We’re No Angels (1955)

Three escapes from Devil’s Island prison (Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray) hide out on the island waiting for a chance to sneak aboard a steamship to freedom. In the meantime they meet the Ducotel family who run a general store, whom they plan to rob blind. The family trusts the men, although it’s unclear why, and the men begin to like the family. Cousin Andre (Basil Rathbone) proves harder to like.

Similar to 3 Godfathers, we again have three criminals learn the true meaning of Christmas and become good people. Instead of wise men, our three are analogs of the three archangels, even watching the family from up on high. But as Bogart’s Joseph says, “we’re no angels”. And they’re not.

Joan Bennett came out of scandal-induced retirement to play the Ducotel matriarch. Leo G. Carroll is over a barrel as shop owner Felix Ducotel. Pretty Gloria Talbott (The Cyclops) is their fainting-prone daughter. Peter Ustinov is a name I am quite familiar with but may have heard him more than seen. At 55 he played the 'Old Man' in Logan’s Run. His distinct line delivery was quite interesting.

I did not pick up on the screwball tone of We’re No Angels at first. When Mom Ducotel finds her daughter unconscious in the arms of a convict, I would expect her to have some follow-up questions, but we saw what happened and she believes their explanation without question. They are the main characters, after all. Once I accepted these things, it was quite enjoyable. AMRU 3.5.

“We came here to rob them and that's what we're gonna do - beat their heads in, gouge their eyes out, cut their throats. Soon as we wash the dishes."

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Mildred’s (Joan Crawford) husband is murdered then we see her frame someone. We then learn of her life in flashback. How she struggled and sacrificed to provide for her daughter, and how nothing was ever good enough for the haughty Veda (Ann Blyth).

Approaching 40, Crawford fought for the meaty role that other actresses shied away from. She was only thirteen years older than Blyth but once you are the mother of a teen, you can’t go back to leading lady roles. Fifteen years later Sophia Loren would thwart conventional wisdom with Two Women. Director Michael Curtiz wasn’t keen to work with the notoriously difficult Crawford, and they did butt heads, but would eventually learn to work together.

An unconventional noir, but it has all the elements. Crime, ambiguity, expressionist cinematography, a tight, biting script, and a femme fatale, though we are not initially certain who. But the story is told entirely from Mildred’s point of view. Not a hard bitten detective with a checkered past, but a wife and mother who bakes pies and strives to provide for her daughter.

It’s always nice to see Rydell High’s Eve Arden in a sizable role. Jack Carson made for a wonderfully slimy womanizer. I don’t recall his character from the few other films I’ve seen him in, but I’ll be sure to take notice next time. Seventeen year old Blyth was excellent as the petulant Veda, earning her an Oscar nom.

If I have any criticism of Mildred Pierce is that it felt a little long and talky through the middle, but that may say more about me than the movie. Script, story, and acting, it is solid all the way through. It earned Joan her only Oscar and did for her career what she hoped. And with that, I have reviewed my 700th film. AMRU 4.

“Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.”

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

When the good King Richard is taken captive during the crusades, his treacherous brother Prince John (Claude Rains) does what all monarchs do and seizes control. He taxes the poor Saxons to the brink of starvation while Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) makes friends. Oh, and steals from the rich. Stuff like that.

Our villains hatch a plan to capture Robin by holding an archery competition. They would arrest the winner, who would obviously be Robin Hood. Seeing the obvious trap, Robin hatches a plan of his own. He will win the competition but when they try to capture him, he will try to run away. Despite the plan’s brilliance, it doesn’t go off all that well. It is up to pretty Lady Marion (Olivia de Havilland) and daring swashbuckling action to rescue him.

Claude Rains is delightful as the tyrannical Prince John, and Basil Rathbone seemed born to play Sir Guy. For the record, Alan Rickman played the Sheriff, not Sir Guy. Skipper’s Dad Alan Hale played Little John in this and the 1922 version. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., son of the 1922 Robin Hood, turned down the lead role because he didn’t want to be remembered as his father’s son. Too bad because if he were successful, he might be remembered as something other than his father’s son.

