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.

ROPE OF SAND

Burt Lancaster and Peter Lorre

ROPE OF SAND (1949). Director: William Dieterle. Colorized. 

Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster) is an African guide whose charge, Ingram (Hayden Rourke), goes off into forbidden diamond territory while he's sleeping. When Davis finds him, Ingram is near-death, clutching a load of diamonds. Davis leaves the diamonds and tries to get Ingram out of the desert. When police guards, led by Commandant Paul Vogel (Paul Henreid), come upon the pair, Ingram is dead and Davis is tortured, but refuses to tell where the diamonds are located. Two years later Davis is back in the territory, where diamond mogul Martingale (Claude Rains), who pretends to like Vogel but secretly despises him, decides to use a beautiful refuge, Suzanne (Corinne Calvet of Flight to Tangier), to get the location of the diamonds from Davis. A battle of wills ensues between Davis and Vogel as they fight it out for both diamonds and lady, with Martingale manipulating everyone behind the scenes and Toady (Peter Lorre) hoping to score as well. Meanwhile, Davis has decided to go for the gems come hell or highwater ... 

Claude Rains and Corinne Calvet

Rope of Sand is a seriously flawed film, but it is entertaining and well-acted enough to prove a good watch. There seems to be so much missing of the characters' back stories that while you're watching it you think it must be based on a long novel, not all of which made it onto the screen, but this is not the case. This was supposed to be a follow-up to Casablanca with Bogart and Bergman in the Lancaster and Calvet roles, but producer Hal Wallis had to be satisfied with three of the supporting cast of that film. John Bromfield (of The Big Bluff) has a smaller role as one of Henreid's officers. Dieterle's direction is assured, the performances -- especially Rains' -- are uniformly good, there is outstanding cinematography from Charles Lang [Wild is the Wind]  and an exciting score by Franz Waxman, but you may find it hard to tell if there's more -- or less -- here than meets the eye. Lancaster and Henreid have a nifty fist fight at one point. 

Verdict: Certainly it's not boring. ***.  

LADY WITH RED HAIR

LADY WITH RED HAIR (1940). Director: Curtis Bernhardt. 

The "true" if fictionalized story of Caroline (Mrs. Leslie) Carter (Miriam Hopkins), who goes on the stage after she is divorced by her husband. The film suggests that Carter became an actress only to get money to fight for custody of her son, but in real life the boy actually stayed with his mother and was cut out of his father's will because of it. In the film Carter unrealistically tries to storm Broadway by coming in at the top instead of climbing from the bottom, but it is true that her association with David Belasco (a magnificent Claude Rains) gave an inestimable boost to her career. The film doesn't make clear that she was considered the American Sarah Bernhardt in her day. Richard Ainley plays her second husband, and as the film suggests, their marriage did signal the end of her association with Belasco (although in the film he comes in at the end to help guide her in one last production). Miriam Hopkins gives a solid performance, but up against Claude Rains there is little she can do to steal the picture. The supporting cast includes such sterling players as Laura Hope Crews, John Litel, Victor Jory, and Cecil Kellaway. A very young Cornel Wilde has a small role, and you probably won't notice Alexis Smith or Craig Stevens.

 Verdict: A lady you might like to make the acquaintance of -- on film, at least. ***.

WHERE DANGER LIVES

 Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Claude Rains

WHERE DANGER LIVES (1950). Director: John Farrow. Screenplay by Charles Bennett.

"Oh, Jeff, what's going to become of us?"

Jeff Cameron (Robert Mitchum) is a young, compassionate doctor who is called upon one evening to treat a woman who has attempted suicide. Margo Lannington (Faith Domergue of It Came from Beneath the Sea) seems to have everything to live for -- beauty, wealth, a luxurious home -- but the man she calls father (Claude Rains of The Passionate Friends) seems a little too dominating. Although Jeff already has a girlfriend in nurse Julie (Maureen O'Sullivan), he soon falls under the spell of sexy Margo, and wants to run away with her. But he discovers there's a major complication and that Margo hasn't exactly informed him of everything ... Before long they're taking a wild journey to Mexico.

