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Post by topbilled on Sept 29, 2023 13:54:24 GMT
This neglected film is from 1939.
Third collaboration for O’Brien & Day
George O’Brien appeared in a series of B westerns at RKO during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Some hold up better than others, and they all stick to a fairly routine formula. O’Brien is always on the right side of the law, he’s always romancing some beautiful girl (this time played by Laraine Day, billed as Laraine Johnson), and there’s always plenty of outdoor action and scenery. These elements were a soothing balm for moviegoers still dealing with lingering effects of the Great Depression who needed an hour of quick escapism.
ARIZONA LEGION upends the usual formula a bit. O’Brien is still playing a good guy, but during the film’s first twenty minutes, you wouldn’t exactly know that. He’s first glimpsed coming into town with pal Chill Wills, rough and wild, shooting up the place. Miss Day’s father is a judge, and he seems to take amusement in O’Brien’s behavior, not the reaction expected from a court official. We gradually find out that O’Brien is undercover, acting like a lawless cowboy, to get close to a gang of outlaws and unmask their leader, a guy known simply as The Chief.
The judge is in on the secret with O’Brien. During a private meeting, the judge tells O’Brien he just received word from the governor of Arizona that O’Brien and some other men are to be sworn in as Rangers. They will work to bring down the outlaw gang and deliver them to justice. But before law and order can be properly restored, there are several stagecoach robberies, naturally, with O’Brien getting closer to the truth about the identity of The Chief.
Complicating matters in the relationship that O’Brien has with Day is the arrival of an Army lieutenant (Carlyle Moore, in a role that would probably have been taken by Tim Holt if this was made a year later). Because of O’Brien’s wild antics, Day has decided to call off her engagement with him, not knowing his behavior is all a ruse. She then starts to get close to the lieutenant.
The lieutenant is man from these parts who had been east for awhile. He comes across a lot more polished than O’Brien. Realistically, Moore is closer in age to Day, and he actually seems better suited to her than O’Brien…but because O’Brien’s the star of this picture and the main he-man, of course, Day will have to end back up in his arms before the final fadeout.
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Post by topbilled on Oct 13, 2023 13:43:57 GMT
This neglected film is from 1956.
Drifter makes a difference
Fans of western classics will see parallels between this RKO production and Paramount’s SHANE, which predated it by a few years. In both stories, a drifter aiming for a fresh start comes into the lives of a married couple and a young boy. There is trouble with the locals, and our “anti”-hero helps set things right again, before moving on. The wife in both films is a blonde-haired gal who develops feelings for the drifter which cannot be acted upon, especially when her husband proves his worth in the end. Into the mix there are townsfolk with their own prejudice and lessons to learn.
One thing that makes TENSION AT TABLE ROCK noteworthy is the strong central presence of Richard Egan, on loan from home studio 20th Century Fox. Instead of playing up the ambiguous aspects of his character like Alan Ladd did in SHANE, Mr. Egan is a lot more ‘what you see is what you get.’
There is very little mystery, for we’ve seen how he was framed in the opening sequence, then we’ve watched him serve jail time before he’s pardoned by the governor. An interesting sequence follows his release from prison, when he takes a job at a stagecoach station helping a crippled man (Joe De Santis) who has an impressionable son (Billy Chapin).
The stage is robbed, the old man is shot dead and so are the baddies. From here, Egan takes charge of the boy, intending to deliver him to the nearby town of Tension Rock where an uncle (Cameron Mitchell) and aunt (Dorothy Malone) live.
After dropping the kid off in his new home, Egan is unable to move on from Tension Rock when a group of trail herders breeze into town and a murder occurs, which Egan witnesses. The trial that follows is a farce, until Egan speaks up and throws a spanner into the works.
What’s interesting about the town scenes, besides the sexual tension between Egan and Malone, is how civilized the drovers are until the murder takes place. The trail boss is played by perennial villain John Dehner who is always so great in these kinds of roles. Incidentally, Dehner played nefarious characters in quite a few western TV series in the late 50s and 60s…one of those shows being Rawhide.
