FATAL CHARM: THE LIFE OF REX HARRISON

FATAL CHARM: THE LIFE OF REX HARRISON. Alexander Walker. St. Martin's; 1992.

This superb biography takes a thorough, exhaustive look at the life and career of Rex Harrison, highlighting his enormous talent and good points while unsparingly detailing his less admirable traits, which were many. Walker covers Harrison's early British films and stage work, his coming to America to appear in Anna and the King of Siam with Irene Dunne, his triumph in both the Broadway and movie versions of My Fair Lady, and his many marriages to the likes of Collette Thomas, Elizabeth Rees, Lilli Palmer, and Rachel Roberts, among others. Roberts was a particular handful, an alcoholic whose behavior in public was often disgusting, and who even after her divorce from Harrison and his subsequent remarriage never stopped trying to get him back. Then there are the numerous affairs, the most publicized of which were with Carole Landis (who committed suicide over him) and Kay Kendall [Les Girls], whom Harrison married, divorcing Palmer, after learning Kendall had only a couple of years to live. Walker's biography maintains a balance between Harrison's career and personal life, analyzing his performances, and is bolstered by many interviews and comments from friends and co-workers.

Verdict: A damned good show! ****.

CHANGE LOBSTERS AND DANCE

CHANGE LOBSTERS AND DANCE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Lilli Palmer. Macmillan; 1975.

Apparently without a ghostwriter, Lilli Palmer [Body and Soul] writes affectingly of her life and a bit of her career and writes so well that she proves as talented an author as she was an actress. Palmer tells of growing up a Jew in Berlin, leaving the country for France and then England when Hitler reared his ugly head, her early struggles to have a career as an actress and winding up as part of a singing act in sleazy nightclubs, her work in theater and films, and her marriage to Rex Harrison. From an insider's pov, Palmer tells of the effect Harrison's affair with Carole  Landis [Out of the Blue], a suicide, had on her and her husband's lives -- they essentially had to flee Hollywood for New York until My Fair Lady changed everything -- as well as the major impact of his affair with co-star Kay Kendall [Les Girls] , whom Harrison had to take care of as she was dying, a fact that was kept from her.  It was difficult for Palmer to continue co-starring with Rex Harrison in "Bell, Book and Candle" in London after he fell in love with Kendall, but the producer wouldn't let her out of her contract. She lied and told Harrison that she would return to him after Kendall's death, but told him the truth afterward. Palmer then had a happier marriage to Argentinian actor and author Carlos Thompson [Raw Wind in Eden]. Palmer provides interesting portraits of such folk as co-stars Gary Cooper, Clark Gable and close friend Laurence Olivier, as well as of Noel Coward, Greta Garbo, Helen Keller, and the malicious Hedda Hopper, but the best sections relate her impressions as anti-Semitic feelings grew in Germany, and her reactions when she returned to make films in her homeland many years later, wondering which of her co-workers were Nazis and which weren't.

Palmer goes behind the scenes of a couple of her movies, but most of her film work is only mentioned in passing. (She doesn't even mention stuff like The House That Screamed.) Interestingly, second husband Thompson did not want her appearing on the New York stage because, as she puts it, "I couldn't possibly ask him to sit around and twiddle his thumbs for a whole year ... " this coming not long after Thompson spent two years away from Palmer researching a book! Sadly, Palmer died of cancer about ten years after this book was finished, and Thompson committed suicide four years later.

Verdict: Absorbing and very well-written memoir. ***1/2. 

FOUR JILLS IN A JEEP

Martha Raye, Carole Landis, Kay Francis, Mitzi Mayfair

FOUR JILLS IN A JEEP (1944). Director: William A. Seiter.

Loosely based on the wartime experiences of the four leading ladies, this has them playing themselves as they go on an entertainment tour for the fighting GI's. Kay Francis, who can't sing or dance, acts as the mistress of ceremonies, while Carole Landis sings, Mitzi Mayfair dances, and Martha Raye (who was not a bad singer herself) mugs and makes the usual jokes about her appearance. John Harvey [The Man with My Face]  plays Landis' love interest, who marries her during the film (Landis did marry an Army man during the war but the union only lasted two years). Phil Silvers plays the Army jeep driver who escorts the ladies everywhere and tries to get a date with Raye. Dick Haymes [Irish Eyes are Smiling] is cast as Mayfield's love interest and he offers a smooth delivery of a couple of romantic ballads. Bandleader Jimmy Dorsey [Lost in a Harem] is pleasant playing himself. Landis' apprehension when Harvey, a flier, is late in coming back from a mission is well delineated, but it leads to an odd sequence. One of the other pilots crashes off-screen and literally a second later Harvey shows up for a clinch., but neither of them ever say a word about the flier who was presumably killed, making them seem cold-blooded to say the least. The film's highlights include Mayfair's scintillating dance numbers; Betty Grable singing "Cuddle Up a Little Closer;" the drag queen-like Carmen Miranda dancing and warbling in her inimitable manner; and especially Alice Faye's moving rendition of  her haunting signature tune, "You''ll Never Know." Another terrific number, Rayes' "With a Wing and a Prayer," was left on the cutting room floor but can be seen on the DVD along with Miranda's rendition of "Mama yo quero." The songs were by McHugh and Adamson. Mayfair was essentially a Broadway tap dancer and made few films. She's cute, perky, and talented, and could have had a nice career playing second leads in romantic musicals.

