The Franchise (TV)

 (2024)
Created by Joe Brown
Starring Himesh Patel, Aya Cash, Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Isaac Powell, Richard E. Grant, Daniel Bruhl

As you might expect from reading my blog, I like movies. And I also like TV shows and movies about moviemaking. I also like satire, so I was delighted to discover The Franchise.

The film is about the production of a blockbuster superhero film, Tecto: Eye of the Storm. It focuses on Daniel Kumar (Himesh Patel), an assistant director who tries to handle the madness and egos.  His assistant Dag Nwaeze (Lolly Adefope) is new to the business and has a sardonic look at the process.

And there's plenty to be sardonic about. The lead actor, Adam Rudolph (Billy Magnussen) is very insecure and has a need to prove himself. It's not helped that Peter Fairchild (Richard E. Grant), a theater actor who grouses about how it's slumming and who also takes every opportunity to belittle Adam. Director Eric Bouchard (Daniel Bruhl) is an Auteur who keeps asking for rewrites and keeps mulling over the best way to portray the oddball things that are part of the film.

The production heads are not much better. Anita (Aya Cash) is the new producer and is also Daniel's ex. The big boss is Pat Shannon (Darren Goldstein), who changes directives and ideas all over the place. Steph (Jessica Hynes) is script supervisor, a job she is manifestly unequipped to handle.

There's a lot to like about this. First of all, the movie they're making is terminally goofy. One of the weapons is the Invisible Jackhammer. In order to give a female character a stronger role, she is given the "Stick of Maximum Potency," which Adam finds threatening to his ego. There is a cameo of another hero from the franchise called "the Gurgler." China asks for product placement for one of their tractors.

I did love a scene where Adam asks Steph to write some jokes for him and it's shown that she is unable to write anything at all.

The show only ran for one season, but it was chock full of plenty to laugh about. 

Footsteps in the Dark

 

(1941)
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written by Lester Cole, John Wexley from  a play by Bernard Merrivale
Starring Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Lee Patrick, Alan Hale, Ralph Bellamy, Lucile Watson, William Frawley, Alan Jenkins, Noel Madison
IMDB Entry

Under the studio system, actors get typecast. Errol Flynn, for instance, was usually cast in costume roles as a 30s version of an action hero. But Flynn wanted to try something more contemporary and asked Warner Brothers to try to cast him.  The result is Footsteps in the Dark.

Francis Warren (Errol Flynn) is a financial advisor, but he leads a double life as F. X. Pettijohn, writer of lurid mysteries.  His wife Rita (Brenda Marshall) and mother-in-law Agatha (Lucille Watson) both look  down on the books, so he keeps it all secret from them to avoid their embarrassment. Police Inspector Mason (Alan Hale) knows him as Pettijohn and they have a friendly rivalry as Mason insists that it's far harder to catch a crook than it seems in a book.

Leopold Fissue (Noel Madison) approaches Francis to have him get cash for some diamonds. Fissue knows Warren is Pettijohn and plans to reveal the fact if he doesn't do as he asked. Later, Fissue is found dead. It seems to be due to heart failure, but Francis insists it's murder.  Mason challenges Warren to prove it's murder and to find the one responsible.

The trail leads to a burlesque singer Blondie White (Lee Patrick) and he starts to romance her to get information about Fissue and the murder. Meanwhile, Rita and Agatha get suspicious of his late nights with  another woman.

The film is an odd mix of mystery and screwball comedy. The latter is a bit more interesting; it's not hard at all to spot the murderer. Flynn uses his usual charm to make the movie watchable.

There are familiar faces in the cast. Most notable is William Frawley (I Love Lucy) as a dumb cop. Lee Patrick is known to movie fans as Sam Spade's secretary, Effie, in The Maltese Falcon and Ralph Bellamy is usually cast as the guy who doesn't get the girl, most notably in His Girl Friday. Alan Hale may seem familiar, but you're probably thinking of his son, Alan Hale, Jr., the Skipper from Gilligan's Island.*

The movie is uneven but overall a decent bit of entertainment.   It was obviously planned to be a series; the end involves Francis going out on a new case and Rita joining him, Thin Man style.  Reports indicated that Olivia de Havilland, Flynn's frequent leading lady, had been up for the part of Rita, but it didn't work out.  

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*He is a dead ringer for his dad.

Passport to Pimlico

 (1949)
Directed by Henry Cornelius
Written by T.E.B. Clarke
Starring Stanley Holloway, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray, Paul Dupuis, Phillip Stainton, Naunton Wayne, Basil Radford
IMDB Entry

Ealing Studios were a UK film company that developed a reputation after World War II as the home of quirky comedies.  Passport to Pimlico takes a absurd situation and runs with it, making commentary on life in the UK at the time.

Pimlico* is a district in London, trying to get back to normal after the war, while wartime restrictions and rationing were still in effect. An unexploded bomb goes off, revealing a cache of coins, jewelry, and, most importantly, a old document, which turns out to be a royal charter ceding the area to the Duke of Burgundy. And it turns out that this has never been revoked.  Pimlico is legally part of Burgundy, not England. 

The residents realize this is a boon. Since they're not in the UK, black marketeers descend, selling rationed products.  Londoners descend on the district to buy the products they are denied. The authorities put barbed wire around the "border," but the Burgundians retaliate by stopping an underground train and checking passports. It becomes a battle of wits between the government and the Burgundians.

This is an ensemble cast that works perfectly together. Stanley Holloway** stands out of the leader of the Burgundians. He's best known for his role of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady. Also in the film are Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne who play two government ministers and not their usual personas as Charters and Caldicott. Margaret Rutherford steals every scene as Professor Hatton-Jones, who comes in to confirm the legitimacy of the documents and of the descendant of the Duke of Burgundy, who arrives to claim his realm.

Overall, this is a fine, quirky comedy.

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*Not to be confused with the racetrack in Maryland where the Preakness Stakes is run.

**Not to be confused with Sterling Holloway, the voice of Winnie the Pooh.

Hi Diddle Diddle

 

(1943)
Directed by Andrew L. Stone
Written by Andrew L. Stone, Edmund L. Hartmann,  Frederick J. Jackson 
Starring Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Pola Negri, Dennis O'Keefe, Billie Burke, June Havoc, Barton Hepburn
IMDB Entry

The screwball comedy was generally a product of the thirties, but there are some isolated examples after that. One that seems to have been forgotten is Hi Diddle Diddle.

Janie Prescott (Martha Scott) is celebrating her wedding breakfast, though the wedding has not taken place. Her husband-to-be, Sonny Phyffe (Dennis O'Keefe) is a sailor, and his ship is late into port, This doesn't faze Janie's ditzy mother Liza (Billie Burke), who tries to keep things running. While everyone's waiting Sonny's father Hector Phyffe (Adolph Menjou) arrives.  Hector is a cheap conman and has married the temperamental opera singer Genya Smetana (Pola Negri). At the wedding, Peter Warrington (Barton Hepburn), a former suitor of Janie, announces that he tricked Mrs. Prescott to losd her fortune through bad investments and many hours at the roulette wheel, wanting to show Janie that Sonny is only interested in her money. They marry nonetheless and Hector starts to go about to get the money back. With the help of a singer, Leslie Quayle (June Havoc), they find a way.

