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RKO
Oct 26, 2022 17:48:30 GMT
Post by topbilled on Oct 26, 2022 17:48:30 GMT
Reviews for RKO films will be placed here.
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Post by topbilled on Oct 27, 2022 17:30:10 GMT
This neglected film is from 1954.
Queen Barbara
 This is a robust Technicolor western from RKO that displays the gorgeous scenery of Glacier National Park. Yes, outdoor photography may be most suited to the western genre. And this film proves it.
Barbara Stanwyck plays the title character who is a bit of a tomboy and has an interesting name– Sierra Nevada Jones. One almost imagines a mountain girl with windswept hair. Instead Miss Stanwyck sports a perm that she was given just before she stepped out of her dressing room and appeared on camera.
The early scenes in the picture focus on her character’s special bond with Pop Jones (Morris Ankrum). It’s clear how much she worships her father, and that she’s the “son” he never had. Unfortunately, he’s killed a short time later, which is devastating for her.
Mr. Ankrum is one of those skillful character actors who does a lot with limited screen time. He seems well-suited to this particular story, since he is able to elicit a vulnerability in Stanwyck that she seldom if ever displays in her other motion pictures. After Ankrum bites the dust, Stanwyck is left on her own. But she still has one of his best rifles and knows how to use it…so she is more than capable of fending for herself.
She blames a land baron (Gene Evans) for pop’s death and decides to get revenge. While this is going on, Stanwyck meets an undercover agent (Ronald Reagan) who is in the area investigating a series of crimes. He is attracted to her, and it’s obvious that he will gradually fill the void left since pop died. However, she is not initially sure what side of the law he’s on.
Fortunately the film doesn’t bog down too much with romance added into the mix. Reagan and Stanwyck keep things moving along and bring out the best in each other. It was said that Reagan enjoyed working with Stanwyck immensely. She had previously costarred with his wife Nancy in EAST SIDE WEST SIDE (1949).
Stanwyck and her ex-husband Robert Taylor were close pals of the Reagans and shared similar political views. Apparently, when Reagan was about to leave the White House, the last film he screened as president during his final week in office in January 1989, was CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA.
One of the subplots in CATTLE QUEEN involves a group of natives led by a guy named Colorados (Lance Fuller) who befriends Stanwyck’s character. This relationship in the film is rather progressive…the idea is to show their friendship go beyond the lines…that neither side is a species separate from the other. Of course, most of the natives we see are still presented a bit stereotypically in the movie, speaking broken English and showing off nice suntans.
In some regards, the unusual friendship between Stanwyck and Fuller is a plot device, so that she has a strong ally when she stands up to Evans. We watch her feud with Evans escalate, since she still holds him responsible for her father being slaughtered and for her land being taken away from her.
Of course we know Stanwyck will win her fight against Evans– or else she won’t be the queen of Montana. She will eventually settle down to a life of happiness…but there are still several issues to be resolved. One of the more interesting ones is how Stanwyck’s character is perceived as rebellious and as a non-conformist by the local townspeople.
When she and her native pal go into town, the residents are nearly scandalized to see them together. These scenes give us a much-needed break from the land war occurring out on the range. It’s interesting to see how Stanwyck lacks support from the other women in her community, which only reinforces her determination to be one of the boys in order to succeed.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 1, 2022 15:54:15 GMT
This neglected film is from 1949.
What price happine$$?
At this point in her screen career, Claudette Colbert was freelancing after ending a 15-year association with Paramount Pictures. During her tenure at Paramount she appeared in a variety of movies, but achieved her greatest success in the romantic comedy genre. It’s not surprising that as a freelancer, she’d choose these kinds of scripts since she had a guaranteed audience for such light-hearted fare.
BRIDE FOR SALE is an independent production released through RKO with a catchy title that seems to suggest gold digging. Miss Colbert is playing a career woman, an accountant who works for George Brent’s income tax firm. Colbert and Brent had previously costarred in TOMORROW IS FOREVER, so the two bring familiarity with each other’s acting styles to this endeavor.
Mr. Brent is cast as a tyrannical office boss who drives his staff up a wall. He exhibits more than a bit of chauvinism around the female employees, so he is not well-liked by many people. Colbert is hired to function as a buffer, plus she is good with figures and her tax strategies save clients money which reflects well on the company.