This brings me to director Charles Marquis Warren. Mr. Warren, who helmed TENSION AT TABLE ROCK, would go on to create the long-running Rawhide series in 1958. Besides this RKO picture, Warren had also directed the 20th Century Fox western CATTLE EMPIRE. Warren had a fondness for stories about cattle drives.
It’s ironic that in this particular tale the drovers and their boss are on the wrong side of the law, threatening to tear up a peaceful town. Countless episodes of Rawhide showed the exact opposite, where a trail boss (played by Eric Fleming) and his men were on the right side of the law, often framed like Egan’s character in this movie, having to prove themselves.
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Post by topbilled on Oct 17, 2023 14:02:50 GMT
This neglected film is from 1952.
Following a crazy man's orders
There’s a line in this RKO Technicolor adventure where villainous pirate Edward Teach (Robert Newton) says he’s known for kidnapping, murder and larceny…most especially larceny. As if kidnapping and murder are only minor crimes and necessary to hold on to the booty he finds at sea. As a result of his savage actions, Teach, commonly referred to as Blackbeard, is a feared man. He intimidates underlings on his own ship, scares the living daylights out of seafarers on other ships and is considered a monster by officials in coastal settlements.
As our story gets underway, we learn that a wealthy woman named Edwina (Linda Darnell) has been kidnapped and put on Blackbeard’s vessel. Initially, Blackbeard seems somewhat obsessed with her, as if he is planning to engage in some sadistic acts with her.
But then he becomes more preoccupied with an ongoing feud he’s been waging with Sir Henry Morgan, played by Torin Thatcher. There are a series of elaborate back-and-forth maneuverings that take place between the two buccaneers. Everyone either joins in the fighting or else gets in the way and gets killed.
Edwina doesn’t seem to worry about her future too long. For there is an attractive surgeon named (Keith Andes) on board Blackbeard’s ship named Maynard. He has skills not only in saving lives but also in steering ships, bringing baddies to justice and wooing attractive ladies. Naturally, Maynard catches Edwina’s eye.
Mr. Andes has the requisite physique needed for a part like this. Several scenes have him swashbuckling without a shirt on, so he seems both heroic and desirable. If Andes had been more established as a film actor and had previous experience in the genre, like Errol Flynn, he would undoubtedly have been the star of the picture, instead of receiving fourth billing.
In addition to Newton, Darnell, Thatcher and Andes the cast is populated with veritable character types like William Bendix, Alan Mowbray and Skelton Knaggs. Oh, and we also have an unusual lady-in-waiting played by Irene Ryan, who has an uproarious drunk scene with Newton and nearly walks off with the picture. Miss Ryan is there to be the butt of a few jokes and provide a sounding board for Darnell when Darnell is supposed to emote to someone about what’s happening on the high seas.
While some of the sequences seem repetitive, and the music cues a little too obvious, I do have to credit the studio and director Raoul Walsh with producing what is for the most part a crowd pleasing spectacle. There are plenty of fencing scenes, fistfights and explosions. Of course, it is all rather violent and aside from Andes’ character, most of the people in this story are cunning and self-serving. Even Darnell’s character is hoarding a treasure that doesn’t belong to her, until she is forced to give it up and focus on more worthwhile pursuits.
It occurred to me watching some of the scenes that this is just dressed up warfare, and with Newton chewing the scenery, there is an over-the-top pantomime quality to it all. Moviegoers in 1952 weren’t too far removed from the recent horrors of a world war. I am sure that on some level scenes where Thatcher and his troops raid a beach to fight Newton and his men to the death, reminded ex-soldiers in the audience what they had experienced first hand during combat. Blackbeard wasn’t the only cutthroat in history who had threatened to jeopardize peace.
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Post by topbilled on Oct 24, 2023 14:44:52 GMT
This neglected film is from 1954.
She has a debt to repay
The premise for this film involves an heiress who almost died when she was younger. Due to the generosity of the people in a small Arkansas town who took up a collection, she was able to receive urgent medical attention. The kindness of these strangers saved her life, when her parents had no money or way of helping her.
It is now twenty years later. Her father ended up becoming quite wealthy, though he’s no longer alive. After her father’s death, Corby Lane was sent abroad to be educated in England and Switzerland. She’s returned to the U.S, all grown up (played by Jean Simmons); and feels she should repay the town’s residents for their good deed.
