies her with drink. By the time Brian comes home
from work, not used to spirits she is almost paralytic and when Jim and
Georgie arrive, Jim is sucked into a vortex. Amy, while dependent on him,
is just drunk enough to fight for her man and tell Georgie some home
truths - "you may know a hundred things about him but I know a
thousand"!!
At the movie's end there are no winners - Anthony Quayle is so good,
walking a thin line between quietness and rage. As he says "we are not
going to win the lottery - everyone in the world will win but not us"!!
Well meaning neighbour Hilda was played by Carole Lesley a tragic
actress who had undeniable charms but when she was dropped by film
studio Alliance couldn't accept the fact that she wasn't considered star
material. She took her own life at 38.
Very Recommended.
They Drive by Night (1938)
Ernest Thesiger - Scene Stealer Extraordinare!!
My golly, what a fabulous movie - I always loved Emlyn Williams in
whatever movie he made and even though he excelled as smarmy spivs
I've never seen him in the same characterization twice. Here he is in a
rare lovable larrikin role as "Shorty" Matthews, just released from prison
but already fleeing for his life from a murder charge. His old girl friend
Alice has been strangled and even though his whole demeanor cries out
"I'm a good guy" none of his friends believe him (maybe they've seen
too many of his movies)!! He plunges into the night world of long distance
lorry driving, hoping to lose himself but a face from his past emerges
with Molly, a dance hall friend of Alice's, who is trying to hitch hike back
to London but is mistaken for a "lorry girl" - women who ride with the
lorry drivers in exchange for favours!!
There's some fabulous cinematography - when Shorty comes across her,
she is fighting off a man in the middle of the road, lights blazing on
their rain drenched silhouettes. Later on, Shorty evades capture and
there is a labyrinth of cross cutting, jumps, darts, again against a rain
soaked background. He eventually returns to London and with Molly's
help find a boarded up abandoned house - but they have been followed!!
Enter Ernest Thesiger - scene stealer extraordinare!! He plays Hoover and
there's something very odd about him. He keeps a scrapbook about the
dance hall murder which he hides behind his books on "Sex and Philosophy",
not to mention his "Paris After Dark" magazines. He is a frequenter of
dance halls and is pretty disgusted that "Shorty" has captured all the
attention for the murder, he feels the murderer was far more intellectual
and organized than just a petty criminal. Once Thesiger enters he is
absolutely rivetting.
Teddington Studios had an interesting history - built in the 1910s, only
one film had been released before Warners bought it in 1931 to turn out
quota quickies finishing with "The Dark Tower" in 1943.
Very Recommended!!
Channel Crossing (1933)
Matheson Lang Towers Over All
It may be an "All Star Extravaganza" but Matheson Lang is the whole
show - he plays larger than life financier Jacob Van Eeden and a real
attempt was made to present him as a multi layered personality. A hard
man who has his immediate future mapped out - he has some stocks and
is escaping to Paris to do a deal before he is found out - but he is found
out, overheard mapping out his plans to his adoring secretary Marion. The
eavesdropper is Peter (Anthony Bushell, suitably wooden) Marion's fiance
and a reporter. His first mistake is bursting into the apartment claiming
"I'll tell, I'll tell"!! Van Eeden then sends some pointless messages to the
telegrapher, guaranteed to keep him busy at his radio for the rest of the
trip. There is another side to Van Eeden, one that makes him beloved, even
by the lowliest man in the street - always willing to extend a helping hand
"you come and see me and I'll give you a hand" he tells a man with a hard
luck story and he knows everyone by name!! Edmund Gwenn as a husband
taking his family over for a weekend in Paris, echoes everyone in his
worshipful approach to Van Eeden. Van Eeden also has plans for Marion
and they don't include Peter. He and Peter have an altercation on the fog
bound deck and Jacob wrestles the reporter overboard but from then on
he has an epiphany where the good in his character slowly wrestles out
the bad. He forces the tired sailors to keep on searching and when the boy
is found gives up his own life saving medicine to save his life.
Constance Cummings is great (as usual) giving a nuanced and professional
portrayal. Two others Nigel Bruce and Dorothy Dickson who, in the 1920s,
was Britain's answer to Marilyn Miller, play a bickering husband and wife
who at the voyage end find they are better off together than apart.
Womanhandled (1925)
"All Men Are Womanhandled"!!!
Just the funnest movie - just ambles along, full of cute little incidents
- boy meets girl, love at first sight but..... Molly has an idealized version
Before he can return in his new found western "he man" guise Molly pays a surprise visit and in a plot line straight out of Douglas Fairbanks' "Wild and Woolly" Bill enlists the help of the whole ranch to put on a show to keep Molly's dreams of the west alive!! As her mother says at the end whether from the east or west all men are "womenhandled". So many quiet chuckles, Bill's dealings with Molly's pesky brother and when they all sit down to eat and Bill puts on some rough western table manners for Molly's benefit. I agree, there must have been a reel missing, they could have had a lot of fun with the arrival of that gang of chorus cuties who showed up at the ranch 5 minutes before the end!! Both Olive Tell and Margaret Morris were also featured in the credits but apart from a few seconds at the start, none were seen. Morris played an old flame of Bill's
- that could have created a few situations!!
Was there ever a more beautiful actress than Esther Ralston, any movie where she is featured is so welcome. This movie happens to be a lot of fun!!