One Way Passage (1932)

Dashing Dan (William Powell) catches the eye of pretty Joan (Kay Francis). They fall in love while sharing a voyage to San Francisco, but are keeping a dark secret. Convicted of murder, Dan is returning to face the hangman’s noose, while Joan is terminally ill. They sneak around, have adventures, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Character actor Frank McHugh is Skippy, Dan’s comic relief friend. He’s come up quite a few times in my travels putting him into the ‘Familiar, but can’t quite place him’ category. Same could be said for Roscoe Karns, but his role here was uncredited and quite small. Pretty Kay Francis is quite charming in the lead. She had a moment in the early thirties, but limited acting range and a slight lisp soon relegated her to second tier films and second fiddle roles before the decades end.

One Way Passage is a fairly simple story but it makes use of its characters and premise well. Barrel House Betty, who feigns aristocracy to scam rich idiots, has more depth than you might expect. The same could be said for the knucklehead cop bringing Dan to justice. And the ending, well, see for yourself. At times funny and touching, and always entertaining to watch. William Powell always delivers. AMRU 3.5.

2022 Retrospective

2022 Retrospective

I have a list problem. I keep making them. In this case it’s films I must watch. For instance every Marx Brothers film, which I finished off in July. I got it into my head to watch every available Hitchcock directed film, which quickly became a slog. I saw four in 2022. I expect to see the rest, but I’m in no hurry. I managed to polish off the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films in May. I must be more selective with arbitrary lists going forward.

I wanted to see more foreign language films this year and I did. Bob le flambeur (1956) was my clear favorite. Godard’s Alphaville (1965) rubbed me the wrong way. I had high hopes. Silent films were also a priority. Three of the four I watched were by Hitchcock, so my clear favorite was Buster Keaton’s The Navigator (1924). Keaton did twelve silent comedies, of which I’ve covered seven. As they are all considered excellent, this is an arbitrary list I can get behind.

I watched one musical this past year, the forgettable Royal Wedding (1951), and two westerns, Hud (1963) and Johnny Guitar (1954), both oddballs in the genre. Twelve films are labeled Horror. I mostly enjoyed them, even the stinkers. I’m looking at you, Trog (1970)!

I didn’t manage any Christmas films, and the reason is twofold. After three years, covid finally caught up with me in December. Focusing on anything, even a Christmas movie, was a chore. Also, nearing the day itself, my DVR went into stupid mode. Tech support issued a reset over the wire to fix it, zeroing out everything I had recorded. I had replaced my DVR in October making this the second time I lost everything. This unit died in January and I lost it all yet again. I need a plan in place for when this one fails.

Nightmare Alley (1947) got my highest rating of 4.5, but didn’t stick with me like some others. Nine others were rated 4, and truth be told, I don’t which was the best of the bunch. Perhaps Stalag 17 (1953) or Johnny Guitar.

Without a doubt the film I enjoyed least was Godard’s Alphaville (1965). It is neither sci-fi nor film-noir, but a deconstruction and critique of both genres. I understand how Noir’s values became completely out of step with the times, but I wasn’t expecting a mostly unwatchable, pretentious criticism of it.

I am satisfied with the quantity and quality of the year’s films in retrospect. I wanted to check a few more best pictures, and had a few recorded, but you can guess what happened. Still haven’t seen an Elvis movie, and I expect that streak to continue. Reviewing last year’s predictions for 2022, I nailed them all except getting over fifty film mark. No regrets, though. I saw the movies I wanted to see.

More of the same, looking forward. Two or three Keaton silent comedies, for sure. A couple best pictures. I want to watch more films from 1990 onward. I won’t post about them but may keep track for recap purposes. For the record, Glass Onion was pretty good, not quite as enjoyable as Knives Out, and The Menu was quite unexpected. Still disappointed that I haven’t seen Everything Everywhere, All at Once yet.

Romeo and Juliet (1968)

The rich Capulet and Montague families are feuding for some reason, but young Romeo (Leonard Whiting) and younger Juliet (Olivia Hussey) catch each other’s eyes, and therefore fall madly in love. They marry in secret, people are killed, things get complicated, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Everyone knows the story, even those who never read it nor watched it performed. This is me. I’ve seen a few of the Bard’s plays, but I somehow missed this one. Here are my thoughts.