Since Colbert proves so indispensable, Brent has to tolerate her even if he doesn’t entirely respect her. This is complicated by the fact that he finds her attractive, even if she isn’t initially interested in him this way. The main plot kicks into gear when Colbert’s character, getting a bit long in the tooth, realizes it’s time to find a husband.
For years, she’s put her job ahead of romance. But that’s about to change. In a silly twist, she decides a rich husband is to her liking, so she scans the files of male clients whose annual returns indicate how much dough they have, and if they’re single.
Brent finds out what she’s up to, and he is bent out of shape. This is because he has feelings for the fair maiden, and because she’s using client information in a somewhat questionable way.
She doesn’t deny what she’s angling for, which adds to the amusing interplay between them when he confronts her. The dialogue is quite funny, and these two pros have a field day. One line has Brent exclaim: ‘You can’t add up a bunch of numbers and marry the total!’ However, that’s exactly what she plans to do.
Seeing fit to teach her a lesson, Brent looks up an old pal (Robert Young) to enlist his aid in the hopes of putting Colbert in her place. Young is a museum curator who goes on archaeological expeditions. He’s back in town, single, and available for a few dates. Brent tells Young all about Colbert, and Young agrees to play a heel and cross her up. Then she’ll learn it’s no good to have an adding machine for a heart!
As things progress, Young really does fall for Colbert. Meanwhile, Brent is still pining away with unresolved feelings for her and regrets bringing Young into the mix. What’s great about this film is that the triangle is not predictable, since she could go either way. The scenarists capitalize on the premise by having her get engaged to both guys at the same time, which creates a lot of chaos/comedy.
Notable sequences include a night at a boxing match for Colbert and Young, as well as a fight with some locals at an outdoor fish market that involves a lot of slapstick. There is also an amusing bit near the end of the film where Brent stops his car in the middle of a busy street to chase after Colbert and prevent her from leaving town with Young. I won’t tell you which one she winds up with, but I will tell you that this is an enjoyable romp.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 1, 2022 16:14:49 GMT
 Bride for Sale from 1949 with Claudette Colbert, George Brent, Robert Young, Max Baer and Charles Arnt.
Bride For Sale is a late-1940s attempt to make a classic 1930s screwball romantic comedy that misses its mark despite talented actors and some good scenes here and there.
Claudette Colbert plays a former major in the WACs who, owing to her reputation as a highly effective manager, is hired, sight unseen, by George Brent to whip his accounting firm's office into shape as Brent is under the impression that Colbert is a man.
Despite reservations about hiring a woman after he meets her, he gives Colbert the job and she quickly has the office running like a well-oiled machine.
Brent is now afraid Colbert will leave to start her own firm, but she tells him her real mission is to use her access to men's financial files to find a wealthy single man who, as a husband, could provide her with a luxurious lifestyle.
Being a screwball comedy, Brent now concocts a scheme to have his good friend and client, played by Robert Young, date Colbert, get her to believe he'll marry her and, then, dump her so that she'll learn her plan is stupid and she'll just continue to run Brent's office. Good grief.
Unless this is your first screwball romcom, with that setup, you'll already know that eventually, both men will be fighting for Colbert’s romantic affections, while Colbert, once she discovers their plan, will want no part of either of them. Throw in a crazy climax with a ton of confusion and roll credits on another screwball romcom.
Yes, the plot is dated and off putting by today's standards, but many of our modern movie plots will be dated and off putting in seventy plus years. What really fails, though, is that Colbert, a fine actress who, at forty-six in this one, has aged very well, is miscast.
She is neither believable as the hard-nosed business woman nor the gold-digging husband huntress. She simply reads sweet and sincere the entire movie, which fits neither defining aspect of her character.
Bette Davis, Patricia Neal, Joan Crawford (God forbid), Gene Tierney and several other actresses of that era could have pulled off being a crackerjack business woman who is also hunting for a rich husband, but Colbert doesn't.
Brent is fine as the bland owner of an accounting firm and Young is very good as the guy who realizes, in the middle of a gag, he actually loves Colbert, but none of it really works because Colbert doesn't fit her character.
The movie does get a little boost from former professional boxer Max Baer in a supporting role as a wrestler and bodyguard, as it does from character actor Charles Arnt as the shy coworker. Bear is just fun in an inside-joke kind of way, while Arnt understands the tone and acting style required of a screwball romcom.
