THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT

Theodore von Eltz and Alan Hale

THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT (1933). Directed by George Melford. 

John Ross (William V. Mong) has been the lawyer to a wealthy woman for many years. When this woman dies, Ross is set to inherit most of the money, but his young associate, Wayne Winters (Theodore von Eltz), wants in on the action. To stymie Ross' plans he digs up two supposed heirs to the estate from an early marriage -- embezzler Charlie Moore (Arthur Hoyt) and dead-common Tessie  (Marie Prevost) who has pretensions of class -- and then there's also Max Stager (Alan Hale) who claims he is the father of the dead woman's daughter. Ross has two daughters: Corinne (Marian Marsh of Svengali), who is in love with Wayne, and Nina (Gloria Shea) who is engaged to Jerry Trent (Lyman Williams of Damaged Lives).  One of them is actually adopted and is Stager's daughter. It's anyone's idea who, if anyone, will wind up with the money if assorted secrets get out. 

Marie Prevost with von Eltz

Based on a stage play, Eleventh Commandment -- "thou shalt not get caught" -- sets up an interesting situation with a few intriguing characters, but it has far too many of them to make this anything but confusing and ultimately unsatisfying. It does present two of the most unethical and unlikable lawyers in the history of the movies. The performances are quite good, however, with von Eltz being pleasantly oily and Alan Hale doing his best with an under-written part. Ethel Wales is effective as the embezzler's wife. Handsome and adept, Theodore von Eltz' career ran from the silent period all the way to 1957. 

Verdict: Passable melodrama but nothing more. **. 

THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE

James and Olivia

THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE (1941). Director: Raoul Walsh.

In old time New York, Biff Grimes (James Cagney) is a struggling dentist with a wife, Amy (Olivia de Havilland). He gets word that there's a man, Hugo Barnstead (Jack Carson), who has such a severe toothache that he needs to come by on a Sunday and he can name his price. When Biff finds out who his patient is, his mind goes back to years ago. Most of the film consists of a a long flashback that explains why he has good reason to hate the man. Will Hugo get a lethal dose of laughing gas? The Strawberry Blonde is an odd comedy-drama with scenes of low comedy blended not so felicitously with more dramatic ones, and coming up short as a whole. The acting helps put it over: Cagney. playing yet another rather unsympathetic character, is full of his trademark bluster and charisma. De Havilland [Libel] is lovely and generally expert in her portrayal of the woman that Biff first despises. Scoring very big is Rita Hayworth [Salome] as Virginia, the woman Biff had originally wanted but who was stolen by Hugo; as a married couple who hate each other both Hayworth and Carson [The Groom Wore Spurs] are very effective, with the former giving a particularly adept performance (there's more to Hayworth than just sex appeal).Alan Hale, Una O'Connor, and George Reeves are also good as Biff's father, a neighbor lady, and a college boy that Biff has a quarrel with. A big problem with Blonde is that there are just too many really stupid moments, many of them consisting of scenes crafted to show off Cagney's aging tough guy image, including a ridiculous scene when he beats up several college boys at once -- sure! Since most of the film takes place some years in the past, Cagney at 42 is too old to be entirely convincing in the role as well. Still, the movie is fast-paced and unpredictable, and does have a few funny scenes, such as the Grimes and Barnsteads first encounter with spaghetti at the dinner table. The film's main strength is in how it gets across how relationships can turn out far differently than you expected, and in how one's heartbreak over another, initially devastating, often turns out to be the best thing that could have happened. This is a remake of One Sunday Afternoon, with Gary Cooper playing Biff. A musical version in 1948 cast Dennis Morgan as Biff! Raoul Walsh directed that version as well.

Verdict: A little too odd but certainly different. **1/2.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1921)

Rudolph Valentino

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1921 silent film). Director: Rex Ingram. Tinted edition.

Madariaga (Pomeroy Cannon) is a lusty and very wealthy rancher and entrepreneur in Argentina who has two daughters. One of them has three sons by a German husband, Karl (Alan Hale), while the other is a Frenchman, Marcelo (Josef Swickard), who was a deserter. Madariaga has a special fondness for his grandson, Julio (Rudolph Valentino), Marcelo's spoiled and womanizing son. After the death of his grandfather, Julio moves to Paris with the rest of his family while Karl takes his own family back to Germany. Julio embarks upon an affair with a married woman named Marguerite (Alice Terry), whose much older husband is Laurier (John St. Polis of Mr. Wong, Detective), but her feelings for her lover change when her husband goes off to war. Argentinian, Julio is determined to stay neutral while WW1 rages around him, and his father finds his country estate ravaged by Germans, including his own nephew and a crude Lt. Colonel (Wallace Beery) who tries to rape a maid. By their actions, both Marcelo and Julio eventually find redemption. Based on a best-selling 1919 novel by Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Four Horsemen is a strong and absorbing, fast-paced film beautifully directed by Ingram and with fine photography by John F. Seitz. Strong characterizations and dramatic presentation make this an excellent picture even without Carl Davis' rich and excellent modern score, but the music -- with themes by Liszt -- adds immeasurably to its impact. There are perhaps too many shots of the phantom horsemen riding across the skies, as well as shots of the fire-breathing dragon-like "beast," and the Christ figure at the end is a little much, but this also has many powerful sequences. (One that sticks in the mind is two crying children clinging to their dead mother in the rubble.) Alice Terry and the older actors are all quite good, while Valentino [Beyond the Rocks] gets across his initially superficial character without raising a sweat. This is a sweeping historical epic that is not for one minute dull. Remade in 1962. Alan Hale [Stella Dallas] was the father of Alan Hale Jr. of Gilligan's Island infamy.