The plot is too complicated to summarize here. There are the usual misunderstandings of the genre, and much is centered around how the newlyweds can never find time together on their wedding night. It has plenty of laughs throughout, including some gags that are pretty surreal.

The most notable one is a slight running gag.  Someone says, "You know, I've seen that girl somewhere before" and the reply is "She's a very particular friend of the director who's making this picture. He sticks her in every scene he can." That's a pretty self-aware line for the time. The final scene is also strange, as the wallpaper reacts to Smetana's singing.

Another neat trick is when Leslie sings a duet with herself via a video jukebox.  She is played by Gypsy Rose Lee's sister, who is Baby June in the musical Gypsy.

Director Andrew L. Stone mostly stuck with thrillers, but shows a nice talent for comedy. He had a long career, and directed a movie about a ship sinking in which they actually sunk a ship and filmed as it went down.

Chuck Rothman is author of The Cadaver Princess, from Amazing Stories Selects.

Year of the Rabbit (TV)

 (2019)
Created and written by Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley
Starring Matt Berry, Freddie Fox, Susan Wokoma, Alun Armstrong, Paul Kaye, Ann Mitchell
IMDB Entry

I've been a fan of Matt Berry for some time, even since I stumbled across Snuff Box several years ago. He has a great comic persona for being bombastic and very obscene, but always funny. So when I found Year of the Rabbit, I was delighted to discover he was its star.

The show is set in Victorian London. Detective Inspector Eli Rabbit (Matt Berry) is charged with trying to find a killer of young girls. Chief Inspector Wisbech (Alun Armstrong) assigns him to the case, along with a naive young assistant, sergeant Strauss (Freddy Fox). At the same time, Wisbech's adopted daughter Mable (Susan Wokoma) gets on the case as part of her desire to be the force's first woman police officer.

The investigation leads to plots, while Detective Inspector Tanner (Paul Kaye) is out to destroy Rabbit for reasons that are eventually revealed, but more recently because he blames Rabbit for him getting blown up by a bomb. A mysterious woman named Lydia (Keeley Hawes) is definitely someone to worry about. Rabbit is helped by John Merrick (David Dawson),* who is the leader of many criminal enterprises, and by Gwendoline (Ann Mitchell), who runs the pub where Rabbit drinks.

The show is an interesting combination of cop show and comedy. Matt Berry is a typical version of his usual character.  He seems to have written much of his own dialog. Berry has been in several shows, some of which are documented in this blog. but up until now, with What We Do in the Shadows, did not run for very long.

I was also delighted to see Susan Wokoma. I first noticed her strong appearance in Crazyhead and she is great as the somewhat commonly seen role of a woman who's trying to survive in a man's world.  Freddy Fox projects the right amount of naivety as Strauss.

The portrayal of John Merrick is interesting. Usually he's shown as a sad figure, as he was in real life. Here, he's strong, capable, and devious.

There was a second season announced, but it hasn't shown up.

Chuck Rothman is author of The Cadaver Princess, a hidden historical fantasy about magic events that fit in with historical fact.

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* aka, the Elephant Man

The Quatermass Xperiment (The Creeping Unknown)

 

(1955)
Directed by Val Guest
Written by Richard Landau, Val Guest fr4om a TV miniseries by Nigel Kneale
Starring Brian Donlevy, Richard Wordsworth, Margia Dean, Richard Wordsworth
IMDB Entry

We now go backwards to the first of the Quatermass films, a milestone in UK science fiction of the 1950s.

Brian Donlevy is the original Quatermass, head of a group putting the first human-crewed market into outer space. It crashes in the English countryside and Quatermass is quick on the scene.  But two of the three men in the crew are dead, their spacesuits empty. The third, Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth). stumbles out, saying only two words before collapsing:  "Help me." Carroon is taken to a hospital, but is catatonic and has some odd physical changes happening to him. Carroon's wife Judith (Margia Dean) doesn't think the doctors are doing enough for him, so manages to sneak him out, when he escapes, killing others and going on a rampage.

The characterization of Quatermass changes over the three films. In this one, he is prickly and short tempered, excusing himself because he's a scientist. In Quatermass 2, he's softened a bit. And in Quatermass and the Pit, the new actor, Andrew Kier is much more avuncular and not particularly short with others.

Val Guest, who directed this and its sequel, also directed the great UK SF film The Day the Earth Caught Fire.

Chuck Rothman is author of The Cadaver Princess, from Amazing Story Selects.

Quatermass 2

 

(1957)
Directed by Val Guest
Written by Nigel Kneale, Val Guest
Starring Brian Donlevy, John Longden, Synden James, Bryan Forbes, Tom Chatto, William Franklyn
IMDB Entry

Since I highlighted Quatermass and the Pic last week, I decided to check out the other films in the series.  Quatermass and the Pit was the third in the series, so my next step backwards was to see and talk about Quatermass 2.

Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) is head of an attempted project to set up a base on the moon. One night, his assistants discover signs of thousands of meteorites falling from the sky in the area of Winnerden Flats. Curious, he brings one of his staff, Marsh (Bryan Forbes) to investigate. They find a secret military base that looks suspiciously like the base Quatermass was designing for his moonbase.  As they observer, an object falls and lands on Marsh's feet.  When he examines it, it explodes, putting a v-shaped scar on his face.  Guards arrive and order Quatermass off the property, and takes Marsh, ostensibly to the infirmary.

Quatermass is curious about the installation and he finds Vincent Broadhead (Tom Chatto), a member of Parliament who is also curious about it. He is told it is a government facility making a type of artificual food.  They manage an inspection tour, which is clearing being carefully managed to keep them away from discovering what's behind it. Quatermass finds things that aren't covered in the tour, and Broadhead gets inside one of the domes, only to die, covered by a corrosive black slime. Quatermass thinks this is the beginning of an alien invasion. When a colleague of his tries to warn authorities, he discovers that the commissioner of police has the V-shaped mark and that the aliens have taken over the government.  Quatermass has to act to prevent the alien takeover.

The film is an effective SF monster movie thriller, with a credible alien threat and a fair solution (though it differed from that in the TV series). 

This film features the Bernard Quatermass actor from the first of the series, Brian Donlevy. Nigel Kneale, the writer of the TV series, did not like Donlevy as an actor, mostly because he had a drinking problem. It was one reason why he didn't come back for Quatermass and the Pit. Also of interest in the cast is Byron Forbes, who switched over from acting to writing and directing, with such films as King Rat, The Wrong Box, The Stepford Wives, and Chaplin (writing only).

Another effective piece of SF horror from the time.