None of it is enough, though, as unfortunately, Colbert never convinces you she's anything but a nice middle-aged woman who is neither a highly efficient business executive nor a fortune hunteress. Without that, and despite a few good scenes and fun moments, the movie has little real lift, charm or chemistry.
With a small budget, a dated copy-cat plot and modest aspirations, Bride For Sale needed the actors to sell you on the story. Heck, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy seemed to make a successful version of this type of movie every other year in the 1940s, but nobody ever doubted that a Hepburn character could run an office or hunt down a rich man if she wanted to. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 1, 2022 16:32:02 GMT
Bride for Sale from 1949 with Claudette Colbert, George Brent, Robert Young, Max Baer and Charles Arnt.
Bride For Sale is a late-1940s attempt to make a classic 1930s screwball romantic comedy that misses its mark despite talented actors and some good scenes here and there.
Claudette Colbert plays a former major in the WACs who, owing to her reputation as a highly effective manager, is hired, sight unseen, by George Brent to whip his accounting firm's office into shape as Brent is under the impression that Colbert is a man.
Despite reservations about hiring a woman after he meets her, he gives Colbert the job and she quickly has the office running like a well-oiled machine.
Brent is now afraid Colbert will leave to start her own firm, but she tells him her real mission is to use her access to men's financial files to find a wealthy single man who, as a husband, could provide her with a luxurious lifestyle.
Being a screwball comedy, Brent now concocts a scheme to have his good friend and client, played by Robert Young, date Colbert, get her to believe he'll marry her and, then, dump her so that she'll learn her plan is stupid and she'll just continue to run Brent's office. Good grief.
Unless this is your first screwball romcom, with that setup, you'll already know that eventually, both men will be fighting for Colbert’s romantic affections, while Colbert, once she discovers their plan, will want no part of either of them. Throw in a crazy climax with a ton of confusion and roll credits on another screwball romcom.
Yes, the plot is dated and off putting by today's standards, but many of our modern movie plots will be dated and off putting in seventy plus years. What really fails, though, is that Colbert, a fine actress who, at forty-six in this one, has aged very well, is miscast.
She is neither believable as the hard-nosed business woman nor the gold-digging husband huntress. She simply reads sweet and sincere the entire movie, which fits neither defining aspect of her character.
Bette Davis, Patricia Neal, Joan Crawford (God forbid), Gene Tierney and several other actresses of that era could have pulled off being a crackerjack business woman who is also hunting for a rich husband, but Colbert doesn't.
Brent is fine as the bland owner of an accounting firm and Young is very good as the guy who realizes, in the middle of a gag, he actually loves Colbert, but none of it really works because Colbert doesn't fit her character.
The movie does get a little boost from former professional boxer Max Baer in a supporting role as a wrestler and bodyguard, as it does from character actor Charles Arnt as the shy coworker. Bear is just fun in an inside-joke kind of way, while Arnt understands the tone and acting style required of a screwball romcom.
None of it is enough, though, as unfortunately, Colbert never convinces you she's anything but a nice middle-aged woman who is neither a highly efficient business executive nor a fortune hunteress. Without that, and despite a few good scenes and fun moments, the movie has little real lift, charm or chemistry.
With a small budget, a dated copy-cat plot and modest aspirations, Bride For Sale needed the actors to sell you on the story. Heck, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy seemed to make a successful version of this type of movie every other year in the 1940s, but nobody ever doubted that a Hepburn character could run an office or hunt down a rich man if she wanted to.
Of the three, I would say Robert Young comes off best in his role, which it seems you'd agree with reading your comments above. He seems to enjoy the cheeky aspects of the scenario and his acting seems effortless. As for George Brent, he's a bit more relaxed here than he is in other films so I think they all must have been having fun making this picture.
Claudette Colbert's career as a leading actress in movies would continue until 1955. She still had some very good films ahead of her, one was another screwy romcom at 20th Century Fox-- LET'S MAKE IT LEGAL (1951)-- but she wisely started to focus on dramas like THUNDER ON THE HILL, THE SECRET FURY and THREE CAME HOME.
I agree that the film has generic looking sets. However, I don't think the film is cheap in any sort of way. In 1947, Robert Young was making $150,000 a picture...and I am sure his price did not go down but probably went up by 1949. Add in what Colbert was getting as the top-billed star, probably close to $200,000 and what Brent was getting, slightly less than Young...and it's clear that BRIDE FOR SALE cost money to make. It ended up being one of RKO's biggest moneymakers in 1949, per Variety. So it's one of those productions that was very popular in its day but has somehow fallen into obscurity now.
