FILM REVIEWS, COLLECTION UPDATES, COMMENTS ON CINEMATIC CULTURE

Sunday, August 29, 2021

20,000 YEARS IN SING SING (1933)


The Warner Brothers studio was known for its serious, hard hitting crime dramas in the 1930's, especially during the pre-code period. This excellent film directed by Michael Curtiz is definitely one of the best. Spencer Tracy, a contract player at Fox (later known as 20th Century-Fox) was loaned to Warners and paired with young Bette Davis, who was working hard in her apprenticeship years. It was the one and only collaboration between  these two legendary stars.

Tracy plays career criminal Tommy Connors, who is sentenced to 5-30 years in prison for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Cocky and unrepentant, Tommy swears to be as uncooperative and rebellious as possible. His associate, Joe Finn (Louis Calhern) promises to get Tommy out of prison and also tries to bribe the warden, Paul Long (Arthur Byron), to make life easy for Tommy, but the warden refuses the bribe. The warden is determined to make Tommy cooperative by confining him to his cell. Eventually, Tommy breaks down and becomes a part of prison life, even learning to respect the warden. Tommy's girlfriend, Fay Wilson (Bette Davis), visits him frequently. She tells Tommy that she is spending time with Finn, hoping he can use his influence to get Tommy paroled.

When several inmates plan a prison break, Tommy is at first involved. But when the break is scheduled for a Saturday, Tommy backs out. He is superstitious about Saturday, because he has always had bad luck on that day. When the warden receives a telegram saying that Fay has been seriously injured in an auto accident and may not live, he grants Tommy a 24 hour leave to go and see her. Tommy swears to return to prison. But Tommy learns that Finn was responsible for Fay's accident and is asking her to sign a statement exonerating him, for which he will pay her $5,000. Fay has agreed so that she can give the money to Tommy. Tommy steals a gun belonging to Finn, intending to kill him. But Fay convinces him to give her the gun. When Finn arrives and threatens Tommy's life, Fay kills Finn. Tommy takes the gun from her while she secretly puts the $5,000 in his pocket. Tommy flees, and Finn accuses Tommy of the shooting before he dies.

Tommy is now a fugitive, while the warden is forced to resign for allowing Tommy to go free. But just when he is about to sign the resignation papers, Tommy returns, keeping his promise. He is sentenced to die in the electric chair for the murder of Joe Finn, even though Fay, who has recovered from her injuries, admitted in court that she fired the shot. Tommy accepts his fate and tells Fay to go on with her life and find a good man. 


This fast paced drama is well written and well acted by all concerned. Tracy gives an energetic, nuanced portrayal of the recalcitrant Tommy, who evolves into a completely sympathetic character. Bette Davis was at the peak of her young beauty in this film. While the actress wasn't always happy with the roles assigned to her by the studio, she loved working with Tracy and always wished they could have made more films together. Davis is able to bring a combination of vulnerability and strength to Fay, the kind of strength that would soon personify her screen image and make her into a major star. Not only is there a lot of chemistry between the two leading players, but also between Tracy and Arthur Byron as the warden. The two men display strong, determined personalities that clash in the beginning. But as the narrative continues, they develop a relationship of mutual trust and respect. The last scene in the film shows the warden and Tommy during the last minutes before Tommy's execution. The warden is lighting a cigar for Tommy, but his hands begin to shake. Tommy takes hold of the hand and steadies it as the two men look into each other's eyes. The action is performed without dialogue, and it's a powerful display of emotional connection.

Also featuring Lyle Talbot, Warren Hymer and Grant Mitchell. 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING is another masterpiece from the Golden Age of Hollywood.





Tuesday, August 24, 2021

AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD (1952)


 After four years away from the cameras, Rita Hayworth, the reigning 'Love Goddess' of Hollywood, made a reluctant comeback in this enjoyable, if formulaic, romantic melodrama. Her last film had been a costumer entitled THE LOVES OF CARMEN (1948), opposite her GILDA (1946) co-star Glenn Ford. Then she married Prince Aly Khan,  became a princess herself, had another child, and tried to break away from the Hollywood rat race. But the marriage eventually fell apart and she was drawn back to her contract with Columbia Pictures, a relationship that had brought her great fame as well as great frustration. Supposedly, when she read the script for AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD, she through it across the room. However, she made the picture, with her own production company, and it turned out to be a bigger financial success than the legendary GILDA.

