1939 - Warner Brothers
Directed By Vincent Sherman
SYNOPSIS
A wise-cracking reporter (Wayne Morris) goes to visit a socialite (Lya Lys,) but finds her dead. He breaks the story and is forced to apologize (and loses his job) when she shows up to the paper to complain, even though she's as pale as a dead person. His doctor friend Mike (Dennis Morgan) is called on to help investigate another murder with a bloodless body. Mike consults with his superior Dr. Flegg (John Litel,) where he meets a bizarre, clammy, pale faced blood expert Dr. Quesne (Humphrey Bogart.) The grotesque man piques both their interest... as more dead, bloodless bodies turn up.
MY THOUGHTS
Despite the name, Return of Doctor X is in no way related to the 1932 film Doctor X.
There are a few similarities. The unfunny, annoying-as-hell reporter and a trail of unexplained deaths are all that the two horror films have in common... except, of course, both films aren't very good.
'Return' is best known for being Humphrey Bogart's least favorite and most unusual role. The skunk-like white streak in his hair, the pale shiny complexion and that rabbit he always carries define the unusual character. Despite the unusual role, he meets his end in a remarkably similar way to all the supporting, snarly gangster roles he played at this time in his career. Bogie openly spoke of his hatred of the role, but he is effectively unsettling in it.
The plot is ridiculous. It relies on humor too much to balance the horror to appeal to a mass audience.
This is the most clear in Wayne Morris' role. He is far too annoying to be a good hero for the story. Thankfully, Dennis Morgan is able to fill that role as the no-nonsense doctor... but he is given little more than science and medicine to focus on.
'Return' is one of those so-bad-it's-good type of films and must bee seen to be believed.
When a studio owns a film it didn't make, it treats it much like the cliched red-headed stepchild. There are few exceptions to this rule (Warner Brothers owns the MGM and much of the RKO libraries and treats them with respect) but every other studio seems to follow this adage.
The African Queen was an independent production that wound up being owned by Paramount Pictures. Fox Video gave it a VHS release in the early days of home video and repackaged it a few times over the years before Paramount acquired it. When DVD came on the scene in the late 1990s, the film frequently could be seen in "Why Isn't This On DVD?" lists... but never on disc... despite being the only film featuring the pairing of two of Hollywood's all-time great stars Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. By 2009, the film needed major restoration and Paramount ponied up the money to put the classic out in high-def.
The image quality varies but is never bad. Between 50-75% of the footage was shot on location in Africa. The daytime shots are the best looking of any in the film. The colors and image clarity are as vivid as any modern film, yet it still has that classic Technicolor look.
The rest of the film was shot on sound stages in England. The images are far grainier and lack the pop of the sun's light.
The African Queen also featured early green-screen work that was glaringly bad in the original release, which has been painstakingly fixed to make it palatable to modern audiences.
Though the on location/studio footage is definitely noticeable, it is not distracting enough to pull you out of the film.
Included is a new hour-long documentary detailing the making of the film.
It is great to finally have one of the great classics in high-def, looking better than ever.
There is also a more deluxe version that contains a reproduction of Katherine Hepburn's book on the making of the film and a few other goodies.
1932 - First National Pictures/Warner Brothers
Directed By Mervyn LeRoy
SYNOPSIS
3 schoolmates meet up after 10 years. Mary went to reform school (Joan Blondell,) Vivian went to a prestigious boarding school (Ann Dvorak) and Ruth on to a technical college (Bette Davis.) Vivian married a wealthy lawyer (Warren William) and had a boy. She’s unhappy in the marriage and takes the child with her on a vacation without her husband. While at a pre-sail party, she falls for Michael (Lyle Talbot) and leaves the ship and shacks up with him. Mary finds out where she is and tells her husband who comes for the child. He files for divorce and asks Mary to marry him. Michael owes money to gangsters and decides to kidnap the kid. The gangsters (Edward Arnold, Humphrey Bogart, Allen Jenkins) hold Michael, Vivian and the kid in safe keeping until they can get the ransom money.
MY THOUGHTS
The above (long-winded) synopsis makes Three On A Match seem like a long drawn-out soap opera that could be a 6 hour TV miniseries… but in reality the film clocks in at just over an hour. It’s very economical filmmaking. Every second is there in order to advance the plot. No fancy, artsy, self-indulgent camera shots, no meandering sub-plots, no foreshadowing or subtext - it’s just the high speed rollercoaster ride complete with lighting-quick dialogue that defined the Warner Brothers films of the 1930’s.