I really loved the fish market scene...it felt like something in an old Buster Keaton movie. And it's nice that poised Claudette in all her fashionable clothing and perfect hairstyle, wasn't afraid to get down and dirty and slug it out with the fishes. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 1, 2022 17:47:32 GMT
Bride for Sale from 1949 with Claudette Colbert, George Brent, Robert Young, Max Baer and Charles Arnt.
Bride For Sale is a late-1940s attempt to make a classic 1930s screwball romantic comedy that misses its mark despite talented actors and some good scenes here and there.
Claudette Colbert plays a former major in the WACs who, owing to her reputation as a highly effective manager, is hired, sight unseen, by George Brent to whip his accounting firm's office into shape as Brent is under the impression that Colbert is a man.
Despite reservations about hiring a woman after he meets her, he gives Colbert the job and she quickly has the office running like a well-oiled machine.
Brent is now afraid Colbert will leave to start her own firm, but she tells him her real mission is to use her access to men's financial files to find a wealthy single man who, as a husband, could provide her with a luxurious lifestyle.
Being a screwball comedy, Brent now concocts a scheme to have his good friend and client, played by Robert Young, date Colbert, get her to believe he'll marry her and, then, dump her so that she'll learn her plan is stupid and she'll just continue to run Brent's office. Good grief.
Unless this is your first screwball romcom, with that setup, you'll already know that eventually, both men will be fighting for Colbert’s romantic affections, while Colbert, once she discovers their plan, will want no part of either of them. Throw in a crazy climax with a ton of confusion and roll credits on another screwball romcom.
Yes, the plot is dated and off putting by today's standards, but many of our modern movie plots will be dated and off putting in seventy plus years. What really fails, though, is that Colbert, a fine actress who, at forty-six in this one, has aged very well, is miscast.
She is neither believable as the hard-nosed business woman nor the gold-digging husband huntress. She simply reads sweet and sincere the entire movie, which fits neither defining aspect of her character.
Bette Davis, Patricia Neal, Joan Crawford (God forbid), Gene Tierney and several other actresses of that era could have pulled off being a crackerjack business woman who is also hunting for a rich husband, but Colbert doesn't.
Brent is fine as the bland owner of an accounting firm and Young is very good as the guy who realizes, in the middle of a gag, he actually loves Colbert, but none of it really works because Colbert doesn't fit her character.
The movie does get a little boost from former professional boxer Max Baer in a supporting role as a wrestler and bodyguard, as it does from character actor Charles Arnt as the shy coworker. Bear is just fun in an inside-joke kind of way, while Arnt understands the tone and acting style required of a screwball romcom.
None of it is enough, though, as unfortunately, Colbert never convinces you she's anything but a nice middle-aged woman who is neither a highly efficient business executive nor a fortune hunteress. Without that, and despite a few good scenes and fun moments, the movie has little real lift, charm or chemistry.
With a small budget, a dated copy-cat plot and modest aspirations, Bride For Sale needed the actors to sell you on the story. Heck, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy seemed to make a successful version of this type of movie every other year in the 1940s, but nobody ever doubted that a Hepburn character could run an office or hunt down a rich man if she wanted to.
Of the three, I would say Robert Young comes off best in his role, which it seems you'd agree with reading your comments above. He seems to enjoy the cheeky aspects of the scenario and his acting seems effortless. As for George Brent, he's a bit more relaxed here than he is in other films so I think they all must have been having fun making this picture.
Claudette Colbert's career as a leading actress in movies would continue until 1955. She still had some very good films ahead of her, one was another screwy romcom at 20th Century Fox-- LET'S MAKE IT LEGAL (1951)-- but she wisely started to focus on dramas like THUNDER ON THE HILL, THE SECRET FURY and THREE CAME HOME.
I agree that the film has generic looking sets. However, I don't think the film is cheap in any sort of way. In 1947, Robert Young was making $150,000 a picture...and I am sure his price did not go down but probably went up by 1949. Add in what Colbert was getting as the top-billed star, probably close to $200,000 and what Brent was getting, slightly less than Young...and it's clear that BRIDE FOR SALE cost money to make. It ended up being one of RKO's biggest moneymakers in 1949, per Variety. So it's one of those productions that was very popular in its day but has somehow fallen into obscurity now.