Verdict: For what it is, a kind of time capsule with good performances from all. ***.

ONE MILLION B.C.

ONE MILLION B.C. (1940). Director: Hal Roach; Hal Roach, Jr.

A young couple take refuge in a cave, where they are told the ancient story of two lovers, Tumak (Victor Mature) and Loana (Carole Landis). The two come from different tribes -- the Rock people and the Shell people --  with Tumak's people being the more bestial of the two. Tumak is literally thrown out of their cavern by his own father, then makes his way alone until he encounters Loana. In addition to dealing with assorted human passions and jealousies, there are also a variety of carnivorous monsters to deal with. When an especially large and voracious dinosaur corners a group of Loana's people in their cavern, members of both tribes team up to banish the beast. One Million B.C. ignores the fact that human beings and dinosaurs did not ever co-exist, but tells a lively story anyhow, and there are plenty of monsters. The T-Rex -- actually someone wearing a T Rex outfit -- is laughable, but there are also the giant armadillo, a big gator in a fight with a huge lizard, and the humongous creature that shows up at the finale. The optical work is good for the most part, with an exciting earthquake (featuring a great shot showing a lava stream engulfing a woman as she tries to cross in front of it), and there's a very good score by Werner R. Heymann. The aforementioned lava stream shot, the battling giants, and the creature at the cave all turned up in numerous subsequent movies as stock footage. Mature [Kiss of Death] and Landis [Out of the Blue] give good performances, and Lon Chaney Jr. is effective as Akhoba. Remade by Ray Harryhausen in the seventies. Hal Roach also directed The Devil's Brother with Laurel and Hardy.

Verdict: Stone age lovers versus monsters! ***.

OUT OF THE BLUE

Ann Dvorak and Carole Landis

OUT OF THE BLUE (1947). Director: Leigh Jason.

Arthur Earthleigh (George Brent) is a hen-pecked husband in Greenwich Village who meets up with a kooky, tippling gal named Olive (Ann Dvorak) while his wife, Mae (Carole Landis of A Scandal in Paris) is out of town. Taking Olive to his apartment, Arthur is panicked to discover that it's hard to get rid of her -- until she apparently drops dead in his living room. He puts the body on the terrace of his disliked next-door neighbor, artist David Gelleo (Turhan Bey of The Mummy's Tomb), who is trying to entertain fellow dog lover Deborah (Virginia Mayo). David insists that Arthur help him get rid of the body, but is Olive really dead, and what will happen when Mae gets back in town? And could either Arthur or David be the notorious Greenwich Village Murderer who has already amassed several victims? Out of the Blue is as silly as it sounds, although it has some amusing moments, and the performances are more than okay. Brent [The Great Lie] is fine in a much nerdier role than he normally played, and Ann Dvorak is absolutely delightful, although it may not be her fault that eventually the presence of drunken Olive -- dead, not dead, and so on -- becomes rather tiresome. Elizabeth Patterson is cute as a little old lady who keeps seeing corpses and Flame makes an impression as David's dog Rabelais.The light tone of the movie is at odds with the whole business of a fiendish murderer killing young women, albeit his activities are never shown.

Verdict: A little too cute: **1/2.

DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE

DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE (12 chapter Republic serial/1939). Directors: John English; William Witney.

Harry Crowell (the great Charles Middleton) escapes from prison and is out to get diabolical revenge against Horace Granville (Miles Mander), whom he blames for his imprisonment. Crowell actually manages to disguise himself as Granville, hide the real Granville in a dungeon, and take his place in his own mansion -- with no one suspecting! The "daredevils." who are actually circus performers, get involved in the hunt for Crowell after the little brother of one of them is killed in one of the disasters Crowell engineers. Then there's the "Red Circle," a mysterious cloaked figure who leaves notes for the three daredevils  -- played by Charles Quigley (The Crimson Ghost, The Iron Claw), Bruce Bennett (Herman Brix) and David Sharpe. Carole Landis [A Scandal in Paris] is Granville's daughter, Blanche, and we mustn't forget the dog, Tuffie, a beautiful collie. There are several notable cliffhangers, including a flooded tunnel in chapter one.

Verdict: Fast-paced serial action. ***.

A SCANDAL IN PARIS

A SCANDAL IN PARIS (1946). Director: George Sanders.

The life story of Eugéne François Vidocq (George Sanders) who was born in a prison, becomes a crook and reprobate with women, and manages to wind up the Prefect of Police in Paris -- with plans concerning the Paris bank. Along the way he is assisted by Emile Vernet (Akim Tamiroff, in one of his best roles), who is even less moral than Vidocq is. Among the women in Vidocq's life are Therese (Signe Hasso), daughter of the Minister of Police, and sexy Loretta (Carole Landis), who is married to the former Prefect of Police (Gene Lockhart). While A Scandal in Paris has an exasperating and hypocritical moral incongruity to it, it is also unpredictable for the most part and is certainly never boring. Sanders is as splendid as ever in a role he was born for, Landis and Lockhart are terrific as a battling married couple, and the rest of the cast is in fine form as well. Jo Ann Marlowe is adorable as the self-assured little Mimi, younger sister of Therese.

Verdict: Sometimes crime does pay. ***.