The effect of having arrows stuck into extras was accomplished by having an archer ACTUALLY SHOOT ARROWS AT THEM! They were paid $150 per arrow that hit them. Where is OSHA when you need them? The character Much is the catalyst of the story, being saved by Robin after arrest for killing the King’s deer. After that point he is mostly comic relief. The much older Una O’Connor played his comedic love interest. Friar Tuck too is mostly comic relief, as is Little John. Will Scarlet is mostly forgotten.

The Adventures of Robin Hood is a fun romp. The story is so well worn that it’s a bit threadbare, but we can’t blame the most famous version for that. It was a lot of fun. Goodbye, Olivia, and good job. AMRU 4.

Black Legion (1937)

Frank (Humphrey Bogart) loses out on a promotion to a polish immigrant just because, and get this, he is smart and hard working. Go figure! Frank is fed up and learns about this secret club called the Black Legion where hard working Americans fight back against this sort of thing! Racism is bad, hmmm kay!

The Black Legion (the club, not the movie) is a thinly disguised version of the Ku Klux Klan. The actual klan, in fact, sued the studio. Not for defamation of character, but for use of their symbols. Gotta have priorities. The Legion’s crimes are quite extreme. They kidnap and flog people, or burn down their house and run them out of town. If they burned crosses, maybe the Klan’s suit would have gone someplace.

Dick Foran played Frank's good friend who tries to lead him straight. He had a long career in many westerns, but I remember him from Bogart's Petrified Forest and a couple mummy films. Hottie Ann Sheridan has an early, small role. She would stand out in The Man Who Came to Dinner.

The Black Legion (the movie, not the club) is a little heavy handed with the message. Good people are all good, bad people are all bad, and Bogart’s Frank is the good guy led astray. I am curious how effective this kind of message worked during the era. In reality things are more complicated, and a message rejected outright by the audience that needs it most is of little value. But this is movies, not reality. And as a movie, it was meh. Bogart always raises the level of everything he is in. AMRU 2.5.

Black lives matter, our society does not value them equally, and that is wrong.

White Christmas (1954)

After the war, army buddies Bob and Phil (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) start a song and dance act. Ten years on they become quite successful. So successful that Phil wants to marry Bob off to floozy dance girls with poor diction in hopes that it would keep taskmaster Bob occasionally occupied. When another army buddy writes asking them to give career advice to his performing sisters Betty and Judy (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen), Phil gets the idea of matching Bob up with Betty, as her diction is perfect. They land in the non-snowy Vermont inn owned by their old commanding officer, who is struggling financially. Let’s put on a show!

Christmas Musicals are inevitably romantic comedies, this being no different. Boy meets girl, boy and girl like each other, misunderstanding, grand gesture, happy ending. Only variation here is that the grand gesture IS the misunderstanding. Also with Christmas Musicals, the plot is frequently paper-thin. Again, same here.

White Christmas is a slight retooling of Holiday Inn (1942). We have Bing, tried to have Astaire but was unavailable, reused the song, and even reused the country inn set, this time located in Vermont. They even do a minstrel number, but at least had the decency to lose the blackface. Baby steps.

I remember Rosemary Clooney from her old and fat days, wondering why she was famous. Not a classic beauty, she was certainly charming. And at 25 she was definitely good enough for the 50ish Crosby. Oh, and she was George’s aunt. Her little sister was played by the anorexic Vera-Ellen. Anyone who danced next to her was paled by her energy and skill. Clearly it wasn’t food she was getting her energy from. She had to be dubbed for the singing parts.

Except for the benefit of color (and lack of blackface color), we essentially have the same movie as Holiday Inn. Many musical numbers if you’re into that sort of thing, witty and charming dialog, simple story with low-stakes consequences. AMRU 3.5.

The Walking Dead (1936)

A judge who convicted a gangster is murdered, and a simple ex-con (Boris Karloff) is framed for it. Testimony from two young lab assistance could exonerate him, but they come forward seconds too late. So their scientist-boss (Edmund Gwenn) gets custody of the body (all you need to do is ask, apparently) and brings him back to life. Seems revived Boris knows things that pre-dead Boris didn’t. Santa is anxious to learn how.