Verdict: A silent masterpiece. ****.

STELLA DALLAS

Anne Shirley and Barbara Stanwyck

STELLA DALLAS (1937). Director: King Vidor.

Stella is a young woman in a family of mill hands who wants a better life for herself and gets it when she contrives to meet an executive at the mill, Stephen Dallas (John Boles). But although she lands the guy, Stella is a vulgar and unsympathetic person in many ways, and the two soon separate. However, Stella is redeemed by the sincere love she feels for her daughter, Laurel (Anne Shirley). But as the girl grows and bonds with her father and the new lady in his life, the widow Helen Morrison (Barbara O'Neil), Stella comes to realize that her rather declasse status may do her daughter more harm than good. Some aspects of Stella Dallas have to be taken with a grain of salt. It's one of those movies where people are terrible to other people that they love because they think they need "to be cruel to be kind" [along the lines of the guy who discovers he's going to be permanently crippled telling the woman who adores him that he hates her so she can be "free."] Once you accept that somewhat dated convention, it is easy to focus on the film's major strengths, which include Stanwyck's utterly superb performance [one of her finest in a career of excellent performances], as well as sterling work by Shirley, John Boles, boisterous Alan Hale as a friend of Stella's, O'Neill, Ann Shoemaker, Marjorie Main, and others. [Even Olin  Howlin/Howland from The Blob --years in his future -- shows up!] One of the best scenes is a very moving encounter between Stella and Helen, and the ending -- if slightly contrived and "dramatic" -- is lovely and poignant. Hattie McDaniel, Jimmy Butler, and Tim Holt also have small roles. All this and an excellent score by Alfred Newman as well.

Verdict: Stanwyck and a general air of classiness lift this out of the soap opera level, but it's definitely a classic tearjerker. ****.

THE KILLER IS LOOSE

THE KILLER IS LOOSE (1956). Director: Budd Boetticher. 

When Detective Sam Wagner (Joseph Cotten) goes after Leon Poole (Wendell Corey), who held up a bank, he accidentally shoots the man's wife. When Poole breaks out of jail, he murders everyone in his way as he makes his way to Wagner-- so that he can kill Wagner's wife (Rhonda Fleming). This is a decidedly minor film for all concerned, but it does manage to work up a certain degree of suspense, in large part due to Lionel Newman's taut musical score. Filmed by Lucien Ballard. Alan Hale Jr. of Gilligan's Island is more subdued as another cop. Fleming is okay, but the female acting honors go to Virginia Christine as another cop's wife and friend, and Dee J. Thompson as the wife of Poole's old sergeant (John Larch). Some other familiar faces scattered throughout the movie in bit roles. Not always logical. Cotten is solid although this is not one of his more memorable credits. 

Verdict: a respectable if forgettable 73 minutes. **1/2.

OUR RELATIONS

OUR RELATIONS (1936). Director: Harry Lachman.

In this comic masterpiece starring Laurel and Hardy the boys have dual roles as happily-married men Stan and Ollie, and their long-lost twin brothers, two single sailors, Alf and Bert. Stan and Ollie innocently enter a beer garden with their wives when they come upon two babes who are acquainted with their brothers -- and the mistaken identity mania begins, taking in everything from unpaid bar bills, run-ins with the law, to chases in fancy night clubs (which they demolish) to gangsters and cement shoes down at the docks, all of it beautifully-paced, zestily-acted, and consistently hilarious. This is probably the boys' greatest and funniest movie. Young Iris Adrian is one of the hungry gals in the beer garden, and Alan Hale is the proprietor of said establishment. Daphne Pollard and Betty Healy score as the boys' wives. James Finlayson, who frequently appeared in Laurel and Hardy movies, is Alf and Bert's shipboard buddy, Finn. He's on the broad side, as usual, but good. Sidney Toler is the captain of the ship.

Verdict: Classic comedy. ****.