Domergue and Mitchum 

Where Danger Lives, with a script by Hitchcock collaborator Charles Bennett, is unpredictable, so I won't reveal any of the plot twists that will keep the viewer completely absorbed for the film's relatively short length -- but the movie plays. Mitchum and Domergue both offer extremely competent Hollywood-style performances, meaning they are good but often perfunctory, not adding the shadings or nuances that other actors might have. Claude Rains, with only one scene, pretty much takes the acting honors, but that is to be expected. O'Sullivan, who was married to director John Farrow, has a small and thankless role. This is one of many, many movies in which  an essentially decent man (or what is at least meant to be) leaves a good woman flat to run off with a sexier female. Mitchum also appeared in the more famous film noir Out of the Past, but this is the better picture.

Verdict: Zesty film noir with sexy Domergue not having to share billing with a giant octopus. ***. 

CRIME WITHOUT PASSION

Margo

CRIME WITHOUT PASSION (1934). Produced, written and directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.

Reading a note: ""If you're not here by four o'clock the comedy is finished -- Carmen.' You should have signed it 'Pagliacci.'" -- Lee

A brilliant if arrogant lawyer, Lee Gentry (Claude Rains), is involved with a club entertainer named Carmen (Margo) but thinks he would be better off with the less tempestuous and more patrician Katy (Whitney Bourne). Carmen was once involved with a man named Eddie (Stanley Ridges), and Lee tries to make a big deal out of Eddie's coming to see her just so he can make her the "fall guy" and end his relationship with her. But Carmen is no fool, and things don't work out the way anyone intended. Crime Without Passion has some good acting -- Margo [Lost Horizon] and Rains [The Passionate Friends] are both splendid -- dialogue and situations, but it falls apart by ignoring certain realities of the criminal justice system (even back in those days). Just because someone gets shot doesn't always make it first degree murder. Anyway, the film is brief and minor. Hecht also co-authored the screenplay for Legend of the Lost.

Verdict: Good lead performances can't save a turgid movie. **.

THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS

Claude Rains and Ann Todd

THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS (1949). Director: David Lean.

Professor Steven Stratton (Trevor Howard) has always been in love with Mary (Ann Todd), and vice versa, but she's afraid of losing her identity and freedom in a romantic match with him and marries the wealthy Howard Justine (Claude Rains) for practical reasons instead. Years later, Mary and Steven reignite their passion and Mary's marriage almost ends, but she decides to stay with Howard. In what could only be termed an improbable and utterly amazing coincidence, Mary and Steven inadvertently wind up in adjoining rooms in the same resort at the exact same time, leading a disbelieving (of their innocence) Howard to file for divorce, even though Steven has since married another. This leads to some powerful and emotional sequences as husband and wife face the worst crisis in their lives, and an older-but-wiser Mary must make a supreme sacrifice. With direction from David Lean [Doctor Zhivago], and a script by Eric Ambler (from one of H. G. Wells' non-science fiction stories) The Passionate Friends isn't as good as Lean's earlier romantic drama Brief Encounter, but comes close. The performances by Claude Rains and Ann Todd [The Paradine Case] are simply superb, and Trevor Howard, while a cut below the other two, is also excellent. (It is probably because of the strength of the cast that it was decided not to use different actors for the varying ages of each character.) The film also boasts outstanding cinematography by Guy Green, and a fine score by Richard Addinsell, as well as a quite moving conclusion. The film is so good and so well-acted, in fact, that one can forgive the incredible coincidence that leads into the dramatic events that follow.

Verdict: Superior romantic drama with top talents involved. ***1/2.

MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939). Director: Frank Capra.

Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) is tapped to fill a senatorial seat by politicos who think he'll be easy to manipulate; even his new secretary, Clarissa (Jean Arthur) thinks he's a dope -- at least at first. Smith is befriended by a man he admires, Senator Paine (Claude Rains), unaware that this otherwise decent person will painfully betray him for his own ends when Smith winds up on the wrong side of a shady land deal. Edward Arnold [The Houston Story], Guy Kibbee [Babbitt], and Eugene Pallette are a variety of political types maneuvering behind the scenes, and Thomas Mitchell is an intrepid reporter, Diz. This is a fast-paced, entertaining picture that in its dissection of political corruption, crap, and crumb bums is as timely today  as it was way back in '39, and it gives Stewart one of his best roles. Initially unsympathetic, Arthur also scores, and there's a great supporting cast, topped by a superb Claude Rains who nearly walks off with the movie [as was so often the case] -- his final scenes are mesmerizing. One could argue that when it comes to the famous filibuster climax, Smith was awfully lucky that the wise old president of the Senate (Harry Carey) was in his corner. Among the film's many memorable moments are a dinner table scene with the governor (Kibbee), a whole bunch of kids, and even Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms)! Other cast members include everyone from Grant Mitchell and Pierre Watkin to Ann Doran and William Frawley!

Verdict: A great picture from Frank Capra and his talented company. ***1/2. 

NOTORIOUS

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman

NOTORIOUS (1946). Director: Alfred Hitchcock.

Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is the daughter of a German-born traitor who is imprisoned after a trial. The government, in the person of Devlin (Cary Grant), persuades Alicia to spy for them on an old admirer, Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), who is one member of a Nazi enclave in Rio, where he lives in a big house with his termagant mother (Leopoldine Konstantin). Although Devlin is falling in love with Alicia and vice versa, he can't forget her past as a good-time party girl and, not wanting to get hurt, keeps throwing it at her. [One has to suspend disbelief over the whole business of a government agent having a relationship with a woman  for which he is an official liaison!] Each victims of their own pride, neither Alicia nor Devlin protest when it is suggested that she actually marry Sebastian so she can enter the household itself and accrue more information as to their plans. But if Sebastian or his mother should find out the truth ...? Bergman, Grant, and Rains -- not to mention Konstantin and the supporting cast -- all give excellent performances in this smooth Hitchcock thriller with a tense, rewarding climax. Hitchcock subtly maintains a sinister aura greatly aided by Rains and Konstantin and their unpleasant associates. Fay Baker, playing a partying friend of Alicia's, was Bette Davis' greedy sister in The Star and was a Mother-from-Hell in Sorority Girl.

Verdict: Definitely a strange romance with a fascinating heroine. ***1/2.

BATTLE OF THE WORLDS

A manic Claude Rains

BATTLE OF THE WORLDS (aka Il pianeta degli uomini spenti/1961). Director: Anthony Dawson (Antonio Margheriti.

"It's a terrible, drawn-out agony for the whole world!"

How the great actor Claude Rains wound up in this Italian cheese ball is anybody's guess, but here he is -- and despite some justifiably hammy moments he's better than the film deserves. One could argue that Rains is giving Professor Challenger from The Lost World one more run, as his Professor Benson in Battle is a similarly rude, gruff scientist who is convinced he's always right. This time there are no dinosaurs [unfortunately] but a large astral body that is heading for the earth -- until it stops at 74,000 or so miles and begins circling the globe. For some reason it takes everyone more time than it should to realize that this satellite must have a governing intelligence behind its movements. In the meantime, there are some awkward romances going on, such as between Dr. Fred Steele (Umberto Orsini) and Eve Barnett (Maya Brent), although Mrs. Collins (Jacqueline Derval), who seems to have no other purpose than to serve coffee, keeps putting her hands all over the hunky doctor. But there are bigger problems when the "outsider," as the professor calls it, begins to send out flying saucers to attack earth spaceships. Battle of the Worlds isn't completely terrible -- Rains is always enjoyable no matter what he's in - but its budget precludes the film's developing some of its scenes and concepts with more impact. The spaceships seem to have been made for ten cents, but there are some effective enough sets for the climax, located on the alien world from which the saucers come. Ultimately it's like one of the lesser Star Trek episodes. With the exception of Rains and the busy Orsini, most of the actors had few other credits.