The breezy pace keeps characters (or the audience) from stopping to think about their actions. There are more than a few head-scratching moments. This is most evident in the relationship between Warren William and Joan Blondell’s characters. ‘Match’ moves on so quickly to the next part of the story that the audience never gets a chance to say “Wait… what????”
The film certainly fits the bill as a pre-code film. The violence and racy double entendres that defined the pre-code era are not as strong here as in other films, but Vivian’s blatant infidelity and lack of care for her child definitely wouldn’t fly after the Production Code was strictly enforced in 1934. It’s not explicitly mentioned, but it’s clear that Vivian also develops a drug (cocaine?) habit along with her rampant alcoholism and develops dark circles around her eyes by the film’s end. These elements give the film a rougher, darker edge that would virtually disappear a few years later.
Joan Blondell and Ann Dvorak shine in their bad girl roles. One starts out bad and goes good while the other starts good and goes bad. The rest of the characters are not as dynamic and as a result less memorable. Bette Davis’ character barely has an influence on the story and spends most of her screen time on the periphery.
Three On A Match is still a unique and eye-opening film and a great example of pre-code film.
It's time for another milestone here at Blues In The Night - My 200th film review. I will be taking a few days off to celebrate and I'll hopefully be back this coming weekend with many more reviews. Thanks again for reading! On with the show! - Andrew
Dead Reckoning
1947 - Columbia Pictures
Directed By John Cromwell
SYNOPSIS
WWII Paratrooper Captain Rip Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) returns from the war with buddy Sgt. Johnny Drake (William Prince.) When Drake runs away shortly before receiving the Congressional Medal Of Honor, Murdock is baffled and goes in search of him. Murdock discovers Drake wasn't the man he though he was, and was an accused murderer. Murdock is sure of his friend's innocence and when Drake's charred corpse turns up his search turns toward a gangster (Morris Carnovsky) and Drake's mysterious girlfriend (Lizabeth Scott.)
MY THOUGHTS
A serviceable but lackluster film noir.
The script of Dead Reckoning has many twists and turns to it, but none are really shocking and those twists seem to be there because they are expected to be. The screenwriter is clearly a fan of pulp novels, Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler, etc. and everything seems to be a hodge-podge of that idiom. The cookie-cutter script offers no new take on these stories and it robs the film of any punch.
The film begins strong with a good hook (Drake running off) and builds to a rousing fast-paced conclusion but everything in-between moves at a snail's pace.
Dead Reckoning can clearly be defined as noir. The use of light and shadow is expertly done and the subject, themes and characters make it a perfect fit.
Humphrey Bogart is good as always playing the tough cynic, but Murdock is just a retread of Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon... except he's a sleuthing paratrooper instead of just a detective. At the time he made the film he was 47, far older than anyone who just got out of the Army as a paratrooper and he looked even older thanks to his smoking and drinking habits. That makes him a little unbelievable for the role but he somehow makes it work. His voice-over narration is one of the rare instances in cinema history where narration actually helps the film, rather than hinder it.
There is just something about Lizabeth Scott's performance that just bugged me the whole time she was onscreen. She comes off as a second-rate Lauren Bacall but does bring ample strength, mystery and sex appeal to the role. I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong.
The supporting players uniformly turn in memorable performances, especially Morris Carnovsky as Murdock's gangland opponent.
As readers of the blog may realize by now, I'm a sucker for film noir. This is far from the best the cinematic style has to offer, but it is still a damn fine film.
Union Officer Bradford (Errol Flynn ) escapes from a Confederate prison with knowledge of a Confederate plot to ship gold to bolster their war-torn nation and leads a mission to stop it. Confederate Captain Irby (Randolph Scott) is leading the secret mission that will ship the gold from Virginia City, Nevada to the south. Both sides must contend with a dastardly Mexican bandito (Humphrey Bogart) who will stop at nothing to get the gold.
MY THOUGHTS
An entertaining B-movie... except it's an A-picture.
Michael Curtiz was well versed in action films, having directed all of Errol Flynn's 'swashbuckling films' like The Sea Hawk, Charge Of The Light Brigade and The Adventures Of Robin Hood (among others.) The action of a western is only a little bit different and he excels at this as well. The action looks great making the film look a lot better than it actually is.
The script is less as exciting. It's another very routine and predictable good conquering bad story. There are a few surprises along the way (like Flynn's prison sentence at the end,) but those are quickly tidied up.
Errol Flynn lacks the charm that made him a star and comes across rather bland. The character is a fairly bland one to begin with, so there was little for him to spice up... especially the romance.