I really loved the fish market scene...it felt like something in an old Buster Keaton movie. And it's nice that poised Claudette in all her fashionable clothing and perfect hairstyle, wasn't afraid to get down and dirty and slug it out with the fishes.
It's not so much that this movie was a bad one - it's okay, as I was basically entertained - it just wasn't, IMO, a worthy effort for all the star power / acting talent. And, as noted, Colbert didn't sell me on her character, even though I still enjoyed seeing her.
I think the photo I picked (my options were limited as you had used so many of the good ones already  ) is from the promo ones the studios make either before or after the actual movie is filmed (I think it's after, but am not sure). They can be fun (and this was a particularly good one as you noted), but I usually choose ones from the movie as I like having the background of the movie in the pic.
The fish-market scene is fun and I agree, Colbert came off as a trooper. I was impressed, in general, with how good she looked for 46 versus how some of her contemporaries looked at that age. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 13, 2022 15:39:32 GMT
This neglected film is from 1944.
Remake of HAT COAT AND GLOVE
Studios would occasionally reuse scripts from previous hits to save time and money. When this practice occurred, stories were updated to appeal to a contemporary audience. In 1944 RKO was looking to put one of its leading ‘B’ stars Tom Conway in a new crime film; so execs decided to bring HAT COAT AND GLOVE out of mothballs and retitle it A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE.
The 1934 original starred Ricardo Cortez. He was a last-minute replacement for John Barrymore, who was too drunk to work. Mr. Barrymore had previously played a high-powered attorney in COUNSELLOR AT LAW. This story is about a brilliant legal mind who is responsible for a woman’s death but evades justice.
What’s interesting about RKO updating the material ten years later is that the production code was in full force this time around. But Conway’s character is still able to get away with everything. Although the woman’s death is accidental, he would surely face an involuntary manslaughter charge. None of that is addressed in this version.
Instead the focus is on how Conway helps defend the lover (Louis Borel) of his estranged wife (Audrey Long). The other man has been accused of the crime since the dead woman was someone that worked for him, and her body was discovered in his apartment by a girl dropping off the laundry (Nancy Gates).
Of course we’ve seen Conway at the apartment earlier, which most of the other characters don’t know. Conway had gone there to confront his wife’s lover, met the other woman instead and learned she was suicidal. As he tried to take a gun away from her, it went off.
The trial scenes are very well played. Most of what transpires in court reflects back on Conway indirectly, as well as his fractured marriage to Long. There’s an excellent moment where a man who runs a haberdashery is giving testimony. He is asked about a glove that was found next to the victim’s body. The lover is asked to try on the glove. It fits, though this is a coincidence that he has the same size hand as Conway.
Conway then tries on the glove, showing that it also fits him. And it should, since it belonged to him! Naturally the jury is thoroughly confused. As his wife looks on among the crowd of spectators, it is clear that Conway has succeeded in establishing reasonable doubt. Any man with the same size hand could have been the killer.
The glove scene reminds us of the O.J. Simpson trial which occurred over 50 years later. It also reminds us that the judicial process can be manipulated. Conway’s character is able to use smoke and mirrors to prevent a wrongful conviction. After the trial is over, he gets his wife back…and they all go on with their humdrum lives.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 13, 2022 16:11:01 GMT
This neglected film is from 1944.
Remake of HAT COAT AND GLOVE
Studios would occasionally reuse scripts from previous hits to save time and money. When this practice occurred, stories were updated to appeal to a contemporary audience. In 1944 RKO was looking to put one of its leading ‘B’ stars Tom Conway in a new crime film; so execs decided to bring HAT COAT AND GLOVE out of mothballs and retitle it A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE.
The 1934 original starred Ricardo Cortez. He was a last-minute replacement for John Barrymore, who was too drunk to work. Mr. Barrymore had previously played a high-powered attorney in COUNSELLOR AT LAW. This story is about a brilliant legal mind who is responsible for a woman’s death but evades justice.
What’s interesting about RKO updating the material ten years later is that the production code was in full force this time around. But Conway’s character is still able to get away with everything. Although the woman’s death is accidental, he would surely face an involuntary manslaughter charge. None of that is addressed in this version.
Instead the focus is on how Conway helps defend the lover (Louis Borel) of his estranged wife (Audrey Long). The other man has been accused of the crime since the dead woman was someone that worked for him, and her body was discovered in his apartment by a girl dropping off the laundry (Nancy Gates).