Verdict: Not quite a "terrible, drawn-out agony," but close. *1/2.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Claude Rains

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1943), Director: Arthur Lubin.

Handsome Technicolor version of the silent classic stars the great Claude Rains as Erique Claudin, who loves the pretty singer Christine (Susanna Foster), paying for her lessons in secret, but has a tragic and fateful misunderstanding with a music publisher that results in the latter's death and Claudin getting a face full of corrosive acid. Thereafter he haunts the Paris Opera in a cloak and mask committing murders to advance the career of Christine. Nelson Eddy, in fine voice, plays lead baritone and love interest, Anatole. Edgar Barrier has what is probably his best and biggest part in movies as Inspector Doubert, who not only investigates the murders but is Anatole's rival for Christine. Fritz Feld, Fritz Lieber, and Steven Geray all have supporting roles and all are good. The horror aspects of the story are fairly muted with the exception of a well-executed scene with the chandelier crashing into the audience; Lubin was hardly the best choice for director. Still the film is good to look at, Rains is as excellent as ever [Barrier and the others are also more than acceptable], and there's some wonderful music and singing. The French opera [actually a German opera sung in French] is the third act of Flowtow's Martha. The Russian opera was cobbled together from Tchiakovsky's 4th symphony even though there were plenty of Russian operas, including Tchiakovsky's, to choose from.Very attractive settings.

Verdict: Not all it could have been but quite entertaining. ***.

CLAUDE RAINS AN ACTOR'S VOICE

CLAUDE RAINS: AN ACTORS VOICE. David J. Skal with Jessica Rains. University Press of Kentucky; 2008.

The consummate and busy actor Claude Rains appeared in everything from The Invisible Man and The Wolfman to Deception and Now, Voyager, [among others] with Bette Davis, to famous classics such as Casablanca and Hitchcock's Notorious to lesser items like The Unsuspected and The Lost World. In this excellent, long-overdue biography, Skal traces Rains' life from his early days in London and his work as a stage manager and actor, to his long and distinguished career in Hollywood, as well as dissecting his private life and disappointing marriages. The book is bolstered by interviews he gave for a planned biography that never materialized due to his death and the death of the biographer. Rains' daughter, Jessica, also contributed much information. Skal looks at virtually all of Rains' films and theater and television work with behind-the-scenes details and insights into Rains' working methods.

Not to nitpick -- this is an excellent book -- but a few passages struck me as odd, especially the following. Writing on Notorious, Skal says: "Hitchcock's first choice for the role was Clifton Webb, whose arch screen persona would likely have underscored the subtextual implications of homosexuality in the mother-dominated [bold mine] character. But the story called for Sebastian to be genuinely, achingly in love with the Bergman character, and Webb would arguably have been not quite believable in the part." First, I'm glad Skal put "arguably" in that last sentence, because Clifton Webb was a superb actor, and regardless of his private life, could play -- and did play -- many roles of heterosexual men in love with women, and he played them well and completely believably. Second, the theory that gay men are gay because their mothers dominated them is a completely -- in fact, hilariously -- out-dated theory --- Is Skal still living in the 19th century?  Well, elsewhere he uses the more clinical "homosexual" instead of "gay" [which is sort of like saying Negro instead of Black] so I guess that answers that question. Of course, we won't even get into the fact that Rains could be seen as being every bit as effeminate as Webb, especially compared to burly American men of whatever sexual orientation. Or that there are lots of gay actors who are perfectly convincing in straight roles, and that most gay men aren't "big queens" anyway. But I digress. To be fair to Skal, the mother-dominated theory was popular at the time the film was made.

Overall, however, Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice is a memorable, well-researched, well-written biography that will interest most lovers of classic film and fine acting.

Verdict: Don't rain on this Rains. ***1/2.