Flynn's character's romance with Miriam Hopkins completely lacks the spark and chemistry of his several onscreen parings with Olivia De Havilland. The film would have done alright completely jettisoning this subplot and further developing the main plot to create something more original than a tacked-on romance to interest female viewers (who probably wouldn't be keen on seeing a western anyway.)
Surprisingly, Humphrey Bogart does OK as a Mexican. He's got the accent down pat but sadly doesn't have the menace or the screen time that even his basic supporting gangster characters did at the time. This was one of his final supporting roles and would soon graduate to lead roles by the end of the year.
The film makes great use of the many familiar faces of the Warner Brothers stock company who all shine in brief roles.
Virginia City is an entertaining and serviceable western but lacks much spark or originality.
Down-on-his-luck screenwriter Dix Steele (Humphrey Bogart) invites a coat-check girl back to his place. She later turns up dead and he's suspected... given the history of his violent temper. His new next door neighbor (Gloria Grahame) gives an alibi for him to the cops. The two meet and fall in love, but his temper begins to make her suspect he did kill the woman... and she wants to get away!
MY THOUGHTS
A somewhat overlooked classic.
In A Lonely Place is a film noir, but it is a far different animal than other Bogart noirs like The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, and Key Largo. The look of noir is present with the film's beautiful photography. The high contrast shadowy looks amazing. But crime usually plays an important role in noir, but here it exists only on the periphery... in how the characters react to it. This helps to focus the story more on the two main characters.
Bogart is great in the role. At the same time, you both sympathize with him as a lonely man trying to conquer his demons and find love AND you feel the same fear of him that Gloria Grahame does. both likable and detestable at the same time. It's a masterful performance and ranks as one of his best. Grahame is also great and gives a very realistic performance. She was in a deteriorating romance with director Nicholas Ray at the time of making this film, which probably added much to her understanding of the role.
The story also exists as a Hollywood tale. It's not as sharply bitter of a story as Sunset Boulevard (released the same year) but it does take many potshots at the 'money vs. art' conundrum that is the essence of Hollywood film-making (for some anyway!)
In A Lonely Place is an outstanding film and should be better-known than it is.
Racket Busters 1938 - Warner Brothers Directed By Lloyd Bacon
SYNOPSIS
Gangster Pete Martin (Humphrey Bogart) makes moves to control the produce market in New York. He starts by targeting the trucking business. This angers many truckers including popular driver Denny Jordan (George Brent.) Martin threatens to harm Jordan's pregnant wife (Gloria Dickson) if he doesn't join Martin's new truckers union. Jordan bends and loses many friends in the process... but how many of them must be beaten and killed before he sees the light and helps to kick the gangsters to the curb?
MY THOUGHTS
An enjoyable, but non-essential, Warner Brothers gangster film from the 30's.
Humphrey Bogart is at his snarling bad-guy best here... making the most out of very little. His character has only one ambition - to take control of the city's food supply. That is all he's used for. We never learn anything else about the character. It's very one dimensional. Bogart played thugs like this left and right during this time in his career and always turned in a solid performance despite the weakly written characters. This part was weaker then most. He was given top billing but George Brent, as the hero, has more screen time. Bogart isn't on screen long enough to light up a smoke (I don't recall him smoking once in the film which must have been a departure for him!)
Brent's character is much more fleshed out and he even has a character arc where he grows learns and changes. Brent does a suitable job but the character seems to be all over the place. At the beginning he's a cynical and wisecracking happy-go-lucky type. Once he's 'gone to the dark side,' he does a 180 and is cold, wooden and dull. Such a drastic change doesn't seem realistic at all.
Realism is what the screenwriters were going for here. The scenario seems like it was ripped from the headlines of the day and cobbled together and rushed into a screenplay. With a little more time the script could have been much better... and less predictable.
The magic of the Warner Brothers gangster films does add some needed gloss to the production, as do many familiar faces like Allen Jenkins. The costumes and good use of the studio's backlot add a lot to the production values of this B-movie.
Crime School 1938 - Warner Brothers Directed By Lewis Seiler
SYNOPSIS
After committing a brutal beating, Frankie Warren (Billy Halop) and his gang (the other Dead End Kids) are sent to reform school, where brutality reigns. The new Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Mark Braden (Humphrey Bogart) finds out about the extreme conditions and cleans the place up and tries to steer Frankie on the right path so he won't become a hardened criminal. But falling for Frankie's sister (Gale Page) may make it difficult for Braden.
MY THOUGHTS
A Broadway play premiered in 1935 that would signal a new direction for Hollywood's crime films. Dead End was a smash hit detailing the lives of young street kids who were on the path to be the next big gangsters in newspaper headlines. The story proposed that these so called 'Dead End Kids' were to become bad as a result of their environment. The squalor of the tenements of the lower east side of Manhattan were to blame for their life of crime.
