THE UNSUSPECTED

THE UNSUSPECTED (1947). Director: Michael Curtiz.

"I detest scenes not of my own making."

Roslyn, the secretary of radio star Victor Grandison (Claude Rains), who narrates tales of mystery and the macabre, is found hanging in the study, apparently the victim of a suicide. Meanwhile, Grandison's niece, Matilda (Joan Caulfield), who was supposedly lost at sea, shows up alive and well, as does Steven Howard (Michael/Ted North), a man she doesn't remember who claims he's her husband. Other members of this strange household include another viperish niece, Althea (Audrey Totter), her husband Oliver (Hurd Hatfield), whom she stole away from Matilda, and snappy assistant Jane (Constance Bennett), not to mention Press (Jack Lambert) a hooligan employed by Grandison. Based on a novel by Charlotte Armstrong, this seems an odd fit for director Curtiz (despite his work on such films as Mildred Pierce) and while it holds the attention and has a fairly exciting finale, otherwise it never quite comes alive. Nice work by Claude Rains (although he seems less inspired by this material than he was in, say, Deception). Audrey Totter is vivid, as usual, as is Constance Bennett. Caulfield is just okay, no more.

Verdict: Okay suspenser. **1/2.

DIE HALBSTARKEN

Horst Buchholz

DIE HALBSTARKEN (aka Teenage Wolfpack/1956). Director: Georg Tressler. Colorized. 

A youth gang (of sorts) in post-war Germany is led by Freddy (Horst Buchholz), the most attractive and charismatic of the bunch. He has acquired some of his nasty attitude from his father (Paul Wagner), who has been in a foul mood since his brother-in-law borrowed a significant amount of money and can't repay it. Freddy's younger brother, John (Christian Doermer), is dismayed that his father takes it all out on his mother (Viktoria von Ballasko) and hopes to raise the money to repay his father. Meanwhile Freddy has moved or been thrown out of the house, and has his own place, with his 15-going-on-16 girlfriend, Sissy (Karin Baal), just next door. Freddy concocts a robbery scheme that goes horribly wrong, and discovers that the female of the species may just be deadlier than the male. 

Doermer and Baal

If one is hoping for a serious and thoughtful look at life in post-WW2 Germany, Die Halbstarken is not it. Clearly inspired by Hollywood juvenile delinquency films (which were dubbed and shown in Germany), this picture resembles one of them even down to the jazz score. We've got the restless teenage boys, the sluttish females, the attitude and feeling of wasted lives going nowhere, and all the usual tropes. The acting is quite good, however, with Buchholz (billed as "Henry Bookholt" in the dubbed American version of the film, Teenage Wolfpack, which even played drive-ins in the states) taking top honors but getting competition from Doermer as his nicer and more sensitive brother and Baal as the girlfriend, a blonde Lolita who tries to play both ends against the middle. The supporting cast is also on top of things. Buchholz struts around in tight black leather pants through the whole movie, which is somewhat entertaining if minor. NOTE: After I wrote this review I discovered that I'd already seen and reviewed the darn thing some years ago. I hate when that happens! 

Verdict: Buchholz went on to better things. **3/4. 

WILD RIVER

WILD RIVER (1960). Director: Elia Kazan.

Chuck Glover (Montgomery Clift), a representative of the Tennessee Valley Authority, tries to persuade an elderly woman, Ella Garth (Jo Van Fleet), that she must leave her home before the whole area is flooded to make a damn for electric power, as well as to tame a river that has taken many lives. (A very affecting prologue presents what appears to be actual newsreel footage of a heart-broken man telling how most of his family was swept away by flood waters.) But Ella is very eloquent about what the land means to her, and why she is adamant about dying in her home. In the meantime Glover begins a romance with the old lady's grand-daughter, Carol (Lee Remick), and has to deal with racists who object to his hiring black workers and paying them a decent wage. This is another interesting social drama by Elia Kazan, imperfect and not always riveting, but bolstered by fine acting and photography. The secondary love story between Chuck and Carol isn't that compelling, even though Remick gives a lovely performance and Clift, as ever, is solid. Van Fleet, who was actually only 46 when the film came out, is simply superb as Ella Garth, and as others have noted, it's a shame that she wasn't even nominated for an Oscar.

Verdict: Worth viewing for an outstanding Van Fleet. ***.

JUBILEE TRAIL

JUBILEE TRAIL (1954). Director: Joseph Kane.

A dance hall gal who calls herself Florinda (Vera Ralston) and a "nice" gal named Garnet (Joan Leslie), recently married, develop an unexpected friendship that lasts from 1845 New Orleans to California in the days just before and after it became a state and on the verge of the Gold Rush. The main story of this meandering "epic" from Republic pictures has to do with Garnet's brother-in-law trying to kidnap her young son after her husband's death, and the chaos that results. Along the way there are Indians on the warpath and assorted romantic complications. Richard Webb, Forrest Tucker, Buddy Baer, Barton MacLane and Jim Davis are also in the cast. Pat O'Brien has a notable turn as "Texas," a kind-hearted drunk with a secret. Leslie is okay as Garnet; Vera Ralston is oddly appealing as Florinda. Jubilee Trail isn't awful but it isn't memorable, either.

Verdict: A trail you may not want to wander along. **1/2.

THE LAW AND THE LADY

THE LAW AND THE LADY (1951). Director: Edwin H. Knopf.

"At my age a good cook is more important than a husband." --Marjorie Main

Another version of The Last of Mrs. Cheney -- Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford did the others -- with Greer Garson and Michael Wilding as a lovable team of jewel thieves and rogues at the turn of the century. Jane Hoskins (Garson), with the help of Wilding, the brother of her former employer, reinvents herself as "Lady Jane Loverly" and becomes welcomed in American society, especially the home of wealthy old Julia Wortin (Marjorie Main), who has a fabulously valuable necklace. Fernando Lamas, Margalo Gillmore, Hayden Rourke, and Natalie Schafer all add to the fun as various guests and suitors. The movie gets kind of silly and unreal toward the end, to say the least, but it never quite loses its sense of humor. Speaking of which, it's definitely fun to see Marjorie Main as a lady in society! Soledad Jimenez scores as Lamas' peppery grandmother. This is arguably the best screen version of Frederick Lonsdale's play.

Verdict: Light and snappy for the most part. ***.