Set on the exotic tropical island of Trinidad, then a British colony, Miss Hayworth plays an American singer/dancer, Chris Emery, who struts her stuff in a night club. As the film opens, we learn that her husband, Neil, has been found dead, presumably by suicide. Chris is deeply upset by the news, even though she and Neil had been estranged for a long while. She testifies at the inquest that her husband had threatened suicide more than once. He was disheartened by his failure to establish himself as an artist. After the inquest, Chris is told by Inspector Smythe (Torin Thatcher) and a man from the American Consulate by the name of Anderson (Howard Wendell), that they now have evidence that Neil was murdered. They suspect that Max Fabian (Alexander Scourby), a wealthy friend of both Neil and Chris, may have been involved. They also reveal their suspicion that Fabian is involved in criminal, treasonous activity against the United States and the United Kingdom. They ask Chris to help them. Fabian is obviously attracted to Chris, so they convince her to encourage his attraction so that she can find evidence the police can use to arrest him.

Meanwhile, Steve Emery (Glenn Ford), Neil's brother, has arrived in Trinidad from the US to look into a possible job that Neil wrote him about. When he learns Neil is dead, he goes to the police station just in time for the inquest and hears Chris' testimony. Suspicious of Chris and her motives, he confronts her angrily at her home. Soon, however, he apologizes for his behavior and the two begin to bond. The police ask Chris not to tell Steve that she is helping their investigation, which causes confusion between the two, and only makes him continue to be suspicious of her.


One night Chris and Steve are having a rather awkward dinner at Max Fabian's house when four friends of his show up. They are Veronica Huebling (Valerie Bettis) and her husband Dr. Franz Huebling ( George Voskovek), Peter Bronec (Walter Kohler) and a Mr. Walters (Karel Stepanek). As Chris learns, these people are Fabian's henchmen in a scheme to steal military secrets and construct weapons in order to threaten the United States. Fabian's motivation is to increase his personal wealth. Chris gives this information to the police. By this time, Chris and Steve have fallen in love. But Steve is confused and angered by her attentiveness to Fabian. She realizes she can't tell Steve the truth yet, so she lies and tells him that she loves Fabian and intends to go away with him.

While the story is certainly predictable, I don't want to give any spoilers. This movie is too much fun to watch. Let me just say that a happy ending is in the cards. The good guys win, the bad guys lose. And two nice people in love sail away for America. What else would you expect in 1952? Personally, I expect it in 2021, although I'm almost always deeply disappointed.

The gorgeous Miss Hayworth may not have been thrilled to make this movie, but you would never know it. She gives an engaging, sympathetic performance. Her introduction to the story comes early in the film when we see her performing at the night club. Her scorching number is entitled, appropriately enough, Trinidad Lady. She enters the stage area while the band, all local natives, is playing and singing the provocative lyrics:

"A-chick-a-chick  boom-chick-boom

A-chick-a-chick  boom-chick-boom

Announces you're in the room with the Trinidad Lady

Your ticker goes BOOM BOOM BOOM 

For the Trinidad Lady"


And then, over to the Trinidad Lady, who warbles:


"It's only that I do what I love and love what I do

Can't help the mad desire that's deep inside of you

You realize the fault isn't mine, that you are to blame

You want what you can't have, and you're all the same."


Well. All right then. Pass me another Margharita.


Following her suggestive vocalization, the Trinidad Lady does a dance routine with the kind of sexy moves that could make Britney Spears look like Justin Timberlake. Miss Hayworth does another similar number later in the film, this time to a song entitled I've Been Kissed Before. The Boom-Chick-A-Boom factor is still in force. Chris Emery is kind of a one dimensional character, given that we know nothing about her life before she became the toast of Trinidad. But with her particular dimensions, who really cares? 