Independent film producer Sam Goldwyn snatched up the movie rights to the play and released Dead End in 1937, to universal acclaim and several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
All this... at a time when Warner Brothers was considered the go-to studio for socially conscious films. In fact, Warner's I Am A Fugitive From a Chain Gang actually led to widespread prison reforms across the country and a full pardon to the author who wrote the autobiographical tale.
Dead End would have been a perfect match for the studio. It even featured two Warner Brothers actors out on loan, Humphrey Bogart and Allen Jenkins, along with future contract players, The Dead End Kids.
Warner Brothers snatched up the boy's contracts after Goldwyn let them go following their reign of terror during Dead End's production, leading to thousands of dollars in damages to the studio.
The Dead End Kids largely played the same roles (though with different names) they did in the stage and film versions of Dead End. They are as likable and fun to watch as their first appearance. Their energetic and anarchic personas move the film at a brisk pace, and also offer a generous amount of hi-jinks and humor.
Bogart's role couldn't have been more different. In Dead End, he was the notorious Babyface Martin, wanted gangster, and someone the boys looked up to with awe. Here, Bogart is a crusader for good who must win over the hearts of the boys with much effort. This was the strongest of his pre-fame 'good guy' performances, mainly because it was the meatiest part. He played a similar role as a District Attorney in Marked Woman, but the part wasn't written with as much depth. This was one of his first lead roles since landing at Warner's for his powerful supporting performance in The Petrified Forest, which led to countless numbers of gangster roles for Bogart (like Babyface Martin.)
Some of the themes of Crime School were previously used in the 1933 film The Mayor Of Hell starring James Cagney and Frankie Darro and this film is a partial remake of the earlier one. Cagney played a gangster who muscled his way in to change a rough reform school.
In Crime School, we see more of the kids life before reform school and it meshes perfectly with the world of Dead End, and touches on the same central themes. The boys have little to do but commit petty crimes. Once in reform school, it matches the Mayor of Hell in its depiction of the brutality of the warden and guards... and a man looking to civilize and reform the reform school.
The script for Crime School lacks much of the freshness and bite that both Dead End and Mayor of Hell had, and that's the film's weakness... but the performances make up much of the difference. Bogart is more realistic than James Cagney's gangster-wanting-to-do-good in Mayor, and the Dead End Kids have much greater chemistry than do Frankie Darro and a collection of glorified kid-actor extras.
The next and final time Bogart and The Dead End Kids would appear in the same film would be the finest example of the gangster film merging with the socially conscious film, Angels With Dirty Faces. Crime School pales in comparison to that film as well as Dead End, but is still a mighty fine entertaining film wrapped up with an important social message.
THE DVD
Crime School makes its home video debut as part of the new Warner Archive Collection. It is a selection of the studio's back catalog that it deemed not financially worthy of a general DVD release. It and hundreds of other films (from the silent era to the 1990's) are available at WarnerArchive.com The films are fancy pressed DVD-R's featuring an un-remastered print of the film. What you see is exactly the same copy you'd see on TCM or any TV station that would show the film. The exorbitant price of $19.99 per movie kept me from sampling Warner's new DVD line, but thankfully, a great Black Friday sale got me to buy, and I'm glad.
There are plenty of scratches, speckles and lines that appear from time to time (usually at the starts and ends of the original reels of film) but they are not so bad they detract from the watching experience. The disc also features what it calls a trailer... but it's just a few minutes of the start of the film and it fades out. It's nothing like the trailer that appears above.
As a fan of Bogart and the Dead End Kids, I'm glad to finally see this film (in any way I could) and you should definitely seek it out.
Bullets Or Ballots 1936 - Warner Brothers Directed By William Keighley
SYNOPSIS
Disgraced former police detective Johnny Blake (Edward G. Robinson) decides to change sides and become involved in the numbers racket. He joins the mob of Al Krueger (Barton MacLane.) When Krueger is bumped off by his #2 'Bugs' Fenner (Humphrey Bogart,) Blake ascends to the top. But Fenner isn't sure Blake ever left the police department.
MY THOUGHTS
An entertaining gangster film that's boosted by many great performances.
Edward G. Robinson is as highly charismatic as he was in his breakthrough role in Little Caesar, though here he's a good guy. Always fun to watch,
The female roles are far different from the usual molls in every other gangster film Joan Blondell is a big player in the numbers racket... and Robinson's sort-of love interest. You rarely see women as tough gangsters in this era. Louise Beavers, her black maid, is practically running the racket along side of Blondell as equals, which is very unusual and progressive for the time.