It’s a fish-out-of-water story, since Simmons’ character knows very little about the way people in rural America live. She drives into their lives, determined to buy them things and give them money, before returning to the east coast. She doesn’t realize a simple “repayment” won’t occur without considerable complications. Nor does she anticipate falling for the community’s handsome and very single doctor played by Robert Mitchum.
At this point in the history of RKO, the studio wasn’t releasing very many motion pictures under producer Howard Hughes. Nor was the studio making many comedies. This is not the typical RKO product, but it is expertly filmed and with a strong script and intelligent performances, it’s a winner. In some ways, it feels like a blueprint for The Andy Griffith Show since the film’s town, called Progress, seems a lot like Mayberry.
One thing I really appreciated while watching the film was how Simmons’ acts of kindness change the town. She has a direct effect on the economy by creating opportunities for the longtime inhabitants to pursue their dreams. This means some of them will leave the life they know to venture on to other places.
Meanwhile, Simmons is becoming more immersed in her new life here, and ultimately, she finds a future with Mitchum. We expect her and Mitchum to properly pair up before the story ends, but we don’t expect them to learn so much about how to be happy and live a fulfilling life.
In addition to Simmons and Mitchum, there are many excellent supporting performances. Arthur Hunnicutt plays a drunk in need of a cure. Raymond Walburn is a blustery judge. Wallace Ford is a highly regarded veterinarian. Edgar Buchanan is the local store owner. And Dabbs Greer is young man who’s just become a new father. There’s a lot to enjoy with this film, and I don’t know how anyone could say no to watching it.
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Post by Fading Fast on Oct 24, 2023 15:58:35 GMT
She Couldn't Say No from 1953 with Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Arthur Hunnicutt and Edgar Buchanan
Before Hallmark, Hollywood realized there was money in simple romantic comedies with obvious scripts and easy-to-overcome problems. But Hollywood, back in the 1950s and still in the studio system, knew how to make these hokey stories genuinely fun and appealing.
It also helps to have top stars like Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons in the lead roles and not some B-actors on the downside of an already mediocre career. It also helps to have outstanding character actors like Arthur Hunnicutt and Edgar Buchanan and a top-tier director like Lloyd Bacon.
In the stupidly titled, She Couldn't Say No, Simmons is an oil baron heiress who only survived as a child when a small town took up a collection to pay for a life-saving operation for her that her father, then, was too poor to afford. Now, twenty-year old, well-intended-but-slightly-ditzy Simmons goes back, incognito, to the town to repay everyone for his or her kindness.
The town, think Petticoat Junction (even including the future Uncle Joe, AKA Edgar Buchanan, as the owner of the general store), is quiet, quirky, cute and stable. It has one veterinarian, one young, handsome doctor, played by Robert Mitchum, one town drunk, one boarding house that serves as the "hotel," one bar that serves a potent moonshine, one stream for the doctor to fish in and no traffic lights.
Simmons bumps into and irritates the young doctor upon arrival, but we all know where this is going even while they are having their first fight. Sometimes, it's relaxing to know ahead of time how a movie will end if, as it is here, it's fun getting there.
The fun and charm here is Mitchum making Simmons a late night ice-cream soda in the closed, but never-locked local drug store or city-girl Simmons trying to fly fish to impress serious hobbyist Mitchum.
It's also the town drunk getting sick because his system can't handle the good scotch Simmons bought for him or the veterinarian quitting with his Simmons-provided windfall, which forces a-bit-full-of-himself medical doctor Mitchum to have to care for a horse.
The rest of the movie is, as expected, all whimsy goofiness: Simmons' anonymous gifts upsets the comfortable, yet delicate balance of the community, while Mitchum, with the help of his precocious ten-year-old friend, figures Simmons' game out.
Simmons and Mitchum then flirt fight, as he calls her out on the damage she does, especially when the town is overrun with outsiders after word of the gifts gets out. Simmons, meanwhile, becomes jealous of the cute local girl who has her eye on "doc" Mitchum.
The entire plot of She Couldn't Say No is a mcguffin as the point of the movie is to see a small rural community of likable characters have their world shaken up a bit, while two attractive people deny what is obvious to everyone else, that they are falling in love.