The Trinidad Lady goes to work.


Glenn Ford gives his usual, conflicted kind of performance, much like the character he played in Gilda. Rumor has it that he and Hayworth had a long term on-off love affair in real life. Whether or not that's true, they certainly have wonderful romantic chemistry on the screen. Alexander Scourby is perfectly subtle and elegantly evil as the duplicitous Max Fabian. He reminds me a lot of George Sanders, who could have played this role beautifully. 


Juanita Moore, the talented actress who will always be remembered for her Oscar nominated work in IMITATION OF LIFE (1959), appears as Chris Emery's West Indian housekeeper, Dominique. Wearing flowing native clothing, her head wrapped in a turban high enough to receive signals from outer space, Dominique runs the household and dispenses folksy wisdom almost every time she opens her mouth. When she comes to clear the table after Chris and Steve have eaten dinner, we get this exchange: 


Dominique: Why have you not eaten?

Chris: We weren't very hungry.

Dominique: No one can live on grief. Yesterday is yesterday. Tomorrow is tomorrow.

Chris: You forgot today.

Dominique: Today is already yesterday.


Later on she comes out with this serious revelation:


When one day is over, another day begins.


Having firmly established her mastery of all things temporal, Dominique proudly defines the function of a servant:


It is the prerogative of a good and loyal servant to be impertinent. 


Miss Moore plays this character with a completely straight face. I can imagine her having a lot of fun saying these lines.

Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth and Juanita Moore


The biggest surprise is the actress Valerie Bettis as Veronica. I had never heard of her before, and it turns out she was only in two films, but had a long, successful career as a dancer and choreographer. In fact, she choreographed both of Rita Hayworth's dance numbers in AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD, and would work with the star again in SALOME. Miss Bettis explodes into this movie like a life force. Her onscreen persona is an uneasy combination of Bette Davis and Claire Trevor, with a dash of Ann Baxter added to the mix. When Veronica and Chris first meet, the sarcasm comes out fast and furious:


Veronica: Oh how do you do, Mrs. Emery? I've heard so much about you! I hope we're not too late for the floor show. When does it go on?

Chris: It seems to be on right now.


It's a shame Miss Bettis didn't make more films, as she had a commanding presence on the screen. It's interesting that when the two actresses did scenes together, Chris was always more subdued, not engaging in the kind of flamboyance that Veronica was so good at dishing out.

George Voskovec, Valerie Bettis and Glenn Ford


Another familiar character actor, Roy Glenn, showed up uncredited in one scene. With his distinctive deep voice, Glenn would go on to a long career, making his mark in classic films like CARMEN JONES (1954) and forever remembered as Sidney Poitier's father in GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER? (1967). The director was Vincent Sherman, a veteran of the Hollywood studio system. After his apprenticeship, he made his directorial debut with THE RETURN OF DR. X in 1939. He would go on to make ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (1942), with Bogart, OLD ACQUAINTANCE (1943) and MR. SKEFFINGTON (1944), both with Bette Davis, as well as many other films for Warner Bros. 

While certainly no classic of the Golden Age of motion pictures, AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD is great fun on the level of pure entertainment. It has a little bit of everything you're looking for when you curl up on the couch on a rainy afternoon and want to escape into a black and white universe of exotic locales, intrigue, and Glenn Ford looking longingly at Rita Hayworth. I guess I can be grateful that Columbia Pictures insisted on Hayworth coming back to work.





Friday, August 20, 2021

COLLECTION UPDATE August 20, 2021

 These items were found at a flea market that I go to quite often. The location is a place called Gordyville, which is not a town, but a group of buildings, including a restaurant (The Wagon Wheel!) out in the middle of the cornfields in East Central Illinois, just a few miles from the village of Gifford.