THE MAN WHO RECLAIMED HIS HEAD

Joan Bennett and Claude Rains

THE MAN WHO RECLAIMED HIS HEAD (1934). Director: Edward Ludwig.

"She mustn't be shy. I don't want her to be. I was shy. It's been my curse."

Paul Verin (Claude Rains) is wary of going into partnership with publisher Henry Dumont (Lionel Atwill) because he was burned by him once before, but he has a wife (Joan Bennett) and daughter who will need a higher standard of living. So Verin agrees to ghost-write Dumont's editorials, making the latter beloved and famous. Unfortunately, while Verin is a war-hater, Dumont is secretly working with munition manufacturers [and trying to woo Verin's wife] and stirring up war fervor in order to make a profit. To this end he begins replacing Verin's words with his own ... Things ultimately all come to a "head." Despite the gruesome finale this is not a horror film but an interesting drama. Atwill and Bennett are wonderful and Rains is superb. We can tell Dumont is a miserable character because he has the appalling taste of coming on to Bennett during the beautiful Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde! Badly remade as Strange Confession with Lon Chaney Jr. in 1945.

Verdict:  Another great Rains performance. ***.

THE WHITE TOWER

THE WHITE TOWER (1950). Director: Ted Tettzlaff.

In Switzerland a beautiful young woman named Carla (Alida Valli, billed just as Valli) wants to climb the mountain upon which her father died while struggling to reach the top. Others interested in accompanying her include old friend Nicholas (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), the guide Andreas (Oscar Homolka), a writer named Paul (Claude Rains), and a "superior" Nazi-type named Hein (Lloyd Bridges). All of these people are driven for one reason or another, but the main character is Martin Ordway (Glenn Ford), who only goes along because he's fallen for Carla [not an unrealistic motivation, of course, but weak as compared to the others]. Mountain climbing movies can certainly be suspenseful and exciting, and The White Tower does have a couple of white knuckle moments, but the picture seems more interested in "saying things" in a heavy-handed manner than in providing consistent dramatic tension. Also, the mountain is called "the most unclimbable in Europe" yet Ford -- with not one bit of experience -- decides to climb it anyway. Frankly, when the obnoxious but highly-fit Hein shows contempt for him it is hard not to agree. Ford and the others give good performances, however, and Rains is, as usual, excellent. Striking scenery and a good score from Roy Webb are added pluses.

Verdict: Only in Hollywood can you climb an icy mountain without even wearing gloves. **1/2.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: SEASON FOUR

ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS Season 4. 

A whole bunch of ironic, amusing, and suspenseful stories served up by the ever-droll Hitch. "Poison" features Wendell Corey in a tale of a snake in a bed. "Man with a Problem" finds Gary Merrill out on a ledge threatening suicide. "Tea Time" teams Margaret Leighton and Marsha Hunt in a tale of wife vs. mistress. "Mrs. Herman and Mrs. Fenimore" is a delightful tale of a miserly uncle and the two women in his life, Dora Merande and Mary Astor, both of whom are wonderful. Then there's the creepy "Waxwork," and Franchot Tone and Mary Astor again in "The Impossible Dream" about an aging actor. Bette Davis stars in "Out There, Darkness," about a woman who pays the price for her jealous actions, and there's nice work from Fay Wray in "The Morning After." Other notable episodes include "Murder Me Twice" with Phyllis Thaxter in a tale of reincarnation; "The Desert Shall Blossom," with two cowboys and a gangster; "Kind Waitress," with Olive Deering; "The Diamond Necklace" with the great Claude Rains; Dennis Day in "Cheap is Cheap;" and Robert Morse and Paul Douglas in "Touche." 

Verdict: More fun with Hitchcock. ***.

THE LOST WORLD (1960)

THE LOST WORLD (1960). Director: Irwin Allen.

"Eaten alive! Horrible! Horrible!"

