Murder! (1930)

An actor in a local theater group is murdered and a fellow actress (Norah Baring) is convicted of the crime. Juror and famous thespian Sir John (Herbert Marshall) felt pressured to vote guilty and now wants to clear her name. She is so pretty, after all.

What follows is a better than fair police procedural, except instead of the police investigating, it’s the famous Sir John. He visits the crime scene, interviews witnesses and suspects, and uses his fame to subtly manipulate people into getting what he wants. If this were made in Hollywood a couple years later, I could see them wanting to make two 70 minute Sir John mysteries a year.

It’s revealed that Sir John had actually met the defendant when she came for career advice years earlier. I think even 95 years ago this would have invalidated him as a juror. Also interesting is that Norah and her character shared a last name. Character actress Una O’Connor appears in the earliest role I’ve seen her in. She was a fresh faced fifty year old. I was hoping for another memorable over-the-top performance, but she played it fairly straight.

One character is described as being “half-caste” which is olde-english for biracial, a terrible thing back in the day. However, this was a substitute because the filmmakers couldn’t imply he was the G-A-Y.

Murder! is a fairly entertaining story, even if it doesn’t feel very Hitchcock. It was his second fully sound feature and first successful one. AMRU 3.

Ladies of Leisure (1930)

Awkward rich man (Ralph Graves) escapes a party and happens upon a “party girl” (Barbara Stanwyck) who is escaping a boat party she was “working”. He decides to hire her as a model. Will love bloom?

The movie jumps through hoops to establish that Stanwyck’s Kay isn’t a prostitute, despite all evidence. The source play was named “Ladies of the Evening” after all. And Kay’s third act “I know what kind of woman I am” declaration doesn’t read very much like an acknowledgement of class status. Still, nobody is under any illusions. This is unsurprisingly the catalyst of the “crisis climax” beat in the Rom-Com formula.

This was thirty two year old Frank Capra’s fourteenth film, but he had not yet hit his stride. It Happened One Night was four years and nine films off. Sound film was still very new and they hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. A silent version of this film was also produced. 

Ladies of Leisure is a pleasant enough watch. Capra was still Capra and Stanwyck was always Stanwyck, but had I not taken notes directly after watching, I might have forgotten about this film. Watch it to see a very early Stanwyck performance, but there is little else to recommend it. AMRU 3.

Ingagi (1930)

A documentary crew travels to Africa to film the natives and wildlife. There they learn of a tribe that sacrifices girls to the “ingagi” (or gorilla). Except, the crew never left Los Angeles.

Done in voice over, much of the film feels like an early episode of Wild Kingdom. No real narrative and a little boring, save for the oddly frequent need to kill animals for fresh meat. But a critical eye will notice that scenes featuring the principles will show them in front of tall grass or shrubs while long shots feature the recognizable African Serengeti. But the reason for Ingagi’s infamy is in the final few minutes. A naked native woman is sacrificed to a gorilla. For, you know. Nudge nudge, wink wink.

Ingagi entered my radar years ago when I learned of a controversial, early exploitation film. It was either lost or unavailable until it appeared on YouTube a couple years ago. As mentioned, the filmmakers never went to Africa. They stole footage from earlier safari films, added scenes filmed at a local zoo, then recorded the narration. The end result is a somewhat plausible nature documentary, with a side order of implied bestiality. And if Charles Gemora, the man in the ape costume, fathered his children while wearing it, well, that’s his business.

Ingagi (a completely made up word) had difficulty being distributed but was wildly popular where it was shown. The MPAA tried to keep it suppressed but anti-trust legislation made that difficult. In the end, they resorted to insisting it be labeled a work of fiction. The filmmakers refused.

A great many words could be written about the kerfuffle this film caused, but there are videos that do a pretty good job covering that. But were I to focus only on what we see on screen, there wouldn’t be much to say. If nature films or safari adventure is your thing, look elsewhere. If sexy native women are your thing, look elsewhere. Ingagi was provocative in its day, but today it’s a snoozefest. AMRU 2.

The Unholy Three (1930)

A circus is closed down after a brawl, so some of the performers go into business for themselves. Echo (Lon Chaney), a ventriloquist, Hercules, a strong man, and Tweedledee, a midget open a pet store as a front. Echo, disguised as an old woman, makes his birds talk. When the customer complains that they don’t anymore, our heroes visit and case the joint for robbing later. The heat is on when a burglary goes bad leaving one dead. Our bumbling crew frame nice guy Hector then lay low. Also in the gang is Rosie, a pickpocket apparently in a relationship with Echo, and a Gorilla, because, of course.

The Unholy Three (1930) is a remake of a silent film of the same name from five years earlier. The older is considered the better film but this stands as Chaney’s only spoken role. Adding voice to his transformative skills, he not only did two voices (normal and old lady) but also performed all of the ventriloquism in the film. He would die six weeks after the film’s release robbing Hollywood of a true acting genius.

A long while back I wondered what was up with all the gorillas in early talkie horrors. Mostly, that was Charles Gemora. Not the gorilla, the guy in the suit. He played similar roles in The Island of Lost Souls and the terrible Ghost Parade, as well as dozens of others. He was a makeup artist by trade.