Quatermass and the Pit

 (1967)
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Written by Nigel Kneale
Starring James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover
IMDB Entry

Science fiction came to TV early on. One of the first shows in the US was Captain Video and His Video Rangers It will holds the record for the most episodes of a TV show* and set the template for US-based SF as being something mostly for kids. The UK went in a different direction, with several miniseries about the adventures of space scientist Bernard Quatermass**, written by Nigel Kneale, which leaned heavily on horror of a grown-up nature. Quatermass and the Pit was the adaptation of the third of these serials and is a science fiction horror story.

When building a new station on the London Underground, workers discover an ancient ape. Dr, Mathew Roney (James Donald) sees something odd about the ape.  More strangely, a metallic object is discovered.  Professor Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Kier) is discussing plans for his rocket program, objecting to the military, led by Colonel Breen (Julian Glover), attempting to turn it into a military mission News comes to them about the metallic object and, thinking it's an unexploded bomb from the blitz, they go to deal with it.

They soon discover it it impossibly hard. Quatermass thinks it was sent long ago by Martians and when they finally make a hole, they find a creature that looks like a giant grasshopper, that has horns that, in dim light, make them look like the devil.

Breen, of course, pooh poohs the idea and insists it was some kind of German terror weapon.  He's wrong, and the ship has some sort of psychic power that wrecks havoc in London.

The setup is slow and filled with tension.  We know that thd alien craft is some sort of threat, and the movie keeps up the tension by slowly  revealing the situation. I do think the ending is a bit quick after the slow buildup.

This is the third  Quatermass film, developed from a TV series from 1957.  Most of the cast were mainstays of British TV, but I note Julian Glover, who was the last of the Scaroth in one of the best Tom Baker serials of Doctor Who, "City of Death." The film was a Hammer production and the slow build made it quite different from other films from  that studio.

Chuck Rothman's novel, The Cadaver Princess, the story of body snatchers and evil plots in pre-Victorian London, is available from most online book sellers and to borrow from your local library using the Hoopla app.

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*It ran five days a week for almost six years.

** Note the spelling: there is only one "r."

When Worlds Collide

 

(1951)
Directed by Rudolph Maté
Written by Sydney Boehm from a novel by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie
Starring Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen, John Hoyt, Larry Keaton
IMDB Entry

For decades, Hollywood ignored science fiction. It can probably be traced back to the movie Just Imagine, an attempt at a comedy musical SF films starring the legendary El Brendel. It was expensive and was a major flop, reducing science fiction to Saturday morning Flash Gordon serials for kids. But after the bomb dropped, interest in the genre was renewed and more adult films were attempted. Producer George Pal decided to try it, an hedge his bets by helping to create a new genre: the disaster film. The result was When Worlds Collide.

David Randall (Richard Derr) is a pilot asked to deliver some important photos to astronomer Cole Hendron (Larry Keating). Randall learns that the news is extremely bad:  a rogue star, Bellus, and its accompanying planet, Zyra, are going to crash into Earth.

Hendron goes to the UN to warn them, but he's not believed. He wants to create "arks" to save as many people as he could. He's not believed, but manages to raise money to start the project for one of these. Part of that is getting financing from wheelchair-bound millionaire Sidney Stanton (John Hoyt). They begin work on the ship.  Randall falls in love with Hendron's daughter Joyce (Barbara Rush), which leads to issues. Since not everyone can fit in the ship, a lottery system is set up.

Zyra reaches Earth first, causing tsunamis, volcanoes, and floods.  And there is plenty of interpersonal conflict and issues among the people. It forms the template for a disaster film, even though the genre did not really become a thing for years later.

The special effects were probably top notch for the time, though they pale in comparison to modern effects.  And the movie tries to get the science right. 

Still, the film is a bit slow moving, with a lot of talk about what's going to happen, so it movie is pretty flat in long stretches.  It wasn't as influential as was hoped.*

Chuck Rothman's novel, The Cadaver Princess, the story of body snatchers and evil plots in pre-Victorian London, is available from most online book sellers and to borrow from your local library using the Hoopla app.

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*The second book in the series, After Worlds Collide.

Avenue 5 (TV)

 (2020-2025)
Created by Armando Iannucci
Starring Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, Zach Woods, Rebecca Front, Suzy Nakamura, Lenora Crichlow, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ethan Phillips
IMDB Entry

I've been noticing a trend in TV shows -- usually comedies -- that don't make it clear what the show is about. For instance, nothing about the title The Bear makes it clear that it's about running a restaurant. What We Do in the Shadows and Our Flag Means Death don't really indicate what the shows are about.*  But the one title that doesn't seem to fit the show is the comedy Avenue 5.

The show is science  fiction.  Avenue 5 is a luxury spaceship, giving people a tour of the solar system. It's commanded by Ryan Clark (Hugh Laurie), who genially greets and reacts to the passengers and owned by billionaire Herman Judd (Josh Gad). 

But trouble hits.  The artificial gravity goes haywire and the result is the ship's cruise now no longer takes eight weeks -- it's now going to be three years.  And we learn that Clark is just a figurehead; the real crew is hidden away from the passengers, and the real captain is dead. Billy McEvoy (Lenora Crichlow) is second in command, and the most competent one around and has to try to deal with the madness.

The rest of the real crew** try to deal with the issue, but it's up to Clark to deal with the passengers, and he is best at being a genial host, not a commander. Herman Judd is oblivious and useless, as it often pointed out to him by his associate Iris Kimura (Suzy Naskamura). Matt Spencer (Zach Woods), head of customer relations, is a walking  factory of useless cliches. Karen Kelly (Rebecca Front) is a pushy passenger who learns of the predicament and knows how to take  charge.  Meanwhile, back on Earth, Rav Mulcair (Nikki Amuka-Bird) tries to get a handle on the situation.  Also among the crew is Spike Martin (Ethan Phillips), a former astronaut.  

The comedy comes from the characters and their reactions. There aren't a lot of punchlines, but plenty of things that are just plain insane. Clark tries to keep a lid on the silliness, with the help of Billie, but no one listens.

One interesting running gag is that Clark is English, but speaks with an American accent unless he's stressed. This is a dig at Laurie's accent in House, where he uses an American accent throughout.*** Ethan Phillips was best known for playing Neelix on Star Trek Voyager; he's not very familiar looking without the prosthetics until he speaks.

While the early episodes stuck to the science, as time went on, that got lost in the comedy, but no one should mind.

The series was created by Armando Iannucci, the man behind Veep and The Death of Stalin. It ran for two seasons.

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*Vampires and Pirates, respectively.  And they don't make  it clear they are comedies.

**The one on the bridge they show passengers is made up of actors pushing fake buttons.

***When he auditioned for House, the producer commented on how it was good to have an American to play the role.

Phantom Lady

 

(1944)
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld
Starring Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Thomas Gomez, Elisha Cook, Jr.
IMDB Entry

Phantom Lady was squarely in the middle of Hitchcock territory: a man is wrongly accused of a crime. But Hitchcock had the accused the center of the story and this makes the mistake of removing him from the picture. Still, it manages to be suspenseful with an intriguing situation.