Director Lloyd Bacon knew his job was to move the picture along at a quick pace, while hitting as many cute notes as possible along the way. But it wouldn't work if not for the incredible appeal of the leads and character actors who carry the script over its silliness. She Couldn't Say No is fluff, but it's well-done fluff, which is more than enough.
N.B. There is a 1940 movie of the same name that is in no way related. |
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Post by topbilled on Oct 24, 2023 16:25:13 GMT
You're right, this film has a lot of deliberately cute moments. Surprised a dog wasn't added into the mix, though we do see some pigs!
I did feel that some of her 'mistakes' were a bit over-exaggerated. And how was she to know that sending bottles of scotch to Hunnicutt was such a bad idea?
I agree the title is dumb. A better title would have been: "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."
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Post by topbilled on Nov 1, 2023 14:04:00 GMT
This neglected film is from 1942.
Jane Wyatt makes most of role in medical corps drama
Technically this is a war film, produced by RKO during the first year that America was fighting abroad in WWII. However, the romantic strands of the main storyline take priority, and the war action is merely background, until something important needs to happen to our principal characters. Then, they are right in the midst of battle.
Interestingly a framing device utilized by the scenarists begins the film in WWII and ends the film in WWII. But the main female character (played by Jane Wyatt) is remembering a time from another war 25 years earlier. We flashback to her as a younger woman, arriving on the European front during WWI. She is there to do her part.
In a way Jane Wyatt is perfect for this type of role, because the actress is always smart and confident in her roles. She’s good at portraying a no-nonsense gal, a medical professional who’s gone abroad to help save lives. And we know she will succeed, too.
At first we’re told she’s a nurse, which she has passed herself off as…but a short time later, a male doctor (James Ellison) learns she’s actually a licensed physician just like him. His ego takes a bit of a bruising. During the introductory portion of their meet-cute, we assume Ellison is playing the title character, the so-called army surgeon…but that label also applies to Wyatt’s character, who’s right there in the trenches alongside him, with equal qualifications.
The middle section of picture depicts how they re-situate their mobile hospital closer to where the action and fatalities are occurring. There are some dramatic explosions and a cave-in at one point. But none of what occurs outside can compare to what is happening inside, between Ellison and Wyatt while they tend to their patients.
They are starting to have feelings for each other, and seem to be on track for some sort of personal relationship. But then a downed flyer (Kent Taylor) winds up in their care, and it is learned he’s a former beau of Miss Wyatt’s, which creates a romantic triangle. Some time goes by, and we see how conflicted she is about both men. But because Ellison has higher billing, we know Wyatt will end up with him and not Taylor.
Still I found it all rather engaging to watch, despite the more formulaic aspects of the production. Jane Wyatt makes the most of a strong role without an overbearing sense of jingoism or feminism. If you’re fan of hers like I am, you will want to see her take center stage here.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 11, 2023 13:27:58 GMT
This neglected film is from 1934.
Becoming a U.S. citizen
A lot happens in this film, and that’s a good thing. Though there are a few slower character-driven moments, most of it moves at a quick pace and there isn’t much time to get bored. Not that we could ever get bored watching Ginger Rogers on screen. During this early phase of her career at RKO, the studio would put her into romantic comedy-dramas without her usual dancing partner Fred Astaire which helped broaden her appeal across genres and develop Rogers’ versatility as an actress.
The story begins with top-billed Francis Lederer as a Czech immigrant who arrives at Ellis Island but is denied entry because he doesn’t have enough money. Officials put him on a steamship back to Holland, where he will be rerouted to Prague…but as he glimpses the Statue of Liberty across the water, he decides that he can’t leave. He dives off the side of the vessel, and is rescued by some men who pull him to safety along the shore. He loses what money he does have and winds up walking the streets, looking for food and shelter. This is when he crosses paths with Miss Rogers.
They have a low-key but memorable first encounter when she catches him stealing donuts and coffee in an outdoor area where she and a bunch of chorus girls are practicing their routines. She feels sorry for him and says maybe her brother (Jimmy Butler) can find him a job.
The brother is only 11, and he’s a hard-working newsboy who often skips school. This causes trouble with social workers (Helen Ware and Eily Malyon) who get reports about the kid’s truancy. We find out that Rogers is only 19 herself and is raising her brother, since both parents have died.
