Call Her Savage

 

(1932)

Directed by John Francis Dillon
Written by Edwin J. Burke, from a novel by Tiffany Thayer
Starring Clara Bow, Gilbert Roland, Thelma Todd, Monroe Owsley, Antony Jowitt
IMDB Entry

Call Her Savage is one example of the freedom allowed in pre-code Hollywood. There are several elements that soon became unacceptable once the Hayes Office took over, but even without them, it's a very strong story overall.

The movie starts out with a preamble in the 19th Century west, as well as a moral lesson that really doesn't have much to do with the rest. Eventually, we are introduced to Nasa Singer (Clara Bow), the granddaughter of the man in the early scenes. Nasa is a woman with a mind of her own, and plenty of courage -- when faced with a rattlesnake, she takes out a whip and drives it back. The scene is witnessed by Moonglow (Gilbert Roland), a half-native man who clearly is enamoured of her. Her father, though, tired of her temper and antics, sends her to a finishing school in Chicago.

Nasa, free of her father's disapproval, has a high time partying in the city. Lawrence Crosby (Monroe Owsley), to get back at his cheating girlfriend Sunny De Lane (Thelma Todd), asks Nasa to marry him out of spite. She accepts. She quickly finds out he didn't love her when he stays away on their wedding night to play poker (possibly). Crosby leaves her, but lets her use his money as long as she wants. It's a good thing, since her father completely cuts her off. She lives large until she gets a note that Crosby is dying and rushes to New Orleans to say goodbye, even though she hates him. A month later, she gives birth to a baby.

Nasa goes through ups and downs, some tragic, some comical, until she finally discovers her shameful heritage.

The movie is usually mentioned today for its portrayal of homosexuality, in the form of a scene in a nightclub where two men perform a risque song,* but that only lasts a few moments and has no bearing on anything.  There is also the taboo subject of mixed race and it's more than suggested that Crosby is suffering from tertiary syphilis.

On the other hand, while it is certainly entertaining, there are plenty of plot holes. Nasa's pregnancy, for instance, is never mentioned until the baby is born, one month after seeing Crosby for the last time, and she clearly is not eight months pregnant then. 

This was Bow's next-to-last film. It was a success, as was her next film, But Bow had grown tired of acting and retired the next year.

Gilbert Roland had a very long career in Hollywood, usually as a Latin lover and the go-to guy if they needed a handsome Mexican in the film or TV show.

Thelma Todd is best known today as Groucho Marx's "romantic" interest in Horsefeathers and Monkey Business.**

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*They are more like modern day drag queens, though not in woman's clothes. That was how homosexuality was perceived at the time: men with a "female" personality.

**Her death is still an unsolved Hollywood mystery.

William Boyett (actor)

 (1927-2004)

Actors are, more often than not, typecast. Few were typecast more than William Boyett. 

Boyett went into acting around 1950 and started appearing in TV shows. His second role was that of a detective, and he was quickly typecast. Looking at the characters names, you find "Grand Jury Bailiff," "Policeman Cooper," "Agent Lansing," "Special Agent Bob Marshall,""Lt. Keith," "Military Policeman Escort," "Policeman," "Constable Malloy," "State Trooper," "Pier Cop," "Sgt. Geary," "Detective Sergeant Harris," and others (including roles as military officers).

He got his break as a regular in Highway Patrol, where he played Officer Johnson, Broderick Crawford's assistant.* He appeared in over 60 episodes.

When the show ended, he went back to being a cop.  He did several episodes of Dragnet, and Jack Webb liked him enough to give him another regular role as Sgt. "Mac" MacDonald in Adam-12, Mac was the boss of  Malloy and Reed and appeared in more episodes than anyone but them and the woman who did the voice of the despatcher.

After the show ended, he continued to act in TV, including in Star Trek: The Next Generation, where he played a policeman. You kind of wonder if this became a bit of a joke in Hollywood: "We need a cop, let's see if Boyett is available."

But Boyett was clearly a professional, and always was able to do his role believably. Spotting him in old TV shows is plenty of fun.

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*And often carried the narrative, since Crawford was an alcoholic and had troubles playing the part.

Hildegarde Withers (Part II)

 Edna May Oliver left the series after Murder on a Honeymoon, but RKO decided to continue the series. They were cheap to make and could fill out a double feature bill. So they cast other actresses and forged on.