It starts with a woman's hat. The hat is garish and too big, but gets the attention of Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis), who has just had a fight with his wife and is drinking at a bar.  He and the woman go to a stage show, on the condition that neither tells the other their name. After the show, Scott returns home, only to find the police there. His wife has been murdered, strangled with one of his neckties, and he is the main suspect. He tries to use the woman as an alibi, but doesn't know her name. The cops, leed by Inspector Burgess (Thomas Gomez), retrace his steps, but no one remembers seeing the woman with him.  He is tried and sentenced to death.

Carol Richman (Ella Raines),  his secretary, is secretly in love with him* and tries to prove his innocence. Inspector Burgess agrees he's not guilty and they begin to investigate. They interview various witnesses. She cleverly gets a bartender to admit he saw the woman and was bribed to lie about it.  He is killed in an accident running away from her after the admission.

Aurora (Aurora Miranda), a nightclub singer, says she doesn't remember the woman or the hat.  But we had already seen that she spotted it in the audience -- it was identical to hers -- so we know something is up. Same for a drummer Cliff Milburn (Elisha Cook, Jr.), who, drunk and trying to impress Carol, admits he was paid to lie. When he realizes she's gathering information, he kicks her out. But a mysterious man shows up to kill Milburn.

We are shown soon after that Henderson's best friend Jack Marlow (Franchot Tone) is that mysterious man.  He has just returned from a trip to South America,** where he was when Henderson's wife was murdered. He offers to help Burgess and Carol to find the mysterious woman.

This fits right in with Hitchcock's definition of suspense: where the audience knows of danger when the characters don't. 

The situation is eventually revealed. Marlow's plot is too convoluted and depends on people reacting in ways that could not be anticipated. But the suspense is pretty well handled.

Franchot Tone was a successful leading man, and wanted to stretch out and play a villian. Despite being top billed, he doesn't appear until well into the movie, but he makes a great impression as the psychopathic Marlow.

Ella Raines is good as the secretary turned detective, though Alan Curtis doesn't make a bit impression as Henderson.  I always like to see Elisha Cook, Jr. and I remember Thomas Gomez from Force of Evil.

Chuck Rothman's is the author of The Cadaver Princess, a horror fantasy about body snatchers set in 1831 England.

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*A common trope of the 30s and 40s, often used in song, where a man leaves his wife for his secretary.

**I notice that movies and TV shows of this era always have people in South America or Mexico, when the plot requires they be away.

Ministry of Fear

 

(1944)
Directed by Fritz Lang
Written by Seton I. Miller from a novel by Graham Greene
Starring Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Hillary Brooke, Carl Esmond, Dan Duryea, Erskine Sandford.
IMDB Entry

Fritz Lang shows up on most lists of great film directors and most film students encounter him with Metropolis and M. He left Germany when the Nazis came to power,* but continued to make films in the US. They were mildly successful, but were not considered great films when they came out, until critics began to notice in retrospect.  The Ministry of Fear, from a novel by the great spy novelist Graham Greene, is one of several of his anti-Nazi themed films of the 1940s.

We first see Stephen Neale (Ray Milland), being released from an asylum. While waiting for a train to London, he decides to enjoy a village fete.** One of the booths has you guess the weight of a cake to win it. He is told to go to a palm reader's tent and Mrs. Bellane tells him what to guess.  He ends up winning the cake, but another man arrives and the people at the booth say Neale was wrong and should give the cake to the person who made the correct guess.  Neale refuses.

When he gets on the train, he's joined in his compartment by a blind man. When the train is stopped due to an air raid, the blind man reveals himself as a fraud and tries to shoot Neale.  A bomb lands on the fake blind man and Neale finds his gun in the debris and goes to London, trying to track down what's going on.

With the help of a private detective George Rennit (Erskine Sandford), Neale tracks down the head of the Mothers of Free Nations, who ran the fete.  Willi Helfe (Carl Esmond) and his sister Carla Helfe (Marjorie Reynolds) are in charge and are shocked to learn that their organization was being used for something so devious. Neale goes to see Mrs. Bellane (Hillary Brooke) and discovers she's a much younger woman than the one telling fortunes.  He attends a seance and there is a murder and, of course, Neale is the suspect.  He goes on the run, with Carla helping. He explains why he was in the asylum -- for a mercy killing of his dying wife that he didn't actually do -- and they began to fall in love.

The film is well structured with plenty of plot twists and I was quite surprised at the ending. The spycraft is a little bit silly -- the issue with the cake would be too risky to be seriously considered.  But the film doesn't make things easy for the characters.

Many in the cast were notable. Ray Milland, of course, won an Oscar a few years later for The Lost Weekend. Marjorie Reynolds is best know for helping Bing Crosby introduce "White Christmas" in Holiday Inn. Erskine Sandford showed up in Citizen Kane as the editor of the Inquirer when Kane takes it over. And Alan Napier, in a smallish role, is well known for playing Alfred in TV's Batman.

There's also Dan Duryea, who made a career playing bad guys.

The movie was well received but seems to have left little impression. It is well worth checking out.

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*He often told the story that the day he was planning to leave Germany for good, Josef Goebbels summoned him to his office and offered to make him head of UFA, the German film company. Lang talked about how he kept looking at the clock, hoping to be able to leave before the banks closed so he could take all his money and get out of the country.

**A British fundraising fair, with games and rides and other entertainment. We had the same thing when I was growing up, but we called them "Block Parties."

In Memorium: Dave Mason

 https://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/09/dave-mason-together-music.html

Adam and Evelyne

(1949)
Directed by Harold French
Written by Noel Langley (story), George Barraud, Nicholas Phipps, Lesley Storm
Starring Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Raymond Young, Fred Johnson, Wilfred Hyde-White
IMDB Entry

I've seen people list movies online that could never be remade, usually due to dated or offensive story matter. When I stumbled upon Adam and Evelyne, I realized this was something whose subject matter is far too cringy, especially for what was supposed to be a light romantic comedy.

Evelyne Kirby (Jean Simmons) is a teen who lives in a girl school.  Her mother is dead, but her father, Chris Kirby (Fred Johnson) has started writing to her and promises to take her home. Kirby is a jockey and after being fatally injured in a fall from his hose, confesses to his best friend Adam Black (Stewart Granger) that he's been writing to Evelyne, but send a photo of Black and saying it was of him. Black goes to see Evelyne and she immediately thinks he's her father. Black doesn't want to tell her the truth, and takes her home. 

Eventually, of course, the truth comes out, but Evelyne becomes his ward*, and is sent to a boarding school.  But Black won't tell her the source of his income:  he runs illegal gambling parties.  And Evelyne hates gambling.  She returns and starts dating Black's ne'er-do-well brother Roddy (Raymond Young), and through a series of misunderstandings, true love blossoms.

The problem with the movie is obvious. Black has to be old enough to be Evelyn's father, and that sort of age difference is creepy these days.** Another problem is the ending, which is a sort of "never mind"  that lets it have a happy ending.