This Warner Brothers gangster/horror film was directed by Michael Curtiz who directed a dozen films a year from the early teens until he dropped dead, of exhaustion I presume. Karloff is fantastic as the understated simpleton raised from the dead. Santa was Santa as always.

The studio was clearly banking on the Frankenstein associations. Karloff Frankensteined his way after the gangsters and Gwenn even gave a “He’s Alive” upon his revival. The gothic trappings were not present (well, there is that one graveyard scene) but studios know how to sacrifice originality for ticket sales. But don't judge them too harshly. Karloff was something of a phenomenon at the time and money is money.

All in all, The Walking Dead is a plus horror film. There is a bit more going on than risen-monster-seeks-revenge. There are a few elements at play and Karloff showed some unexpected range. Make no mistake, it's still a B picture, but a well done one. AMRU 3.5.

“The Lord thy God is a jealous God!”

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

Obsessed London wax artist Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill) is going broke and doesn't seem to care. Business partner certainly does and has a solution. Burn the house down for the insurance money. They fight but the poor artist is knocked unconscious.

Years later in New York, Igor reappears with a new museum, but because of injuries sustained in the fire, he cannot walk or use his hands. He trains young artists to do his sculpting for him. A young socialite dies and the reporter covering the story (Glenda Farrell), also the roommate of the fiancee (Fay Wray) of one of Igor's young artists, happens to notice that the Joan of Arc sculpture resembles the dead socialite, and that her body was stolen from the morgue ... well, you get the picture.

After seeing Vincent Price's House of Wax, I wanted to see this version for comparison. Apart from a couple character constructs, there is little difference in the stories. The biggest difference was the tone. As the main character is a 30's reporter, there was lots of that quick witted, wise-crackie, Front Page-esque dialog. The tone, in fact, was very similar to Doctor X, also starring Atwill and Wray and released the year before. Another similarity was that both were filmed in the two-strip technicolor process, which I happen to like.

Mystery of the Wax Museum is listed as a pre-code film, that is, released prior to the full enforcement of the MPAA production code, but I'm not sure what rule it violated. There is a reference to a bootlegger, but who cares. Only thing I can think is that some of Igor's sculptures were (horrors!) topless. Got that sexy clay going on.

Atwill excelled, as he frequently does, in his role. Wray got second billing, but didn't get much screen time or any good dialog to speak of. Her job was to scream when Igor tries to turn her into Marie Antoinette. This was really Farrell's movie, being in the lion's share of the frames and getting almost all the clever dialog.

So, how does it stack up to the 1953 remake? I'd match Atwill's performance up against Price, which is high praise, but overall the silly tone and mystery focus of the former has it falling short. Still a worthwhile watch, but doesn't offer much that the remake doesn't do better. AMRU 3.

"I offer you immortality, my child. Think of it: in a thousand years you shall be as lovely as you are now!"

Doctor X (1932)

"... Doctor X will build a creature ..."

No he won't. Sixth movie referenced in the song Science Fiction/Double Feature. Eleven down and item from the bucket list complete.

People are being strangled and partially eaten during the full moon. Papers are calling it the Moon Killer Murders. The police are investigating. They speak with eminent Doctor Xavier (Lionel Atwill), or Doctor X to his homies. He runs a prestigious medical academy and the police both need his expert opinion and suspect that the murder is one of them. So, they interview his posse.

And what a motley crew they are, just bubbling with suspicion. Into the mix arrives a reporter trying to get a scoop and the good doctor's hot daughter (Fay Wray). The cops give Doc X 48 hours to unmask the killer or else they'll start doing their job. Doc invites his five suspects to his spooky mansion for an experiment. Along for the ride are the amusing butler and maid.