Of course we’ve seen Conway at the apartment earlier, which most of the other characters don’t know. Conway had gone there to confront his wife’s lover, met the other woman instead and learned she was suicidal. As he tried to take a gun away from her, it went off.
The trial scenes are very well played. Most of what transpires in court reflects back on Conway indirectly, as well as his fractured marriage to Long. There’s an excellent moment where a man who runs a haberdashery is giving testimony. He is asked about a glove that was found next to the victim’s body. The lover is asked to try on the glove. It fits, though this is a coincidence that he has the same size hand as Conway.
Conway then tries on the glove, showing that it also fits him. And it should, since it belonged to him! Naturally the jury is thoroughly confused. As his wife looks on among the crowd of spectators, it is clear that Conway has succeeded in establishing reasonable doubt. Any man with the same size hand could have been the killer.
The glove scene reminds us of the O.J. Simpson trial which occurred over 50 years later. It also reminds us that the judicial process can be manipulated. Conway’s character is able to use smoke and mirrors to prevent a wrongful conviction. After the trial is over, he gets his wife back…and they all go on with their humdrum lives.
"Counsellor at Law" is a really good movie that should be better know today, at least among old-movie fans.
I'm always surprised Tom Conway didn't have as a good a career as his brother George Sanders. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 13, 2022 16:21:31 GMT
This neglected film is from 1944.
Remake of HAT COAT AND GLOVE
Studios would occasionally reuse scripts from previous hits to save time and money. When this practice occurred, stories were updated to appeal to a contemporary audience. In 1944 RKO was looking to put one of its leading ‘B’ stars Tom Conway in a new crime film; so execs decided to bring HAT COAT AND GLOVE out of mothballs and retitle it A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE.
The 1934 original starred Ricardo Cortez. He was a last-minute replacement for John Barrymore, who was too drunk to work. Mr. Barrymore had previously played a high-powered attorney in COUNSELLOR AT LAW. This story is about a brilliant legal mind who is responsible for a woman’s death but evades justice.
What’s interesting about RKO updating the material ten years later is that the production code was in full force this time around. But Conway’s character is still able to get away with everything. Although the woman’s death is accidental, he would surely face an involuntary manslaughter charge. None of that is addressed in this version.
Instead the focus is on how Conway helps defend the lover (Louis Borel) of his estranged wife (Audrey Long). The other man has been accused of the crime since the dead woman was someone that worked for him, and her body was discovered in his apartment by a girl dropping off the laundry (Nancy Gates).
Of course we’ve seen Conway at the apartment earlier, which most of the other characters don’t know. Conway had gone there to confront his wife’s lover, met the other woman instead and learned she was suicidal. As he tried to take a gun away from her, it went off.
The trial scenes are very well played. Most of what transpires in court reflects back on Conway indirectly, as well as his fractured marriage to Long. There’s an excellent moment where a man who runs a haberdashery is giving testimony. He is asked about a glove that was found next to the victim’s body. The lover is asked to try on the glove. It fits, though this is a coincidence that he has the same size hand as Conway.
Conway then tries on the glove, showing that it also fits him. And it should, since it belonged to him! Naturally the jury is thoroughly confused. As his wife looks on among the crowd of spectators, it is clear that Conway has succeeded in establishing reasonable doubt. Any man with the same size hand could have been the killer.
The glove scene reminds us of the O.J. Simpson trial which occurred over 50 years later. It also reminds us that the judicial process can be manipulated. Conway’s character is able to use smoke and mirrors to prevent a wrongful conviction. After the trial is over, he gets his wife back…and they all go on with their humdrum lives.
"Counsellor at Law" is a really good movie that should be better know today, at least among old-movie fans.
I'm always surprised Tom Conway didn't have as a good a career as his brother George Sanders.
I realized that I had never seen the original, so last night I watched HAT COAT AND GLOVE. The production values are better with the original, since they were making it as an "A" picture...but some parts were dragged out too long, and I can see why the person who revised the story for the remake cut out specific scenes.
On the IMDb, I gave the original an 8, and the remake a 9. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 21, 2022 16:26:38 GMT
This neglected film is from 1933.