Simmons had a long an tumultuous career in Hollywood, with one Oscar nomination; this was her first film as an adult. Granger these days is best known for having to change his name from James Stewart. Both, however, were major stars of the 1950s.

Notable in the cast is Wilfred Hyde-White, who cornered the market on droll and kindly English gentlemen in the 50s and 50s. And I spotted Mona Washbourne in a minor role; I remember he fondly playing the "Lion Aunt" in Stevie.

The issue of age difference didn't come up when it was released, and it got good reviews and was nominated for awards. But today it is creepy to watch.

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*People do smirk about the relationship with his "ward," though there is nothing untoward in the movie, and Black vehemently objected to the gossip.

**Rumors had it that Granger and Simmons (she was 16 years younger), were romantically involved at the time. They denied it, but married soon afterwards.

Extraordinary (TV)

(2023-2024)
Created and Written by Erin Morin
Starring Máiréad Tyers, Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, Luke Rollason, Siobhán McSweeney
IMDB Entry

I'm always searching for new things to feature in this blog and I came across a list of the best situation comedies of the 21st century. There were, of course, the usual names, but one I had never heard of. Extraordinary has a clever concept and makes the most of its premise.

It set in a world where everyone has superpowers, usually developed when you turn 18. Jen (Máiréad Tyers) is twenty-five but has no powers yet and is frustrated that they haven't shown up. She lives with her best friend Carrie (Sofia Oxenham), who works for a lawyer and can channel dead people, and Carries' boyfriend Kash (Bilil Hasna),* who can reverse time, but who doesn't have a job. Jen takes in a stray cat, naming him Jizzlord (Luke Rollason) before she discovers he's a shapeshifter and has been a cat for some time, and has little idea how to behave like a human.

Jen keeps looking for ways to unlock her power, mostly by trying to get the cash for a counseling program designed to help her. Kash tries his hand at being a vigilante, while Carrie has to deal with the dead people -- usually celebrities, of course -- who she brings back and interacts with. And Jizzlord has to learn about human things.

I was delighted to learn that Jen's mother is played by Siobhán McSweeney, who was spectacular in Derry Girls as the seen-it-all-before Sister Michael. Another surprise is Ardal O'Hanlon, who I remember from Death in Paradise; he doesn't appear, but his voice is easily identified.

It mostly a comedy of human reactions, but I do love the way things are set up. The various superpowers are not always the usual things.** And some remain in the background. I'm especially impressed by the guy walking around Cassie's office with a cloud over his head that seems to show his mood, though it's not explained. There's also Jen's boss, who is in her 50s, but who looks like a preteen girl.

Jen is a bit self-centered (a fact that is hit home in one of the stories), but still sympathetic. I especially like Luke Rollason who is just wonderful as the cat: naive without being stupid.

The show ran two seasons of eight episodes but was abruptly cancelled. You can find it on Disney+.

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*It was a couple of episodes before I caught on to the pun of Kash and Carrie. I did get the pun in the title very quickly, though.

**A couple seem to be taken from the great superhero series Misfits.

Burke & Hare

 (2010)
Directed by John Landis
Written by Piers Ashworth, Nick Moorcroft
Starring Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Isla Fisher, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry, Jessica Hynes, Hugh Bonneville, Ronnie Corbett, Christopher Lee
IMDB Entry

As some of you might have noticed, I am the author of the novel, The Cadaver Princess, a story about body snatchers in 1831 London. It is based on a real group of people plying that trade, called "The London Burkers," whose actions led to the laws that killed that practice. But despite their influence, when you think of body snatchers, two names come to mind:  William Burke and William Hare.*  They are by far more notorious** and it was inevitable a movie might be made about them, and several were, including The Body Snatchers, with an Oscar-worthy performance by Boris Karloff. Burke & Hare had a new take on the story, turning it into a black comedy.

Burke (Simon Pegg) and Hare (Andy Serkis) were small-time con artists in Edinburgh. Hare runs a boarding house with his wife Margaret (Jessica Hynes). When a boarder dies, she has them remove the body, but on the way to the cemetery,  the learn that anatomist Robert Knox (Tom Wilkinson) pays for cadavers to teach medical students. The two sell the corpse and see this as a good way to make money.  They first try to rob graves, but fail, but when a old lodger in the inn (Christopher Lee) seems close to death, they finish the job. Gradually the two graduate to murdering people in the streets.

Burke meets actress Ginny Hawkins (Isla Fisher), who has a dream of doing an all-women version of Macbeth and becomes infatuated with her. He continues plying his trade to help her out. Meanwhile, Captain Tom McLintock (Ronnie Corbett) starts to investigate the various people who vanish off the city streets.

The movie is rather tame, though there are some funny moments. Pegg does his lovestruck and sexually frustrated romantic part quite well, and Corbett's performance livens everything up whenever he appears (alas, too late in the film). Most of the bigger names -- Lee and Curry*** -- are little more than cameos. 

The movie was a disappointment when it came out. John Landis -- who had directed several comedy classics -- had not done a film in 12 years, so this comeback was disappointing. The black comedy is more black than comic.

But it was a great concept, and worth a look. Still, The Cadaver Princess is more entertaining overall, even if I do say so myself.

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*It's why the London Burkers got their sobriquet.

**Though they didn't influence changes to the law. I think that's because they were doing their dirty work in Edinburgh, Scotland. Londoners didn't care much about what happened up north, but once it happened in their own city -- well, something had to be done. 

***Hugh Bonneville had not done Downton Abbey yet.

Three on a Match

 (1932)
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Lucien Hubbard (screenplay), Kubek Glasmon (story), John Bright (story)
Starring Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Bette Davis, Warren William, Lyle Talbot, Humphrey Bogart, Edward Arnold, Buster Phelps
IMDB Entry

Three on a Match was a pre-code film with several familiar faces, in a situation that would be frowned upon when the code came.

It starts with an extended flashback, where three elementary students are fast friends. Mary Keaton is a hellion, ignoring rules and getting deep in trouble; Vivian Revere wants to marry a rich husband and live it up, while Ruth Westcott has no grand ambition.

They meet by accident years later. Mary -- now Mary Bernard (Joan Blondell) -- is a successful showgirl, while Vivian -- now Vivian Kirkwood -- has married a wealthy lawyer, Robert Kirkwood (Warren William) and has a young son, Robert Jr (Buster Phelps).  Ruth (Bette Davis) is getting along as a stenographer. The three use a single match to light their cigarettes, going against the superstition of the time.

Vivian is unhappy with the marriage, discovering that money doesn't give  her happiness. Robert tries to be supportive, but she feels she needs to get away. He gives her the monty for a trip to Europe. Before sailing, she runs into Mary, who takes her to a going away party, where she meets Michael Loftus (Lyle Talbot), who convinces her to run away with him. Impulsively, she leaves, taking Junior, then vanishes, Robert Sr. is distraught and Mary and Ruth come to support him. Vivian wants a divorce, and Robert asks to have Junior back.  Vivian agrees and once it's final, Robert marries Mary and hires Ruth to be Junior's governess.