Romeo and Juliet is a stage play. To be performed on a stage, with stage props, for a play-going audience. As such, the flowery language and outsized behaviors fit the intended medium, the unreality of a theater stage. When the play is performed on location in gorgeous Tuscany, with real props and costumes, there becomes a certain dissonance between the real and theatrical. And the fact that all audio was recorded after filming and looped in during post adds to this dissonance.

Now, let’s talk about the infamous scene. Our heroes finally get together in the second act to consummate their marriage. Our director decided that the scene needed a little something extra. That something was nudity. I have no issue with that in principle, and the scene was done tastefully, but it is problematic for a couple reasons.

First, the leads were seventeen and fifteen. Special permission had to be granted for Hussey, who long downplayed the controversy. But to up the creepiness factor, Hussey did say that the 45 year old Zeffirelli fell in love with her during filming. He later called her his “unrequited love of my life”. Secondly, one week after I watched the film, Hussey and Whiting sued the studio, saying they were coerced into appearing nude. Coercing a minor to be filmed nude makes you a predator.

Controversy aside, I couldn’t get past the chasm between style and setting. It’s a hard thing to post a negative review of a work by the most influential English language writer, but a play is a play, and a movie is a movie. If you must craft one into the other, certain choices need to be made. AMRU 2.5.

Black Narcissus (1947)

Five nuns, led by the unfortunately named Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), start a convent high in the Himalayas. The brisk air and clear water cause the sisters to remember.

Filmed on back lots and studio sets, the painted backdrops are nevertheless breathtaking. Few viewers will be tricked into thinking they are anything other than what they are, but they still have impact. It’s a shame it came before the invention of CinemaScope. A wider aspect would have made it all the more impressive.

The old palace they are given to use was once a “House of Women”, which is exactly what that sounds like. The nuns are assisted by the enigmatic Mr. Dean (David Farrar). His gruff manner and manly good looks stir things in Clodagh, and the troubled Sister Ruth. He looked foolish appearing shirtless on an undersized donkey, but I suppose this was period accurate.

So, our story is about the nuns trying to overcome many obstacles (personal and otherwise) to run a successful convent, while everyone else is certain of their failure. There are many side characters, many of which were played by plausibly ethnic appropriate actors. The Young General (son of the Old General who granted the palace to the nuns) was played by Indian actor Sabu, famous for his roles in The Jungle Book and The Thief of Bagdad.

A very young Jean Simmons (in ‘Himalayan face’?) plays a wayward girl whose eyes catch with the Young General’s. Also, English actress May Hallatt plays a delightfully batty caretaker. Remember, this is the 1940’s, and western society and the church weren’t given glowing depictions.

Black Narcissus (named for the Young General's fancy cologne) is a slow and engaging watch. Style-wise it isn’t altogether different from Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes. Amazing visuals paired with a certain level of fantastic realism. And like The Red Shoes, it is an impressive and immersive watch, but certainly not for everyone. But for me, AMRU 4.

“I have invited some ladies to stay here at the House of Women.” 

“Ladies! Oh, that will be like old times!”

“It will not be in the least like old times. They are not that kind of lady at all.”

“Then they won’t be any fun.”

The Gay Falcon (1941)

George Sanders is Gay Laurence (aka The Falcon), a bored stock broker and amateur sleuth who becomes involved in a jewel theft, and tries to keep his fiancee from getting the wrong idea.

The Falcon series was criticized as a cheap rip-off of The Saint. I haven’t seen any of the Saint films, but from what I gather it’s an unfair comparison. The Falcon is a series of mystery films featuring an erudite womanizer who solves crimes, starring George Sanders in the title role of four of them, includes an embarrassing asian stereotype character in a servant role, with one film named The Falcon Takes Over, while The Saint is a series of mystery films featuring an erudite womanizer who solves crimes, starring George Sanders in the title role of five of them, includes an embarrassing black stereotype character in a servant role, with one film named The Saint Takes Over. There’s no comparison at all.

Many character actors are here, notably Wendy Barrie, who appeared in three Saint films and another Falcon. Willie Fung played the asian stereotype servant Jerry. He died tragically young at 49. Comic actor Allen Jenkins is The Falcon’s assistant in this and two other films. He appears in a surprising number of films, including King Kong, and most recently as a bumbling detective in SH! The Octopus.