Gordyville gets its name from Gordon Hannagan, the owner and developer of the property. The site is also used for rodeos and other activities. An auction takes place during the three-day flea market. Gordyville is about as downhome and funky as it gets. Everything you can imagine is up for sale, including loads of DVDs, Blu-rays, and even VHS tapes. Most of the time, the offerings aren't all that interesting. But this weekend featured a guy from Chicago who had quite a few unique titles available. I talked to him, and found out he had acquired a large private collection from an estate sale. He had several titles from The Criterion Collection, which is unusual for Gordyville, I assure you. Most of the Criterions were films I'm not interested in, such as Akira Kurosawa's samurai films. But I did find one Kurosawa title and several others that I couldn't pass up.


The Kurosawa film is DRUNKEN ANGEL (1948), described as a Film Noir set in post-war Tokyo. Starring Toshiro Mifune.





W.C. FIELDS COMEDY FAVORITES

I was very happy to find this W.C. Fields collection, as I've only seen a few of his films. Ten titles are included.











THE FILMS OF RITA HAYWORTH, from Columbia Pictures, includes five films on five discs. 




                                              

Films include:

COVER GIRL (1944)

TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT (1945)

GILDA (1946)

MISS SADIE THOMPSON (1953)

SALOME (1953)

The collector also inserted a DVD-R copy of another Hayworth film: AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD (1952).



PLANET EARTH: THE COMPLETE SERIES

I've never seen this BBC series, but I've heard many good things about it. 


















Four classic MGM musicals! I love these TCM packages, and have several in my collection. The only one of these films I already owned was SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS. Very happy to have this!




THE CHAPLIN COLLECTION: 
A WOMAN OF PARIS

A KING IN NEW YORK

I assume these came from a larger Chaplin box set.



THE SID CAESAR COLLECTION: Classic comedy from "Your Show Of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour"

These will be great fun to get into. I have only vague memories of watching Sid Caesar when I was growing up. He was one of the very first TV stars beginning in 1950. I think my parents bought their first television in the mid-50's, so I probably only got to see these shows in either reruns or special retrospectives. Included in this box set are interviews with some of the writers and stars involved with the shows: Woody Allen, Nanette Fabray, Larry Gelbart, Howard Morris, Carl Reiner, Danny Simon, Neil Simon, Mel Tokin, and Sid Caesar himself.










Sunday, August 1, 2021

FILM DIARY FOR JULY 2021 All films were first watches unless marked with *.

 MURDER ON A HONEYMOON  (1935) *

MURDER ON A BRIDLE PATH  (1936) *

THE PLOT THICKENS  (1936)

FORTY NAUGHTY GIRLS  (1937)

PUZZLE OF A DOWNFALL CHILD  (1970) *

THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG  (1934)

THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE (1935)

THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS  (1935)

THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS  (1936)

ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS  (1955)

ROCK HUDSON'S HOME MOVIES  (1992)

THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM  (1967)

DRESSED TO KILL  (1980)

THE PARALLAX VIEW  (1974)

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION  (1954)

HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR  (1959)

THE CASE OF THE BLACK CAT  (1936)

THE CASE OF THE STUTTERING BISHOP  (1937)

PREDESTINATION  (2014)

YOUNG DR. KILDARE  (1938)

LULU BELLE (1948) *

THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM  (1966)

UNFORGIVEN  (1992)

THE PALM BEACH STORY  (1942)

THE JUDGE  (2014)

THE JIMMY SHOW  (2002)

CONNECTING ROOMS  (1970) *

GIVING UP THE GHOST  (2013) *

HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT  (1937)

THE MUMMY'S TOMB  (1942) *

THE MUMMY'S GHOST  (1944) *

THE MUMMY'S CURSE  (1944) *

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY  (1955)

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD  (2007) *

CALLING DR. KILDARE  (1939) *

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY...  (1989)

FAST FOOD NATION  (2006) *

THE SECRET OF DR. KILDARE  (1939)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK  (1977) *

THE PUFFY CHAIR  (2005)

EVOCATEUR: THE MORTON DOWNEY, JR. MOVIE  (2012)

BRINGING UP BABY  (1938)

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK  (1975)

DR. KILDARE GOES HOME  (1940)

FRENCH POSTCARDS  (1979)

BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS  (1980)

DESIGN FOR LIVING  (1933)

DR. KILDARE'S CRISIS  (1940)

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE  (1962) *