Since I started this-here blog, I've greatly expanded my sources of movies. Initially all I had was the trusty public library plus my own humble collection. Then I went to Netflix. Last Christmas I got a Roku box that allowed me to watch Netflix and Amazon Prime from the bedroom, as well as sources of public domain movies via Pub-D-Hub and the like. At the beginning of this month I made the giant leap into the 21st century and subscribed to digital cable. Within that first week two movies I haven't been able to lay my filthy hands on were on TCM. Doctor X was the first.

Doc X was filmed in an early two color Technicolor process that lacks the vibrant colors we know today but worked well in the horror genre. For years the movie was only shown in black and white but the color version was discovered and restored, and that's what TCM is showing. It looked great.

Technically a comic horror, and in many ways a crime drama, Doctor X is both somewhat interesting and somewhat amusing. The early thirties comedy showed through with great comebacks as "What that? Haaaaaay!" Were this movie not in color and not on the Science Fiction/Double Feature list, it would be quite skipable. But that's not the case and it was nice to see Fay in color and Lionel in a leading man role. AMRU 3.

Cop: No one goes in there except stiffs.
Taylor: Oh yea? What's keeping you out here?
Cop: What the? Haaaaay!

The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

A wealthy collector is dead and the cops conclude suicide. But was it murder? If so, we have a host of suspects. Luckily, Philo Vance (William Powell) is on the case.

Archer Coe (Robert Barrat) is found dead in his study. The doors are locked and everything points to suicide. Philo Vance doesn't think so. Coe wasn't the kind of man to take his own life. He abused his workers, bullied his business partners, and was an all around douche-bag. Not one to put a gun to his own head. Philo goes about snooping around. 

Well, there are lots of suspects, lots of side stories, and even a little humor. In fact, think The Thin Man, minus the missus. And much of the humor. Between 1929 and 1947 there were sixteen Philo Vance mysteries made, five of the first six with Powell in the title role. This was his last. Only two other actors made more than one (two each).

Throughout the movie I couldn't help but think this was Thin Man light. He even had a dog. But don't be fooled. No Myrna Loy and a weaker story. Mary Astor is no replacement. Still, not bad. Especially after watching a Charlie Chan movie. Those aren't mysteries as much as "guess the bad guy" games. I liked it and give it an AMRU 3. It's the only one available on Netflix and I'm not going too far out of my way to find more.

So, who is Philo Vance? He's a character in several S. S. Van Dine mystery novels. He is referred on Wikipedia as "stylish, even foppish dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent." Writer Raymond Chandler referred to him as "the most asinine character in detective fiction." High praise indeed. Luckily, William Powell played him a little more, ahem, strait.

Casablanca (1942)

I've seen this film once or twice before, so I knew I loved it. I got it on DVD last Christmas. Yesterday, I watched it again.

Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is the owner of a saloon with a mysterious past. The leader of the Czech underground and Nazi thorn Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) arrives with his unbelievably hot wife, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) trying to find passage to America. The local authorities, Captain Renault (Caude Rains) and the Nazis want to keep them in Casablanca. Rick can help, but will he?

It seems back in Paris (Flashback! - Doo doo doo, Doo doo doo, Doo doo doo), Ilsa and Rick met up just before the Nazis rolled into town. Ilsa thought Victor was dead, so she made plans to run off with Rick. At the last minute, she learns Victor was only MOSTLY dead, so she leaves Rick at the alter/train station. Poor Rick.

Back in Casablanca, Rick has a choice to make. Help Victor because he sympathizes with his cause or set him up and take his unbelievably hot wife?

Here are a couple of my observations after this viewing:

Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre had very small roles, smaller than I remember. Ingrid Bergman was unbelievably hot. Had I mentioned that before? Claude Rains has many great lines. Clearly a womanizer, but look at these:

"Well, Rick is the kind of man that... well, if I were a woman, and I were not around, I should be in love with Rick."

and

"She was asking about you earlier in a way that made me very jealous."

I know he was supposed to be French, but come on! What's going on here? Discuss ...

Casablanca is an all time great film. Great acting, writing, and atmosphere. It's even better than it's reputation. And Ingrid Bergman was unbelievably hot. AMRU 5. I hope to convince my sons to watch it.