Murder on a Bridal Path
(1938)
Directed by William Hamilton, Edward Killy
Written by Dorothy Yost, Thomas L.  Lennon, Edmudh H. North
Starring Helen Broderick, James Gleason, Sheila Terra, Willie Best
IMDB Entry

The choice for Hildegarde in the next film was Helen Broderick. It was decent casting.  Broderick*was most prominent at the time for her role in the classic Astaire and Rodgers musical Top Hat, where she played Ginger Rogers's best friend and confidante and the inadvertent cause of the central misunderstanding. 

The movie announces its plot in its title.  A woman dies in a horse riding accident, but Hildegarde realizes it's murder and Inspector Piper (James Gleason) is forced to admit she is right. It goes to an estate on Long Island, where the various suspects are gathered for a weekend and Hildegarde has to unravel the mystery

Hildegarde fits Broderick well. She was already known for her sardonic and dry sense of humor, and they used it to good effect. She is less bristly than Oliver's portrayal, but still keeps the character interesting.

The movie also features Willie Best as a horse's groom. As usual for the time, he's portrayed as slow and simple, and does the best he can with the part. Hildegarde treats him straightforwardly and accepts his answers to her question.

The movie never is more than the routine, though. Very little stick in the mind.

The Plot Thickens
(1936)

Directed by Ben Holmes
Written by Jack Townley
Starring James Gleason, Zasu Pitts
IMDB Entry

Broderick did only the single film before moving on, so RKO looked elsewhere, settling on Zasu Pitts.

The plot involves a murder in the park when a man tries to keep his girlfriend (a witness) out of it, muddying the waters by moving the body and confusing Piper (James Gleason). At the same time, a priceless silver cup is stolen.  Hildegarde sees through the ploy and unveils the killer.

I will say that The Plot Thickens is the weakest entry in the series. It's just a forgettable mystery and I have a hard time remembered a single scene.

I've been a fan of Zasu Pitts for years, ever since I saw her in reruns of The Gale Storm Show. She is miscast as Hildegarde. Her persona is usually described as "fluttery"** and is at odds with Hildegarde's more sarcastic mein. The lines just don't have the bite they should and her mannerisms changed from formidable to a bit ditzy. It is clear from the staging of her entrance that they were trying to build her up.

Still the interactions between Hildegarde and Piper are nice to watch.

Forty Naughty Girls
(1936)

Directed by Edward F. Cline
Written by John Grey, Harold Kusell
Starring James Gleason, Zasu Pitts, Marjorie Lord
IMDB Entry

The final entry in the series was an improvement overall. Zasu Pitts wasn't trying as hard to emulate the actresses who had originated the role, and found her own style, and it looks like it had a bigger budget.

The movie, like so many in the thirties, is set in a theater. A press agent -- something of a letch -- is murdered just before the performance of the musical that gives the movie its name. Hildegarde and Piper are in the audience and start to investigate, and when someone is murdered on stage, things get even more serious.

At this point, they altered the character to fit more closely into Zasu Pitts's talents. Hildergarde is less snarky and a bit more ditzy, but still manages to solve the case. 

There must have been a bigger budget, since they do show a Broadway show with a chorus line and original songs. And the film was directed by Edward Cline, W.C. Field's favorite director, which may account for its improvement. Cast members of note was Marjorie Lord, who played Danny Thomas's second wife on Make Room for Daddy.***

The series of films ended with this one. Everyone seemed to have lost interest. Pitts continued as a character actress, and Gleason continued as a supporting character, usually a cop, in the Falcon**** series and Joe Palooka. It was never a strong or memorable series, but there was some delightful interaction between Hildegarde and Piper.

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*Her son, Broderick Crawford, won an Oscar for All the King's Men and became a TV star with Highway Patrol in the late 50s.

**Her mannerisms inspired the design of  Olive Oyl in the early Fleischer Popeye cartoons.

***The first wife, Jean Hagen, left the show after three seasons. The producers wrote her out by having her die, the first time a TV sitcom character did so. (Of course, the idea of her divorcing was never going to fly in 1956.)

****Note to linguists: in the 30s and 40s, "falcon" was pronounced "faw-con." As time went on, the "l" began to be pronounced, so nowadays it's pronounced "fal-con." One example of how pronunciation changes to match odd spelling.