Twelve year olds today may giggle at the character name, particularly when he says ‘Call me Gay’ to a lady in a vaguely foppish manner, but there is no queer coding here. Cary Grant may have gone “gay all of a sudden” three years earlier in Bringing up Baby, but that meaning hadn’t yet entered the popular vernacular.

Saunders grew tired with the role and perhaps thought himself too good for such films. I would agree. His purring sarcasm was a delight with the proper script and he would go on to appear in some great films. He handed it over to his real life brother, Tom Conway, a fine actor perhaps more suited to B movie roles. Conway appeared in three of the Lewton horrors and finished out the string of sixteen Falcon films.

There is no end to light mystery series made during the 30’s and 40’s. Torchy Blane, Boston Blackie, Philo Vance, Sherlock Holmes, even the Thin Man, and many more. The Gay Falcon is, by all accounts, no worse than the rest, and I briefly toyed with the idea of shooting through the series, to which my son retorted “Well, you know what you should do”. Yea. We will leave this series where it is. AMRU 3.

King Solomon’s Mines (1950)

The beautiful Beth Curtis (Deborah Kerr) hires famed African guide Allan Qua(r)termain (Stewart Granger) to lead her into the unexplored region interior in pursuit of her missing husband. Hubby had been searching for the legendary lost diamond mine of King Solomon. Allan initially refuses but soon realizes that he likes money.

King Solomon’s Mines is the second of three adaptations of the H. Ryder Haggard novel. I covered the first version in early 2021, and I’ve touched on Haggard with that and the two versions of ‘She’. Suffice to say that Haggard’s ‘Lost World’ novels are very much the product of the 19th century. They have a very patronizing view of native peoples and frequently feature a great civilization led by (of course) white people. Real Commander McBragg stuff.

While the 1937 version effectively side-stepped much of the problematic content (star Paul Robeson humbly disagrees), this version aged much better. Every African character is played by an African, hired on location. Our hero speaks to them in their actual language and their deaths are handled with real gravity. This is also the first time the Watusi tribe was filmed. There is no score save for the tribal dancing, which is fascinating to watch.

Story-wise, this differs from the earlier edition in a couple ways. Rather than looking for the father who disappears in the first act, pretty Beth is searching for her husband, gone for a year or so, making the love element rather problematic. Also, Granger embodies the commanding adventurer that Indiana Jones was partially modeled from. And Richard Carlson plays Beth’s concerned brother, a significant tonal shift from Roland Young. Other than that, the story pretty much hits the same beats.

Films are a product of the time they are from. They are crafted to speak to audiences of the day, and King Solomon's Mines is no different. I am not concerned when the source material is out of date with the times nor to filmmakers liberties with such material. Even Gone With the Wind saw  reenvisioning. I also try to be tolerant of films that age rather poorly, but I'm not always so successful. As for today's film, despite knowing the story, I found it rather enjoyable. AMRU 4.

Tension (1949)

Nice guy Quimby (Richard Basehart) plots to murder the lunkhead who stole his wife (Audrey Totter), and meets nice girl Mary (Cyd Charisse) along the way. When the lunkhead turns up dead, things become complicated.

Audrey Totter was delightfully nasty as the unfaithful wife. She drips with venom. Totter built a career as a femme fatale, her look being perfect for the woman of danger. When those roles dried up she transitioned to television. I had only seen Cyd Charisse in Singin’ in the Rain, and thought of her just as a dancer. She did no dancing here, and was quite charming in her good girl role. William Conrad (TV's Cannon) has a sizable role.

The tension in the title refers to the amount of tension the investigating officer needs to apply to suspects before they break, like with a rubber band. It’s a corny but forgivable analogy. As we know what happens pretty early on, this isn’t much of a mystery. The real star here is the delicious dialog which makes every scene pop. We care about the protagonists, hate the antagonists, and the story sizzles when it needs to.

Were I to criticize, it would be how the protagonist must act stupid so that the story can progress. The entire film would have been wrapped up in the second act had they just answered the police’s question. Also, the ending wasn’t quite as smart as it could have been.

That aside, Tension was an absolute delight to watch. Tight dialog, great characterizations, and excellent acting. The whole thing simply popped. AMRU 4.