The brother bonds with Lederer and helps him get a job, and at the same time, we have Rogers hiding Lederer on the rooftop where he sleeps with a blanket and no modern conveniences. When it rains, he sneaks back inside and usually has his meals and showers at Rogers’ apartment. It is the beginning of a solid friendship that gradually develops into more.
Most of the film concerns itself with the hardships faced by the three main characters and how they are occasionally helped by a friendly police officer (J. Farrell MacDonald). We see Rogers lose her job as a chorus girl; and we see Lederer take on work as a taxi cab driver, then face a setback when the cabbies go on strike.
They seem to have difficulty getting ahead financially. Dialogue indicates just how severely the Depression is affecting them and their prospects for the future.
There is another huge setback when the social workers return and tell Rogers they’ve learned she has a man staying with her without the benefit of marriage. This leads to a court hearing where a judge (Oscar Apfel) decides it is in the boy’s best interest to go to an orphans’ asylum. The only way he’d be able to remain with Rogers, who is still unemployed, would be for her to marry a man who has a job.
Lederer is spurred into action. He returns to driving taxi, by going against the strike, which results in a violent altercation. He also speaks to MacDonald about what it would take to get a marriage license. And of course, he proposes to Rogers who says yes, she will marry him even though there is much uncertainty in their lives. One thing she’s sure about is that she loves him as much as he loves her.
Of course, the writers are not quite ready to give us a happy ending…because Lederer is still an illegal immigrant and his naturalization process needs to be finished. The last part of the story involves a crooked lawyer (Arthur Hohl) who betrays Lederer and reports him to the authorities for deportation.
However, MacDonald and a desk sergeant (Sidney Toler) rally to the couple’s aid with other men on the force, to help speed up the process of legalizing Lederer’s stay in the country. There are amusing moments at the precinct where MacDonald calls in favors with higher-ups; the shyster lawyer is detained on exaggerated charges; a doctor arrives to vaccinate Lederer; a minister is summoned; and the couple is finally wed.
An interesting footnote here is that actor Francis Lederer would become an American citizen five years after this film was made.
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Post by sagebrush on Nov 12, 2023 14:54:52 GMT
This neglected film is from 1934.
Becoming a U.S. citizen
This was the first film in which I saw Ginger Rogers without Fred Astaire, and I was amazed at how good she was in it. As I mentioned before, I love Francis Lederer, so this film was a definite win for me! |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 12, 2023 14:56:11 GMT
This neglected film is from 1934.
Becoming a U.S. citizen
This was the first film in which I saw Ginger Rogers without Fred Astaire, and I was amazed at how good she was in it. As I mentioned before, I love Francis Lederer, so this film was a definite win for me! |
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Post by NoShear on Nov 13, 2023 17:06:17 GMT
This neglected film is from 1942.
Jane Wyatt makes most of role in medical corps drama
Technically this is a war film, produced by RKO during the first year that America was fighting abroad in WWII. However, the romantic strands of the main storyline take priority, and the war action is merely background, until something important needs to happen to our principal characters. Then, they are right in the midst of battle.
Interestingly a framing device utilized by the scenarists begins the film in WWII and ends the film in WWII. But the main female character (played by Jane Wyatt) is remembering a time from another war 25 years earlier. We flashback to her as a younger woman, arriving on the European front during WWI. She is there to do her part.
In a way Jane Wyatt is perfect for this type of role, because the actress is always smart and confident in her roles. She’s good at portraying a no-nonsense gal, a medical professional who’s gone abroad to help save lives. And we know she will succeed, too.
At first we’re told she’s a nurse, which she has passed herself off as…but a short time later, a male doctor (James Ellison) learns she’s actually a licensed physician just like him. His ego takes a bit of a bruising. During the introductory portion of their meet-cute, we assume Ellison is playing the title character, the so-called army surgeon…but that label also applies to Wyatt’s character, who’s right there in the trenches alongside him, with equal qualifications.
The middle section of picture depicts how they re-situate their mobile hospital closer to where the action and fatalities are occurring. There are some dramatic explosions and a cave-in at one point. But none of what occurs outside can compare to what is happening inside, between Ellison and Wyatt while they tend to their patients.