Colorful and loose adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel has a motley group trapped on a South American plateau with a variety of prehistoric monsters and cannibalistic natives. Fitted with bibs, horns and the like, the "dinosaurs" are actually rather majestic lizards, and the sets during the climax are redressed from Journey to the Center to the Earth [especially the Atlantis scenes). The peppery exchanges between Professor Challenger (Claude Rains) and Summerlee (Richard Haydn) are amusing, and Jill St. John as the only woman in the group is as saucy as ever. The climactic scenes as the party is chased by natives through the foggy Caves of Fire -- and encounter the monstrous Fire God -- are suspenseful and exciting. David Hedison, Michael Rennie, and Fernando Lamas don't do that much more than walk through the picture, but Jay Novello is as splendid as ever as the weasel-like Costas who winds up a blue plate special. Uneven effects. You have to see the pink poodle Frosty come up against a leaf-munching dinosaur to believe it. NOTE: For more on this film and others like it see Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. FURTHER NOTE: It is best to see this in wide-screen and high definition.

Verdict: Silly but entertaining creature feature. ***.

DECEPTION (1946)

DECEPTION (1946). Director: Irving Rapper.

"It's so painful to be so happy."

The reinvented pianist Christine Radcliffe (Bette Davis) has been the protege -- and more -- of wealthy and neurotic composer Alexander Hollenius (Claude Rains), when back into her life comes a man she thought was dead and whom she truly loves, cellist Karel Novak (Paul Henreid). Naturally this doesn't sit well with Hollenius, especially when Christine and Karel get married. Will Holenius spill the beans about the truth of his relationship with Christine? Will Hollenius really let Karel be the lead cellist for his new concerto, or is he playing a sadistic game of cat and mouse with the hopeful man? [Two questions that are never asked: Was Karel himself completely chaste during the four years he was parted from his "Schatzi?" and would he object that much, despite his jealous nature, to Christine's carryings-on when she thought he was dead?] Although Davis' character in this acts maddeningly idiotic, and the foolishly melodramatic developments, while compelling (and leading to a great last line), are unnecessary in what starts out as a strong drama, Deception works due to the great dialogue in John Collier and Joseph Than's screenplay (as well as three-dimensional characters), and to a brilliant performance -- possibly his best -- by Claude Rains. Henreid and Davis are also good, although a notch below Rains, and Davis is terribly affected and mannered throughout [but quite entertaining in spite of it]. One of the best scenes has the three main characters at a restaurant when Hollenius increases Karel's nervousness -- he is to audition for him after dinner -- by taking forever to decide exactly what they should all have for supper. The concerto composed by Hollenius was actually composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who also did the rest of the film's score), and it is beautiful. John Abbott does a superlative job as a rival cellist, Bertram Gribble, that Christine tries to bribe. Although some might dismiss this as a mere soap opera, it has a certain quality that lifts it above the ordinary soaper. At the wedding party, while Christine plays piano, Hollenius shatters a glass in his hand. Christine stops playing and, concerned, rushes to his side, whereupon the great man remarks upon how women get hysterical over a scratch but act all smiling and nurse-like at the sight of a mortal wound. It would have been interesting to see how Deception might have worked with a different actress in the lead. Although director Irving Rapper was able to reign Davis in a bit for Now, Voyager, he was unable to do so with this picture.

Verdict: There's more here than meets the eye. ***1/2.

CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA

CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (1945). Director: Gabriel Pascal.

Caesar (Claude Rains) and Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) meet cute in Egypt in what seems like a black comedy based on the play by George Bernard Shaw, who also did the screenplay and therefore has to take most of the blame. Pseudo-Shakespearean, this minimally holds the attention but never quite becomes totally convincing. Rains is miscast as Caesar -- there's nothing wrong with showing a more vulnerable Caesar but it's hard to see this foppish fellow leading conquering Armies. The carpet scene where Caesar discovers Cleo in a rug was done better in the Elizabeth Taylor version. Leigh is excellent, and so are Flora Robson as her lady-in-waiting, Ernest Thesiger of Bride of Frankenstein fame as Theodotus, and the boy who plays Cleo's younger brother. Georges Auric's musical score has its moments, and the production values are generally excellent. But this is a poor excuse for drama. It has absolutely no climax!