The movie takes a dark turn. Vivian has lost all her money and Michael is a gambler who owes $2000 to the gangster Ace (Edward Arnold). In a desperate attempt to get the cash, he kidnaps Junior. Ace learns about it and sends his henchmen, including the nasty Harve (Humphrey Bogart).

As you may have noted, the cast is filled with actors who had long careers in Hollywood. Ann Dvorak is quite good as Vivian, a woman who is not unsympathetic despite her actions, and is redeemed at the end. Joan Blondell is good in a dramatic role in contrast to her usual role as a comedienne.  Both characters show change as they go through life. 

Bette Davis does not show much, but there's really little for her to do. She clashed with the director, but the character is there mostly so there can be three people using the match. Warren William as big during the pre-code era and this was a different sort of role for him -- a decent man instead of someone with a scheme.

Lyle Talbot had a long career, moving from leading man to character actor as time went on. He was very busy in television, but is probably best known for his one scene in the classic Plan Nine from Outer Space.

This was Bogart's first time playing a gangster and you can see how well he takes to it. And Edward Arnold was an all-purpose villian on the Warner's lot.

What is interesting is how divorce is portrayed. The code did not allow for it, yet here it's pretty straightforward. Kirkwood realizes it's the only answer, and marries Mary as soon as it's official. The film also straightforwardly portrays Vivian's infidelity.

Mervyn LeRoy was one of the top directors of the 1930s, his reputation starting with the classic films Little Caesar. I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Golddiggers of 1933, and many others.   The movie is fast paced and LeRoy cleverly uses montages to show the passage of time.

The film did poorly, but as time went by, audiences and critics responded to it.  

Chuck Rothman is author of the hidden historical fantasy novel, The Cadaver Princess

Working (TV)

 (1997-1999)
Created by Michael Davidoff, Bill Rosenthal
Starring Fred Savage, Maurice Godin, Yvette Freeman, Sarah Knowlton, Arden Myrin, Steve Hytner, Dana Gould
IMDB Entry

Workplace comedies are big these days, probably due to the massive success of The Office. But they usually deal with the quirks of the people who work there, and steer away from the issues of a satirical look at a workplace. The gold standard for this was the delightful Better Off Ted, but the earlier show Working also handled the satirical look with aplomb.

Matt Peyser (Fred Savage) gets a job with Upton/Webber, a big, soulless corporation. Matt is an idealist, eager to do a good job and soon learns that his ideals don't do him much good. His boss, Tim Deale (Maurice Godin) quickly disabuses him  of the notion the company thinks of him as anything more than a drone at his beck and call. Other workers include Abby (Arden Myrin), a perky woman who always tries to keep a positive attitude; Delaney (Steve Hytner), the cynic of the group; office manager Evelyn (Yvette Freeman), who enforces the rules with subtle glee; Hal (Sarah Knowlton), a woman who is a Yale graduate and is frustrated by he sexism she has to face; and Jimmy (Dana Gould), who is a bit slow and a lot of weird.

The big bosses of Upton/Webber are clearly evil as they come up with nonsensical rules. Matt tends to suffer for his gung-ho attitude, but sometimes manages to earn small victories.

The humor is well wrought, with some nice touches of the absurd. The office, for instance, has a suggestion box for employees, but when Matt tries to put something in it, he learns it is just a tromp d'oeil painting on the wall. When they discuss that taller men are more likely to be in upper management, we see an exceedingly tall man from upper management walk by. There are also meta jokes, like where Matt is at a party, saying he always ended up alone in a corner in parties, while he is standing alone in the corner. One gag was having Matt dating an woman played by Danica Patrick, saying she reminds him of  someone he knew when he was a kid.*

The show also used a concept that was repurposed for Better Off Ted, a fake ad for Upton/Webber at various commercial breaks.

Fred Savage is well known from The Wonder Years and The Princess Bride. This is his second longest run in a TV series. The other actors worked steadily, but with no spotlighted roles.

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*If you don't get it, remember the two of them appeared in The Wonder Years.

Cat Mother and the All-Night Newsboys

 

(1967-1973)
Personnel: Roy Michaels (bass, vocals), Charlie Chin (guitar, vocals), Bob Smith (drums, keyboards, vocals), Larry Packer (guitar, violin), Michael Equine (drums, guitar), Jay Ungar (violin)
Wikipedia Page

Many groups try hard, but never make a big success. Cat Mother and the All-Night Newsboys was one example. Two of their songs made a minor splash, but they were never able to capitalize on it, and the best known piece connected to one of their members became a familiar melody years after they broke up.

Roy Michaels played with Steven Stills and Rich Furay in the Au Go Go Singers, and joined with Bob Smith, Charlie Chin, Larry Packer and Michael Equine. They started out  in New York, performing in the Woodstock area*  and in New York city. They became friends with Jimi Hendrix, who used them as an opening act and produced their first album, The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away. Despite its title, which hints at a punk sensibility, they were more an early example of soft country rock.. 

But they did have a minor hit with "Good Old Rock 'n' Roll." The song has a short intro waxing nostalgic at the old rock and roll songs, and then includes excerpts of "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Long Tall Sally," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and others. 

Remember that in 1969, a lot of younger music fans rarely had a chance to hear Chuck Berry or Little Richard. No radio stations specialized in oldies; if they played them, they were playing songs from two or three years previously, not from the previous decade. Even the oldies were played sporadically. "Good Old Rock 'n' Roll" was featured often enough to give the fans a chance to hear the songs.

The album did well enough, and the Jimi Hendrix connection helped a bit, but not enough.  The group moved from New York to California and added Jay Ungar on violin before coming out with their next album, Albion Doo-Wah. Reception was mixed but one song became an minor classic:  "Strike a Match and Light Another." This country-tinged tune was a humorous song about marijuana that got a lot of airplay on underground and college radio.

Still, it was not enough to keep the band going. After a couple of failed albums, the group broke up.

One member, however, did have a major success.  Jay Ungar, living in the Woodstock area composed a charming little waltz called "Ashokan Farewell." You may not recognize the name, but you probably have heard it:  Ken Burns used it extensively (25 times) in his documentary The Civil War.

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*Possible giving people the idea of doing a music festival there.

Royal Wedding

 (1951)
Directed by Stanley Donen
Written by Alan Jay Lerner
Starring Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill, Keenan Wynn
IMDB Entry 

Some movies are known only for one classic scene. The most obvious is Five Easy Pieces, for Jack Nicholson ordering in a diner: that's been shown often, but far fewer people have seen the entire movie. Another example is Royal Wedding. 

Tom (Fred Astaire) and Ellen (Jane Powell) Bowen are Broadway stars who take their show to London around the time when Elizabeth marries Prince Phillip. On the voyage over, Ellen falls for Lord John Brindale (Peter Lawford). Later, in the UK, Tom meets Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill) and falls for her. Complications ensue:  Brindale, despite being a lord, is a playboy who's unwilling to settle down, and has very little money. Anne is engaged to be married to a man who has moved to the US, but still keeps up the long distance relationship.