They are starting to have feelings for each other, and seem to be on track for some sort of personal relationship. But then a downed flyer (Kent Taylor) winds up in their care, and it is learned he’s a former beau of Miss Wyatt’s, which creates a romantic triangle. Some time goes by, and we see how conflicted she is about both men. But because Ellison has higher billing, we know Wyatt will end up with him and not Taylor.
Still I found it all rather engaging to watch, despite the more formulaic aspects of the production. Jane Wyatt makes the most of a strong role without an overbearing sense of jingoism or feminism. If you’re fan of hers like I am, you will want to see her take center stage here. Thought of your post here while watching T CM's double-bill last night, TopBilled: So Proudly We Hail/ the Proud and Profane... It was interesting hearing the Superman drops in So Proudly We Hail:
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Post by topbilled on Nov 21, 2023 15:16:46 GMT
This neglected film is from 1948.
Exercise in crime and police detection
THE VELVET TOUCH was part of a multi-picture deal that Rosalind Russell and her producer-husband Frederick Brisson had at RKO. She had recently played a nurse crusading against polio in SISTER KENNY; and had just attempted a large-scale adaptation of a Eugene O’Neill work, MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA. Both those efforts netted her an Oscar nomination. Now she was ready for a change of pace.
You might say this is a precursor to both SUNSET BOULEVARD and ALL ABOUT EVE, which would hit screens two years later. In this tale, Russell portrays a flashy theatrical type who is much adored by critics and fans. Her personal life and her professional life have merged into one flamboyant affair. Shades of Tallulah here, and one wonders what this might have been in the hands of Miss Bankhead. But I digress.
The initial conflict is this: Russell’s character is concerned about what direction her career should take. She wants another Broadway hit, naturally…but she and her producer (Leon Ames) disagree about which project she should take on next. He says the public wants her to do another comedy, but she is determined to do something much more dramatic. (One wonders if Russell and Brisson ever had such conversations in real life.)
The producer is a former lover and he has invested a lot of years into her career. They quarrel violently one evening, and she accidentally strikes a blow which causes him to fall down dead.
We wouldn’t have much of a movie if she went straight to the police and reported what happened. Instead, she decides to cover up her involvement in Ames’ death. At the same time this is occurring, there’s a subplot which features a rival actress (Claire Trevor). It doesn’t take Russell long to figure out that she can pin the producer’s killing on her rival.
Into this scenario we see the arrival of a shrewd police inspector (Sydney Greenstreet). He has his own theories, of course, but it will be a matter or proving that Russell not Trevor is the actual culprit.
Think of Mr. Greenstreet doing an early spin on Peter Falk’s Columbo character, and you have the gist of it. The scenes between Mr. Greenstreet, on loan from Warner brothers, interrogating Miss Russell are pure gold. Their ongoing cat-and-mouse exchange is fun to watch, and it builds to the final act.
Besides the cast already mentioned, the film benefits from the inclusion of British star Leo Genn who plays Russell’s new paramour. Also on hand are a young Lex Barker whom RKO is grooming for bigger things (Tarzan is just around the corner for him); plus Frank McHugh in a supporting role and Martha Hyer in a bit part.
THE VELVET TOUCH is not a spectacular film, but it is still an engrossing one. The performances are all first-rate, especially Miss Trevor who has a boffo death scene. We also get RKO’s customary noir effects, with crisp cinematography and the requisite shadowy textures. I do think Russell is a bit over-the-top in some scenes, and she occasionally pulls me out of the story because of that, but mostly, we have a satisfying exercise in crime and police detection.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 29, 2023 13:50:25 GMT
This neglected film is from 1931.
Married to the mob
In the early 1930s Helen Twelvetrees was under contract to RKO-Pathe, and during that time she made some noteworthy pictures. One of the more memorable examples is this romantic crime yarn from 1931. In the story she plays a sheltered woman who has found love with a handsome lawyer (John Garrick).
Opening shots show her and a bunch of pals on a pleasure yacht owned by her brother (Frank Conroy). A plane flies to the area, and Garrick hops off the aircraft and joins Twelvetrees and the others on the boat. They are enamored with each other, and he proposes to her. She accepts the proposal without verbally saying ‘yes.’