Hildegarde Withers (Part I)

Hildegarde Withers was a fictional detective/schoolteacher in a series of books by Stuart Palmer in the early 30s, popular enough to be the basis of a movie series of light mysteries. I'll be covering the series in the next two weeks, starting with the first three starring Edna May Oliver.*

The Penguin Pool Murder (1932)
Directed by George Archainbaud, Ray Lissner
Written by Lowell Brentano (story), Willis Goldbeck (screenplay), based on a novel by Stuart Palmer
Starring Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Donald Cook, Mae Clarke, Robert Armstrong, Edgar Kennedy
IMDB Entry

Hildegarde Withers (Edna May Oliver) is taking her elementary school class to the aquarium, when they find a body in the Penguin Pool. Detective Oscar Piper (James Gleason) is called in and Hildegarde is there to assist. The body belongs to Parker (Guy Usher), who has caught his wife Gwen (May Clarke) thinking of leaving him for Barry Costello (Robert Armstrong). Piper resents Hildegarde's meddling, but as she is always pointing out clues he missed, he tolerates her.

The joy of the movie (and the series) is the interplay between Hildegarde and Piper. Oliver plays her as  sarcastic and somewhat cynical, with a sharp tongue, always ready for an insult. Gleason is a perfect foil, trying to run an investigation, but finding his conclusions being objected to by Hildegarde. He gives the appearance of wanting her to leave him alone, but, despite his antipathy, he doesn't dismiss her words out of hand and, in the end, shows affection to her, and proposes marriage.

One interesting note is that Hildegarde's class is integrated and a Black child is shown to be smart and conscientious. It was a rare type of portrayal of the era.

You can also spot Edgar Kenney -- the master of the slow burn -- and Mae Clarke, best known for getting a grapefruit in the face in The Public Enemy. Robert Armstrong was prominent in King Kong, as Carl Denham, who leads the expedition to find Kong.

Murder on the Blackboard (1934)
Directed by George Archainbaud
Written by Willis Goldbeck from a novel by Stuart Palmer
Starring Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Bruce Cabot, Regis Toomey, Edgar Kennedy
IMDB Entry

The movie succeeded well enough that RKO did a sequel the next year.  Hildegarde is teaching at her school when she finds a body of Louise Halloran. Piper is called, but the body disappears.** Various suspects show up, all with reason to kill the woman. 

Once again, the movie focuses on the sharp-tongued Hildegarde and her exasperated cop friend. She is still a memorable character, even if the mystery is also somewhat routine.

Edgar Kennedy repeats his role of Sgt. Donohue, and is shown giving his famous "slow burn" expression. He had a long career in films, starring in a series of short films and most prominent to modern fans at the lemonade vendor in Duck Soup. Bruce Cabot was also in King Kong as the boyfriend of Fay Wray.

I did note that the schoolchildren no longer showed an integrated classroom.

Murder on a Honeymoon (1935)

Directed by Lloyd Corrigan
Written by Seton I. Miller, Robert Benchley from a novel by Seaton Palmer
Starring  Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Lola Lane, George Meeker, Leo G. Carrol, Willie Best
IMDB Entry

This time, Hildegarde is traveling to Catalina Island. On the short flight from the mainland, one of the passengers gets sick and dies. The local police are uninterested, but Hildegarde calls Piper, who shows up because the murdered man was a key witness against a crime lord. There are multiple suspects, including Hildegarde herself, plus a Honeymooning couple Kay (Dorothy Libaire) and Marvin Deving (Harry Ellerby), film director Joseph B. Tate (Leo G. Carroll). With the help of a hotel porter Willie (Willie Best), Hildegarde dives into the mystery in her usual snarky way, while Piper tolerates her because she is interested in the truth.

The plot here is slightly better, and the dialog is stronger, probably because Robert Benchley contributed. Hildegard's tongue is sharper and the dialog was more witty.

The movie also featured Willie Best, one of the few Black actors who was successful in Hollywood at the time. Unfortunately, his character had to hew to the stereotype of being slow and childlike. Quite a change from the performance of the young man in the first movie. But at least Hildegarde accepts him and asks for his help.

Modern viewers probably spot Leo G. Carroll. Carroll was a favorite of Alfred Hitchcock, and had TV success as Topper and The Man From U.N.C.L.E

After this film, Edna May Oliver left the series. But it did well enough for RKO that they brought it back with different actresses playing Hildegarde.***  I'll talk about them next week.

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*In the early days of sound, it was possible for women who were not Hollywood beauties to star in films. Nowadays, Oliver would be shunted into supporting roles.

**Despite the fact they were going to get married at the end of the first film, that is completely ignored in this one and is never mentioned in the series.

***Gleason kept playing Oscar Piper.