Thursday, January 9, 2020

SUBWAY IN THE SKY

Hildegard Knef and Van Johnson
SUBWAY IN THE SKY (1959). Director: Muriel Box.

Baxter Grant (Van Johnson of The Bottom of the Bottle) is a military doctor stationed in Germany. He has been accused of stealing drugs and even murdering a colleague who might have testified against him. Stupidly going on the lam, he arrives at his estranged wife's apartment only to find that she has sub-let it to a singer named Lilli (Hildegard Knef of Diplomatic Courier and Fedora). There is an instant chemistry between these two, and Lilli decides to trust Baxter and help him while he tries to find his wife, Anna (Katherine Kath). At the same time a military policeman named Captain Carson (Cec Linder) tries to find Baxter, interrogating Lilli as to the fugitive's whereabouts every chance he gets.

Neff and Cec Linder
Subway in the Sky makes a mistake in starting the story in the middle, leaving out the scenes wherein Grant is accused and never introducing the viewer to the man he allegedly murders. Knef and Johnson give good performances, although there is a scene late in the picture -- after the horrible death of one character -- that he and Cec Linder as the cop are surprisingly unemotional considering what has just happened. Knef sings a song in the nightclub where she works, and her voice is pretty awful. Two other characters include Carl (Albert Lieven of Beware of Pity), a lawyer who is in love with Lilli and has a chance with her until she meets Baxter; and Stefan (Vivian Matalon), Baxter's stepson. One interesting sequence makes no bones about the fact that Lilli and Baxter have just had sex.

Verdict: Good story that needed more dramatic treatment and perhaps different actors. **3/4. 
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2 comments:

  1. angelman66January 11, 2020 at 10:12 AM

    Yayy, Bill, thanks for mentioning Fedora! That's my favorite Knef film--the scene where she smashes Marthe Keller's record player is unforgettable! Have seen her in other roles too, but she was bigger in Europe than over here, I guess.

    As for Van Johnson, even though he is not my favorite, I did enjoy him over the holidays with Garland in the remake of Shop Around the Corner...and caught a glimpse of him swimming w Esther Williams in a clip from That's Entertainment. He was good lookin'...
    -C

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  2. WilliamJanuary 11, 2020 at 10:30 AM

    Van was a freckle-faced hunk, all right. There are these crazy stories that the studio forced Keenan Wynn's wife to divorce him and marry Van (for cover) or else they'd destroy Wynn's career, but -- I don't know -- I know how the studios loved to run people's lives but this all sounds a little too incredible to me. A rather nasty bio of Johnson provides more questions than answers.

    You're right that Knef had a bigger career overseas.

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