Humphrey Bogart plays one of his best supporting gangster thugs of his pre-fame career. He's intense and frightening.... not a guy you'd ever want to meet.
The film is just as fast moving and economically shot as all the other films of Warner's gangster film cycle of the 30's and 40's. It's not as good as the best, like Angels With Dirty Faces or White Heat, but Bullets or Ballots is solid entertainment.
The Caine Mutiny 1954 - Columbia Pictures Directed by Edward Dmytryk
SYNOPSIS
A new ensign (Robert Francis) reports to an insignificant mine-sweeping ship during the second world war. The captain runs a lax ship and soon is replaced by Lt. Commander Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) who runs it the complete opposite. A pattern of behavior begins to develop that leaves some of the senior officers on the ship doubtful of the captain's sanity. During a rough storm where Queeg cracks up, the first officer (Van Johnson) relieves him of his command. The first officer faces mutiny proceedings.
MY THOUGHTS
Several strong performances make Caine shine like she was a new ship.... especially Humphrey Bogart. Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray and Robert Francis (who would tragically die in a plane crash a year later) are very believable in their roles. MacMurray is the tough Fred MacMurray of "Double Indemnity" and not of the light 'Flubber'-y kind he was later in his career. Jose Ferrer is excellent as the Naval Prosecutor in the film's last half hour.
The love affair between Francis' ensign and the nightclub singer played by May Wynn brought nothing to the film. There was little chemistry between the actors and it seemed hokey. The whole thing smelled of a studio exec saying "there has to be a love story or we're not making the film." It's a poor way to open the film and the whole Yosemite scene, though beautifully shot, was wholly unnecessary.
Those scenes should have been replaced so we could get more of Humphrey Bogart's magnificent performance The normal Bogart screen persona is a confident tough-as-nails character. A character you fear because he's got a gun and he's going to kill you. Queeg is a complete 180 from that. You're afraid because he's so unstable, has ultimate power, and you don't know what he's going to do.
His unusual mannerisms and habits, like moving around the steel balls in his hand, give off a general unease about the character. This all leads to his expertly played final scene in the courtroom. His breakdown is expertly handled and paced through the film. This is helped by the expert direction of Edward Dmytryk. His use of camera angles and shots with a lot of movement really add to the storytelling, and keep it from ever being boring. The 'all hands on deck' scene on Admiral Halsey's ship is a perfect example.
This is an excellent film and I highly recommend you enjoy it with some ice cream and at least a gallon of strawberries (be sure to finish them.)
Swing Your Lady 1938 - Warner Brothers Directed by Ray Enright
SYNOPSIS
A wrestling promoter (Humphrey Bogart) takes his sure-to-be-a-star find Joe (Nat Pendleton) to the Ozarks in search of competitors. After a search through several towns Bogie is only able to set up one match. But Joe's competition is a woman! Sadie (Louise Fazenda) is a big girl with an equally big heart... and is the town's blacksmith! The match is called off after Joe falls for Sadie and he refuses to fight. Then Sadie's beau shows up and he's fightin' mad!
MY THOUGHTS
This film clocks in at less than 1:20 but barely has less of a plot than your average 30 minute sitcom. The film is padded with musical performances by the Weaver Brothers. They play mostly novelty hillbilly songs. Every rural stereotype is on display here (especially in the hoedown musical numbers.) Moonshine jug, fat guy in overalls, scraggly beard and hat... and that's just one of the extras in the film. The hillbilly element is almost as offensive as African-American stereotypes of the era.
There are a few jokes here and there in the weak script but most fall flat.
Bogart seems to enjoy himself in the role, although he would call this his worst film and I agree. It is worse than his turn as a vampire in The Return of Doctor X." Bogie was probably glad to get a break from his endless run of supporting gangster roles and violent death scenes, although the part doesn't showcase his talents at all. Allen Jenkins and Frank McHugh play Bogie's assistants and are their usual funny selves, but the focus is rarely on them. The character of Joe is annoying and seems to be a rabbit-less Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Except, he sadly isn't put out of his misery at the end like Lenny. Sadie is also hard to take. She takes the brunt of the wretched script, delivering most of the painfully bad dialogue ("Well, shuck my corn!") Out of nowhere towards the end of the film, Ronald Reagan shows up as a sports writer to cover the Joe/Sadie match. He's there for a few scenes than vanishes (hopefully to a better film.)
I would say the most telling testament to the quality of this film is the simple fact that home video has been around for 30 years, and Swing Your Lady has NEVER been released. This film is for Humphrey Bogart completeists only... and even then, watch at your own risk.
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