What Miss Twelvetrees’ character doesn’t know, and neither does the audience, is that Garrick is a mouthpiece for the mob. He works for a narcissistic hood played by Ricardo Cortez. Mr. Cortez pulls out all the stops with his role, bossing underlings around and plotting to take whatever he wants whenever he wants it.
Cortez hasn’t met Twelvetrees but has heard about her. He learns of Garrick’s impending marriage…but instead of discouraging it, he condones it as it will bring two warring sides together. This is when we learn Twelvetrees’ brother is a rival mobster, and the union will forge a truce between the two groups. The irony is that while Twelvetrees is being ‘offered up,’ in such a way, she has no idea that her brother is a hood, and that her husband-to-be works for another hood in town. Talk about naive! But hey, she’s in love.
Cathedral scenes follow, and a glorious wedding occurs. It is attended by assorted gangsters from both sides. It’s amusing to see some of the men rolling dice, gambling during the ceremony. Off to the side Cortez is secretly lusting after Twelvetrees. After everyone leaves the church, he stands alone inside and repeats the line ’till death do us part,’ which suggests he plans to kill Garrick so he can have the bride all to himself.
After the honeymoon, Cortez sends fancy gifts to the newlyweds. Most of these expensive tokens of affection are intended for Twelvetrees. She is still in the dark about the nefarious business activities of the men in her life. She does not stray, since she truly loves Garrick. However, Cortez is getting restless and wants Garrick out of the way.
When Cortez learns that a cop (Harry Carey) plans to ambush him along a pier one evening, he calls Garrick and sends him to the spot instead. Sure enough, Garrick goes down in a spray of bullets but he miraculously survives. There’s a fantastic sequence, part dream and part nightmare, experienced by Twelvetrees’ character where she learns about her husband’s shooting and flashes back over the early days of their idyllic courtship, as well as their wedding.
While convalescing at the hospital, Garrick vows to get better and walk again. Meanwhile Twelvetrees’ brother realizes Garrick took bullets meant for Cortez. He ends up confessing to Twelvetrees that he’s deep in the rackets. She is horrified to learn her husband is also involved with the gangsters, and had basically become one of them himself. She has trouble wrapping her brain around this fact.
At the same time Cortez calls Twelvetrees to his penthouse apartment. He thinks Garrick will die soon, and he’s ready to put the moves on a grieving widow. But Twelvetrees does not accept the invitation to engage in a tryst. She has a pistol tucked inside her coat pocket, and she intends to do what Carey and the other coppers failed to do– rub out this despicable low-life.
Because this is a precode, Twelvetrees gets away with killing Cortez. She will evade justice and be able to spend the rest of her life in bliss with a husband who has recovered and gone legit. This is a fascinating film with excellent performances. The way Twelvetrees’ character evolves from sheltered society girl to vengeful wife is a masterclass in acting.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 29, 2023 16:23:16 GMT
Bad Company from 1931 with Richard Cortez, Helen Twelvetrees, Jack Garrick and Frank Conroy
Bad Company is an uneven, but still engaging early talkie mob movie. Its straightforward story, though, somehow seems complicated, while its directing, by Tay Garnett, has both impressive elements and odd moments where the movie feels like it's slipped into silent-film mode.
When Bad Company opens, we meet a young, pretty woman on a yacht, played by Helen Twelvetrees, who's waiting for her handsome, successful lawyer fiance, played by Jack Garrick, to show up. At this point, Bad Company feels like another foibles-of-the-rich picture that populated the movie screens of the 1930s.
After the two lovers have a brief reunion, though, Garrick is called away on business where we learn he works for a mob boss played by Richard Cortez. Cortez plays his Capone-inspired character as a quiet sociopath who, like the cliche goes, probably pulled the wings off of flies as a young boy.
Twelvetrees mildly senses something is off in her husband's work, but her kind older brother, played by Frank Conroy, who seems to have raised Twelvetrees, tells her not to worry. The "kids" are then married, with Twelvetrees still in the dark about her new husband's business.