There are many parallels between this film (and its predecessor) with Freaks (1932). Dwarf Harry Earles appeared in all three films, Tod Browning directed the silent Unholy and Freaks, all three have a character named Hercules, and the Circus setting, a favorite of Browning. Browning did excellent silent films and earned some acclaim with Freaks and Dracula (1931) but let’s face it. His sound films were a mess. Maybe he couldn’t adapt with the radically new style of storytelling that sound ushered in, or maybe it was all the drinking. He never did a retrospective interview about his career.

As the silent 1925 version is largely considered superior, it’s the one I normally come across. I was happy that TCM ran this version so I could finally hear Chaney speak. Not a terrible film but little to recommend it otherwise. As a Chaney fan I was glad to see it, but to be fair, it deserves a slightly lower grade. AMRU 2.5.

“The way you look at me. You and that horrible little midge. You give me the creeps!”

Animal Crackers (1930)

A rich socialite (Margaret Dumont) hosts a party for a famous explorer (Graucho). Marx Brothers antics ensue.

This is my fifth Marx Brothers film and they are little more than variations on the same theme. So, I was surprised somewhat that I could be somewhat surprised by this one. Every now and again would be a scene that was more than a bit strange. In one where Graucho is trying to convince Dumont and another woman to both marry him, he stops, says "Pardon me while I have a strange interlude", then steps forward into an intense and dryly comedic monologue while the women appear not to notice. Quite strange.

In another scene between Graucho's Captain Spaulding and Roscoe Chandler, an art expert, Chandler's Louis Sorin flubs his line. Graucho runs with it creating an almost uncomfortable but amazing moment. All done in long takes.

The Brother's second film is very uneven. Some gags were hilarious while some were tedious. Some songs were tolerable, while others weren't. Cut most of the insipid songs, a couple of the bits, and you'll have a first rate two-reeler. As is, simply on the power of a couple great bits, AMRU 3.5.

"I'm sick of these conventional marriages. One woman and one man was good enough for your grandmother, but who wants to marry your grandmother? Nobody, not even your grandfather."

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Young German students are urged to enlist for honor and glory, then find out the true meaning of trench warfare.

I had not seriously considered this movie because I mistakenly presumed it was either German with subtitles or, even worse, silent. I also thought it was very long. TCM aired it recently and because it sparked an interest with my 17 year old anti-war military buff son, we watched it together. It's 2 hours fifteenish run time was reasonable for this short-attention-span viewer.

I expect modern HD movies to wow me away visually, what with their CGI and other tricks, but this low-def, 4:3 aspect, black and white movie was impressive. Now when a crane shot spins 360 around someones head, goes up their butt crack, then pans back into outer space, we know a fat guy on a million dollar computer worked the weekend. Here, when soldiers march out of a building that then explodes, we know that the friggin' building the actors walked out of friggin' blew up! This added touch of reality makes all the difference.

The principle message of this story is that nobody wants war, nobody needs it, and the empty headed motormouths back home spouting patriotic clap-trap need to spend an evening stringing barbed wire during a down pour while the enemy strafed them with gunfire. And that message was delivered crystal.

Being an early talkie (the first sound Best Picture winner), the acting styles were clearly influenced by the pantomime era. As such, it is easy to typify the acting as terrible. Mostly because much of it was ... terrible. But these were style choices of the time and later in the film there are nuanced scenes and quiet transformations that are quite remarkable. When the main character goes home on leave and hears the bravado from his father and others in a bar, the restraint in Lew Ayres' performance was wonderful.

The gruff but lovable Sargent Kat (Louis Wolheim) would die a year later from stomach cancer. Uncredited student Arthur Gardner who went on to fame as a TV producer, is a hundred and three. The director looked around the Los Angeles area for real German war veterans to insure uniform and tactic accuracy and found so many he hired some as extras.

The anti-war message was preaching to the choir in my household, but it was a fantastic film. Had it a clearer soundtrack it's impact might even be greater. It's unflinching look at the realities of war, pre-code gore, and surprising performances make this a triumph. AMRU 4.

"I think it's more a kind of fever. Nobody wants it in particular, and then all at once, there it is. We didn't want it. The English didn't want it. And here we are fighting."

The Blue Angel (1930)

Or, more accurately, Der blaue Engel, as it was the German version I watched.

When unpopular prep school professor (Emil Jannings) learns that some of his students are visiting a cabaret to see a singer (Marlene Dietrich), he visits to catch them in the act. But it's the professor who falls for Lola Lola, and so begins his downfall.

Since Witness for the Prosecution, I've wanted to see something else by the old transvestite. Although it was really a vehicle for Jannings and his quirky mannerisms, this is the film that made her a star. She was the object of desire that the men, and boys, revolved around. She sang her signature song, Falling in Love Again, and hearing it in German was quite jarring. But then again, what isn't in that language.

Dietrich is an interesting study. She was an iconic actress, but not a terribly good one. She was a sex symbol, but nothing special to look at. Had many lovers, but few friends. This movie was banned by the Nazi party, but was a favorite of Hitler's.

The makers filmed the movie twice, once in the native German and again for English audiences. For the English version Marlene learned her lines phonetically and, oddly, spoke without accent. In this version she spoke lyrically and without the Dietrich affection ("I'm so tired ..."). Until her song, at least. I would have preferred the English version so that I could look at the actors rather than the words at the bottom of the screen.

The story, the downfall of a foolish man of some reputation, was well executed. Were it an American movie and the media in better shape, it would be regarded as a top notch film. For my purposes, AMRU 3.5.

Hey, look! The entire move is available on YouTube! That can't be legal!