This is a romantic comedy and the story is a very slight one. It's sabotaged by having the romantic couples join up early on, which leaves little room for conflict. Lots of movie musicals used a similar plot, but in this it seems very tired.

But the movie achieved immortality due to Astaire's "Dancing on the Ceiling" routine, which shows up in any compilation of his work. It is still technically impressive today, and probably even more so when it first came out. This is also the movie where Astaire danced with a hat rack, and where he and Powell performed "How Could You Believe Me when I tell You that I Loved You when you Know I've been a Liar All My Life?"  There's also the technical challenge of "Open Your Eyes," where Astaire and Powel dance on the ship as it goes through a storm. Its rocking causes them to slip and fall, and musical instruments to roll behind them.

Astaire is Astaire, performing his usual light romantic comedy to perfection. Powell is also quite good.* Lawford is a bit too stiff as a romantic lead, but manages all right.

Sarah Churchill was primarily a stage actress and doesn't have much chemistry with Astaire. She is the daughter of Winston Churchill and was successful at that despite having a British national hero as a father.

Also of note is Keenan Wynn as their American theatrical agent, Irving Klinger, and his English twin brother agent, Edgar Klinger.

Alan Jay Lerner wrote the script and lyrics. He did better when he joined with Fredric Lowe a couple of years later.

The movie had a difficult production history. June Allyson was first hired to play opposite Astaire,  under the direction of Charles Walters. Allyson got pregnant and Judy Garland was tapped for the role. Garland was in a troubled state of mind and missed rehearsals until she was fired and replaced by Powell. Walters left at about this time (possibly due to Garland's firing) and Stanley Donen took over.**

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*It's interesting that her character dates several different men, sometimes going from one to another an back in a few days, much like Lawford's character going through women,  The the movie's credit, this is treated lightheartedly, with no shame attached.

*Donen directed Singin' in the Rain the next year.

Up the River

 (1930)
Directed by John Ford
Written by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Starring Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, Claire Luce, Warren Hymer, Morgan Wallace, Joan Lawes
IMDB Entry

When sound came in, Hollywood brought in an influx of actors, hoping they would be successful on the screen. Up the River features two of the greatest names of the golden age of Hollywood, as well as one of the screen's greatest directors.

The film is set in a prison. Saint Louis (Spencer Tracy) is sent to prison, where he meets with Steve Jordan (Humphrey Bogart).  Steve is a trustee and helps with the intake of new prisoners, including Judy Fields (Claire Luce) in the woman's prison next door.*  She is there because she was innocently involved in a stock fraud scheme run by Frosby (Morgan Wallace). Steve and Judy develop feelings for each other, and when Steve is paroled, he promises to get together with Judy when she is released in a few months. 

Saint Louis learns that Frosby is going to Steve's home town, and breaks out of jail along with Dannemora Dan (Warren Hymer) to warn Steve. 

The movie was conceived as a dark prison drama, but the release of The Big House caused director John Ford to rethink it as a romantic comedy. The romance between Steve and Judy takes center stage, as does business among the inmates, who are concentrating on winning a baseball game against another prison. The movie even contains a musical sequence as a stage show put on by the inmates. At the same time, there are some dark moments, but they are off stage and only implied.

Bogart is quite bland as Steve, showing little of the personality that made him a star.** Tracy does show promise and his acting has the wonderful naturalness that made him a star.. Claire Luce was primarily a stage star*** and is perfectly fine. 

This is the only time Bogart and Tracy worked together. They spent their careers at different studios, and by the time they got out of the studio system, there was problems with billing that kept them from working together.

Of note is Joan Lawes as the warden's daughter. She is allowed to walk among the inmates, who treat her as though she was their own.

The film is a bit slow, but entertaining.

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*It doesn't seem a likely setup, though having woman around has been shown to help the male inmates to stay away from violence.

**This was the first of his films to be released.

***Even appearing with Fred Astaire in The Gay Divorce.

Libelled Lady

 

(1936)
Directed by Jack Conway
Written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, George Oppenheimer
Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, Walter Connolly
IMDB Entry

Screwball comedy is about love and romance. Despite all the frenetic action, slapstick, and fast talk, the ultimate story involves people falling for each other. A lesser known example of the form, Libelled Lady, shows it in all its glory.

It starts out with a mistake. The New York Evening Star prints a false story about the rich Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) without it being checked by its editor Warren Hagerty (Spencer Tracy), since he is preparing to marry his long-suffering fiancé Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow). Connie sues the paper  for $5 million,* which would put it out of business. Frantic, Hagerty hires Bill Chandler (William Powell) in a scheme to discredit Allenbury. He has Bill marry Gladys -- who objects but is forced to play along -- then send him to romance Connie. Hagerty plans to reveal to the world that Connie is with a married man. The scandal will discredit the suit, and Gladys can then divorce Bill and marry Hagerty.**

Bill sets up a meet cute as Connie boards a boat to sail to the US*** and charms her father (Walter Connolly) by pretending to be an avid fisherman, a passion of her father. Slowly, Bill and Connie fall in love, complicating the plan.  Even more complicated is the fact that Gladys begins to fall in love with Bill, too.

Powell and Loy had already become the screen's number one romantic couple from the Thin Man movies and the same romantic chemistry is shown here. Tracy's reputation as the actor's actor is obvious here; at no point does he ever seem to be acting.

Jean Harlow was at her peak. It's interesting that she ditched the Platinum blonde locks for something a bit more subdued, but she puts on a strong performance.

I did notice a plot hole that was glossed over at the end.  I don't know why the Hayes office let it pass, but it may be because the story was working toward something that was perhaps even more objectionable (see note for spoiler)****

Powell was together with Harlow at the time and wanted Connie and Gladys to switch parts, but the studio wouldn't allow it.

The movie was a hit, but Harlow's death (she only made two more movies after this) cast a pall over it over the years.

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*Almost $120 million today

**An extremely convoluted plan, which is unlikely to work out even under the best of circumstances. But that's why they call it "screwball."

***Even more convoluted: Bill has to sail to England in order to get to the ship back to the U.S.

****The final scene deals with the fact that Gladys was previously married and then divorced. Bill shows that the divorce was invalid, so their marriage was bigamous and illegal. Gladys says she got a legal divorce later, making the marriage between Connie and Bill illegal. This is not dealt with. However, there are obvious grounds for annulment of the marriage, but the censors probably didn't want to talk about non-consummation.

It All Came True

 (1940)
Directed by Lewis Seiler
Written by Michael Fessler, Lawrence Kimble
Starring Ann Sheridan, Jeffrey Lynn, Humphrey Bogart, ZaSu Pitts, Una O'Connor, Felix Bressart, Jessy Bussley
IMDB Entry

Humphrey Bogart has a long road to stardom. Warner Brothers didn't know what to do with him, thinking of James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson for lead gangster roles. Bogart was usually secondary and not the star. But one film on his rise to becoming a star was a forgotten comedy called It All Came True.