Newlywed Garrick wants out from the mob, but boss Cortez isn't having any of that as he is battling for control of the city with a rival mob boss who is - get ready for it - Twelvetrees' brother, Conroy. Clearly, Twelvetrees' personal radar isn't set to recognize when close relatives are in the mob.
Cortez is also the focus of an extensive local police and Federal Government investigation as they know who he is and where he lives, but like with Capone, they can't attach him to any criminal activity. Cortez runs his illegal empire from a luxury hotel suite where he's protected by an army of machine-gun-wielding men.
Up in his penthouse, Cortez spends most of his time imagining himself as a modern day Napoleon or Caesar, as he torments his staff with picayune complaints, while he plots one intrigue after another to maintain control.
He then sets Garrick up to be killed as he wants Twelvetrees for himself. That sets off a series of reveals that opens Twelvetrees' eyes to the mob world all around her.
Bad Company then climaxes with an incredibly violent shootout - machine guns blaze for minutes chewing up the hotel's lobby - and a final face off between Cortez and Twelvetrees (yes it is Twelvetrees who has the final face-off with Cortez as women are not shrinking violets in pre-code Hollywood).
Bad Company has some excellent scenes, like the machine-gun battle or the early meeting on the yacht, but other scenes are done in an odd, almost silent-film style where the actors gesture and emote without speaking. Tay Garnett's directing is outstanding and even influential in some sequences, but awkwardly dated in others.
Bad Company also tries to do more things with its story than its director and writers can control. It wants to be an operatic good-versus-evil tale, a character study of a Capone-like mob boss and a love story about a man trapped in a crooked world but trying to go straight for the innocent woman he loves.
The love story is pretty flat as you don't really feel much passion between Twelvetrees and Garrick (blame Garrick). The operatic overlay is never fully developed as the police and Twelvetrees, who represent "the good," are kept too far in the background for most of the movie. The occasional speech by the Federal Agents about how mobsters are really cowards is just not enough.
Bad Company does succeed, though, in giving us, in Cortez, an early version of the chillingly insane and isolated mob boss who manages to build a criminal empire on cunning, fear and delusions of grandeur.
Today you watch Bad Company, yes, for its entertainment value, but even more so to see captivating Twelvetrees, whose talents are underutilized in this one, and to see Cortez' performance as one of the antecedents to the many, many Hollywood-limned psychotic mob bosses to come. |
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Post by topbilled on Dec 4, 2023 14:50:03 GMT
This neglected film is from 1950.
Ward Bond’s first Wagon Train
Ward Bond was paid $20,000 for his appearance in this independent John Ford western released thru RKO. He would repeat his role as a wagon train master in a popular TV series later in the decade, for which he would earn substantially more money and become a household name. It is ironic that right before Bond died in the fall of 1960, he was directed by John Ford in a special episode of Wagon Train that featured John Wayne in a cameo role. So it all would come full circle.
While John Wayne does not appear in WAGON MASTER, many other members of the famed John Ford stock company do. These include folks like Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Alan Mowbray and Jane Darwell who received an Oscar a decade earlier for her work in Ford’s social message drama THE GRAPES OF WRATH. Speaking of that film, you might say WAGON MASTER tells a similar story about a displaced group of travelers, here a bunch of Mormons heading to Utah, that lost everything and are now eager for a fresh start.
Much has been written about WAGON MASTER being one of Ford’s lesser known masterpieces. It utilizes iconic imagery and combines the director’s keen sense of western archetypes with memorable character studies. There are occasional bursts of action lest things become a bit too boring. Ford tends to gravitates toward stories that put people in dangerous and otherwise harsh conditions, buoyed by a sense of hope and spiritual unity. As a result, there is an epic feel to the journey at hand, despite the picture’s relatively short run time, clocking in at just under 90 minutes.
Besides the plot involving Ward Bond’s character leading the Mormon exiles through the desert, there are a few other notable subplots. One involves Ben Johnson’s character and his attempts to romance a strong-willed woman played by Joanne Dru. Also, there’s a murderous outlaw family led by Charles Kemper as the ruthless patriarch, in a manner resembling Walter Brennan’s work as Pa Clanton in Ford’s previous opus MY DARLING CLEMENTINE.
If you’re a fan of John Ford, Ward Bond and Wagon Train you will enjoy watching WAGON MASTER.
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