Swept up in the family drama
Sometimes MGM would loan out its more respected character actors to RKO. On occasion, Lewis Stone would appear in a top grade RKO production, and so would Lionel Barrymore. In this instance, Mr. Barrymore has gone to work for David Selznick at the smaller studio for this high-gloss affair.
The title is mentioned a few times in the dialogue and refers to the good scraps of fabric that wind up on the floor of a big city department store. At closing time the employees sweep the floor before their shifts end. Barrymore has build the Bazaar up from nothing, starting it with his now deceased wife (Ninetta Sunderland).
This takes place just after the famous Chicago fire. Barrymore doesn’t become a success overnight, and he doesn’t scheme or maneuver to ascend the ranks of the upper class. Instead he forges ahead by sheer will, by determination and with help from a shrewd general manager (Gregory Ratoff).
A lot is packed into 80 minutes, so there are several quick montages where the birth of four children is chronicled, as well as their coming of age. Barrymore hopes three of them, the sons, will take an active role in the business. A daughter (Gloria Stuart) is not expected to be anything more than an ornamental wife and mother, and to raise sons of her own.
However, none of Barrymore’s sons show any real interest in work…and the one that tries has no aptitude for it. Meanwhile, the daughter has several high profile divorces and is just as much a disappointment.
The subplot involving the manager takes an interesting turn as the story continues. Denied partial ownership by Barrymore, he contrives to buy shares from two of the sons who need money after they’re cut off by Barrymore.
What’s interesting here is how the sons fail. The oldest son (William Gargan) gets embroiled in a scandal with a prostitute that results in murder. Of course Barrymore arranges for a cover-up, so that the murder looks like a suicide and doesn’t tarnish the family name.
The second son (George Meeker) is presented as an idiotic weakling…probably mentally handicapped in some way. And the youngest third son (Eric Linden) is a boozing playboy who takes advantage of a store worker, before he goes missing and lands on skid row. This is the type of epic family drama that could easily have filled up two and a half hours of screen time. It feels like a precursor to Dynasty and Falcon Crest.
Barrymore’s wonderful, and though he gets to age through the years…he is at his best in the early scenes when the character’s wife is still alive.
Barrymore has a poignant death scene at the end, challenging his brood to make something of their lives. He still wants the family name to mean something. He doesn’t want anything swept under the proverbial rug.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 21, 2022 17:18:26 GMT
Sweepings from 1933 with Lionel Barrymore, Gregory Ratoff, Eric Linden, William Gargan, Gloria Stuart and George Meeker
While Sweepings reflect the era in which it was made, its story of a highly successful businessman who is disappointed with his children is also timeless.
Lionel Barrymore plays the "self-made man" who, along with his business savvy manager, played by Gregory Ratoff, turned a small dry-goods business, started after the Chicago fire of 1871, into a massively successful department store.
Barrymore has three sons, played by Eric Linden, William Gargan and George Meeker and a daughter, played by Gloria Stuart. He hopes one or more of the sons will succeed him at the store, but you get the feeling, especially as the sons begin to fail him, that he'd be happy if his daughter would take over, but he went "O-for-four" with these kids.
After his wife passes, it's just Barrymore and his young children whom he loves, spoils (lesson one) and imbues all his hopes for the future in (lesson two). Two of his three boys and the daughter all grow up to be society partiers, but one, Meeker, tries to follow in his father's footsteps.
Tragically for Barrymore, Meeker simply doesn't have the ability to manage a massive business. Instead, Meeker, after trying as the assistant store manager, asks his dad to let him work in window dressing as that's what he loves.
Barrymore gets it and, while disappointed, he lets the boy do what he wants. Even at the end, when he's squaring accounts with his kids, he notes to Meeker, "I got nothing 'agin' you, one thing I know, you tried...the one that tried didn't have it in him." It's not 2022 all-embracing parenting, but for 1933, it's pretty open minded and accepting.
The other boys squander money and opportunity, while the daughter zips through a couple of marriages, including one to a European prince, which was a common practice at the time.
Often, the daughters of wealthy American merchants "bought" a poor but titled European husband: she gets a title and he gets money (it propped up many British and other titled Europeans at the time).
While Barrymore's kids aren't becoming heir apparents, Ratoff continues to be the loyal and valued manager of the store, a store he loves as much as Barrymore.
Yet when he asks Barrymore for a share of the store, Barrymore, in the most-brutal scene in the movie, tells Ratoff that while he might deserve a share, he isn't getting one because Barrymore is giving them all to his kids. Blood is thicker than friendship and loyalty.