It's starts with a boarding house run by Maggie Ryan (Una O'Connor) and Nora Taylor (Jessie Busley). We meet the boarders, including Miss Flint (ZaSu Pitts), who can't walk down the street without thinking men are harassing her* and the Great Boldini (Felix Bressart), a down-on-his-heels magician. The calm of the boarding house is upset when Mrs. Ryan's daughter Sarah Jane (Ann Sheridan), returns after pursuing a career as a singer. Sarah Jane was close to Mrs. Taylor's son Tommy (Jeffrey Lynn), and aspiring songwriter.

Tommy is working for nightclub owner and gangster Chips Maguire (Humphrey Bogart). When Maguire murders a squealer, he forces Tommy to take him to stay at the boarding house because the gun that committed the murder is registered to him.  He hides in his room, calling himself Grasselli, but slowly gets drawn in to the community. Sarah Jane recognizes him at once, but helps to keep his secret.

Even though Bogart was third billed, he stands out throughout the film. He downplays the menace most of the time. 

I hadn't seen much of Ann Sheridan before, and she's good as the hard-boiled dame who can see what's up. ZaSu Pitts has been a favorite actress of mine and this is one of her best comedy role, especially in a scene where Sheridan discourages her from going to the police about Maguire. Other notables in the cast include Una O'Connor from Bride of Frankenstein, who plays the comic Irish woman to perfection, and Felix Bressart -- from The Shop Around the Corner -- who is delightful as the incompetent magician.

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*Don't worry.  They aren't.

Murder at the Vanities

 

(1934)
Directed by Mitchel Leisen
Written by Carey Wilson, Joseph Gollomb, Earl Carroll
Starring Jack Oakie, Carl Brisson, Kitty Carlisle, Victor McLaglen, Duke Ellington, Gertrude Michael, Gail Patrick
IMDB Entry

During the early days of the 20th century, the Broadway musical slowly evolved. One aspect was the  musical revues of the teens and twenties. The Ziegfeld Follies is probably the best known these days, but another series of them was Earl Carroll's Vanities. While Ziegfeld strived to be high class, Carroll didn't  care about that. In 1933, he tried with a book musical and the result was filmed as Murder at the Vanities.

Jack Ellery (Jack Oakie) is the producer of one of Carroll's shows, starring the couple of Eric Lander (Carl Brisson) and Ann Ware (Kitty Carlisle). The two of them plan to mary after the show, but Rita Ross (Gertrude Michael) is jealous, having been with Eric some time before and still believing he loves her. There are various attempts on Ann's life, and when a woman private investigator (Gail Patrick) is found dead on the catwalk, Ellery calls in a cop, Bill Murdock (Victor McLaughlin) to keep from getting worse. Of course, things get worse, and Rita ends up dead.

The murder mystery is pretty routine.* but the musical elements are delightful.

First of all, this movie introduced the song "Cocktails for Two," first as a duet, then as a full production number. I knew the song primarily through Spike Jones's version, one of the funniest songs ever performed. I kept expecting to hear the sound effects that made it so memorable.

And one sign that this is a pre-code film is a short number called "Sweet Marijuana."  In her memoirs, Kitty Carlisle said she had no idea what marijuana was at the time, thinking it a musical instrument. It also wasn't illegal until a few years later.

The third element was the production number "Ebony Rhapsody," which starts out as a classic version of Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody. But slowly, Duke Ellington and members of his band and group of Black dancers replace the original and turn it into jazz. It's a nice use of the song. The ending, though, is a bit problematic as someone pretends to shoot all the Black people down with a machine gun.

As for the leads, I've always liked Jack Oakie for his breezy charm. He's only known these days for his role as fake Mussolini in The Great Dictator, but also shows up in the underrated Million Dollar Legs. Victor McLaughlin earned an Oscar the next year for his dramatic turn in The Informer, and becomeon of John Ford's stock company,

I mostly remember Kitty Carlisle for her appearances as a panelist on game shows, but she did star with the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera. Other names of note in the cast include Gail Patrick,** Charles (Ming the Merciless) Middleton, and Donald Meek***

Carroll's Vanities were always a bit more risque than Ziegfeld's Follies. Many of the chorus in the movie had appeared on Broadway, and did appear nearly nude in the film. Lucille Ball, Ann Sheridan, and Alan Ladd has roles in the chorus.

Director Mitchell Leisen started out a set designer, but moved to directing in the 1930s and was known for his keen eye for composition.

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*Indeed, it only works because it is contrived so that the person who can clear up everything is always ignored when they try to alert people.

**Later the producer of Perry Mason.

***His name described his character. He shows up as the whiskey drummer in Stagecoach.

Under Capricorn

 

(1949)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by James Bridie, Hume Cronyn from novels by Helen Simpson (novel) and John Colton and Margaret Linden (play)
Starring Joseph Cotten, Ingrid Bergman, Michael Wilding, Margaret Leighton, Cecil Parker
IMDB Entry

I've been a fan of Alfred Hitchcock for years and have seen nearly all of his films. But even Hitchcock had his stinkers. Jamaica Inn  is what usually comes to mind, and it certainly deserves the "honor." But I have found the Under Capricorn is also pretty bad, just in different ways.

In 19th Century Australia, the new governor, Sir Richard (Cecil Parker) arrives with his cousin Charles Adare (Michael Wilding).  Adare is approached by Sam Flusky (Joseph Cotten) to help with a shady land deal. He goes to a dinner at Flusky's house, which is only attended by other men, their wives unavailable due to flimsy excuses. When Sam's wife, Henrietta (Ingrid Bergman) joins, Adare realizes he knew her when they were children. Henrietta is now an alcoholic and embarasses herself in front of the guests. Sam asks for Adare to stay to help cheer up his wife.

She begins to feel better, but is sabotaged by the housekeeper Milly (Margaret Leighton), who wants to keep Henrietta helpless (supplying her with whiskey) so that she can be gotten rid of for Milly to marry Sam. When Milly spots Adare and Henriette kissing in a moment of weakness,* she has the ammunition she needs to destroy them. But Henrietta holds a deep secret.

The main problem with the film is that it's all talk and little else. It's written more like a soap opera than the tightly plotted films that made Hitchcock famous. The characters are stiff and generally uninteresting.  The obvious source of potential conflict -- Henrietta choosing between Sam and Adare -- is just sloughed off.  Milly has her moments as the scheming villain, but it also devolves into telling, not showing. There is an opportunity for suspense near the end, but, oddly, Hitchcock drains all the suspense out of it.

The film doesn't reach the level of badness of Jamaica Inn, but ultimately is too long, too melodramatic, and completely lacking in the set pieces that make movies pop. It might have been better with a director more attuned to the soap opera elements, but it a disappointment from the man billed "The Master of Suspense."

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*Featured on the poster, which gives the impression that it's a story of forbidden love between Adare and Henrietta.