Watch Barrymore's face change when he's looking at his longtime friend and store manager, a man whom he clearly loves and wants to make happy, until that moment when his friend asks him for a share of the store. The change in Barrymore's visage, body English and tone is acting at its best.
There's a twist or two at the climax when old man Barrymore is about to pass, but this is a saga where the climax is less important than the "big sweep" of the story.
Today, there's less "sweep" to many of these tales as tech wealth is usually made quickly by very young men and women who often aren't even married and who often sell their companies to investors while they are still young, so there is no great business "empire" to pass on to the next generation.
As in Sweepings, though, these new millionaires (or billionaires) are, or will become parents who will realize that a large amount of money solves as many problems as it creates when it comes to raising children.
Sweepings is uneven storytelling; the transitions are choppy and years speed by awkwardly, as the picture tries to do too much in its eighty minutes. Still, it does capture the "empire builder with disappointing children" meme that was very much an of-the-era tale.
Edit Note: A hat-tip and thank you to Topbilled for politely pointing out to me, in a DM, a couple of names I got wrong in the casting of this movie, which I've now corrected. We are lucky to have such an experienced and nice person running this site and contributing his incredible knowledge of movies to it through his many posts. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 22, 2022 23:47:54 GMT
Edit Note: A hat-tip and thank you to Topbilled for politely pointing out to me, in a DM, a couple of names I got wrong in the casting of this movie, which I've now corrected. We are lucky to have such an experienced and nice person running this site and contributing his incredible knowledge of movies to it through his many posts. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 30, 2022 14:00:30 GMT
This neglected film is from 1938.
Out west with Rita Hayworth
Tim Holt was nineteen when he appeared with George O’Brien as a sidekick in this B picture. Holt, the son of star Jack Holt, was under contract to producer Walter Wanger. When Wanger loaned him to RKO for this assignment, it began a long-running association for young Holt and the studio.
RKO bought Holt’s contract from Wanger, and Holt went on to headline many B westerns until 1952. But at this point he is paying his dues under O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien would remain the studio’s top western hero until 1940. When a disagreement over money caused O’Brien to hit the trail, Holt took over full time.
In THE RENEGADE RANGER O’Brien is a Texas Ranger sent to arrest a former ranch owner (Rita Hayworth, borrowed from Columbia). Miss Hayworth is beautiful, but she is wanted for murder.
O’Brien quickly realizes she’s innocent and that a crook (William Royle) is the one he needs to bring to justice. Before O’Brien learns Hayworth’s not guilty, he poses as a member of her gang.
His cover is blown by the arrival of an ex-ranger (Holt) who reveals O’Brien’s true identity. This puts them both in considerable danger, undermining the undercover operation.
While all of this gets sorted out, the film manages to throw in a few musical numbers. Country and western singer Ray Whitley performs a tune called ‘Move Slow Little Dogie’ with Ken Card and the Phelps Brothers. Also, costar Cecilia Callejo is seen in a rendition of the traditional Mexican ballad ‘Cielito Lindo.’
Back to the story. As Hayworth’s character straddles the line between right and wrong, she falls in love with O’Brien. Meanwhile Holt stirs up trouble as a callow youth. (Orson Welles would cast the actor a short time later to play a pampered rich kid in THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS.)
The film is fairly entertaining, as far as these productions go. It’s a chance to see Hayworth and Holt learning their craft before becoming stars. Also it’s a chance to glimpse some outdoor scenes filmed in Chatsworth before the San Fernando Valley’s vast ranches made way for modern housing developments.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 30, 2022 14:19:55 GMT
⇧ Couldn't agree more, it's so much fun to see future stars like Rita Hayworth in roles before they became famous.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 30, 2022 14:33:48 GMT
⇧ Couldn't agree more, it's so much fun to see future stars like Rita Hayworth in roles before they became famous.
She didn't make a lot of western films...the only ones that come to mind are THEY CAME TO CORDURA (1959) which paired her with Gary Cooper and THE WRATH OF GOD (1972) her last film which was more of a Mexican western in which she costarred with Robert Mitchum. |
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) is from the promo ones the studios make either before or after the actual movie is filmed (I think it's after, but am not sure). They can be fun (and this was a particularly good one as you noted), but I usually choose ones from the movie as I like having the background of the movie in the pic.