Verdict: Lots of effort to little effect. **.

THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933)

THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933). Director: James Whale.

The small British town of Iping is visited by one John Griffin (Claude Rains), whose scientific experiments have caused him to become invisible. Even as he desperately tries to find a way back to normalcy, one of the ingredients he used is slowly turning him into an insane megalomaniac. Soon he's not only frightening and terrorizing people, he's committing murders and derailing trains. The Invisible Man is well-made, fast-paced, and has excellent effects by John P. Fulton, but one senses that director James Whale didn't take the material all that seriously. While it's not quite an almost-parody like Bride of Frankenstein, which Whale did two years later, it does have a surplus of comedy (the novel had its humorous passages, of course) and not as much dark atmosphere as it needs. If we're meant to be chilled by Griffin's actions or the very notion of invisibility, Whale fails to work up any sense of dread or horror. Still, the picture is entertaining. Una O'Connor is as loud and hysterical as she was in the later Bride, but Gloria Stuart makes little impression as Griffin's nominal love interest. Claude Rains is excellent, definitely making an impression with his voice, as we never actually see him until the movie's closing scene! Followed by The Invisible Man Returns.

Verdict: Not all that it could have been, but not bad. **1/2.

THE WOLF MAN

THE WOLF MAN (1941). Director: George Waggner.

After the accidental death of his brother, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) comes home to the ancestral manor in Europe and falls for Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), the pretty daughter of an antique dealer. Unfortunately, at a carnival with Gwen, Talbot is also bitten by a werewolf, Bela (Bela Lugosi), whom he kills. Bela's mother, the gypsy woman Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), knows that Talbot is now under the same curse as her late son and tries to help him. The Wolf Man is not a great picture -- Curt Siodmak's screenplay doesn't hold up to much scrutiny -- but it is fast-moving and entertaining and has an extremely interesting cast. Claude Rains really classes up the movie as Talbot's father, Sir John (who figures in the moving conclusion). Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, and Patric Knowles play, respectively, the family doctor, a policeman, and Gwen's fiance. The wolf man makeup by Jack Pierce is very good, but no explanation is given for why Bela turned into an actual wolf and Talbot into a wolf man. While the "August moon" figures in a poem on lycanthropy recited (seemingly within five minutes) by three different people -- which is unintentionally comical -- the full moon aspect of the legend really doesn't play a part in the story. Unfortunately Maleva also recites the same elegy -- "the way you walked was thorny" -- three times as well. Still, this is well-acted, atmospheric, and quite watchable. Lon Chaney (he had dropped the "jr." by this time) only gives an acceptable performance, however. NOTE: For a sneak peek at the new Wolf Man, click here.

Verdict: Not a bad classic horror flick; the cast certainly helps! ***.

STOLEN HOLIDAY

STOLEN HOLIDAY (1937). Director: Michael Curtiz.

Kay Francis is a dress model who is hired by a man who wants her to model clothing for his wife, who is ill at home. Only it turns out the man (Claude Rains) has no wife and really wants Kay to help him put on a domestic front for some investors. Apparently it works, because in short order (in running time, that is) Rains is a successful businessman and Kay has opened her own fashion house with money given her by a grateful Rains. Unfortunately, it also turns out that Rains is a crook, although he feigns innocence with Francis, asking her to marry him (for added respectability) as the authorities close in, when she really loves Ian Hunter. This light drama hinges on the enduring friendship between Rains and Francis, who feels she owes him everything, but we don't see enough of those early years when this friendship is forged and see nothing at all of the crucial meeting with the investors for which Rains utilized Kay in the first place. The film isn't terrible, just distinctly minor. Francis is okay, giving the part no more than it deserves (although there are actresses who might have done more with it), Rains is excellent, and Alison Skipworth adds some sparkle as a friend and associate of Kay's who sees through Rains from the first.

Verdict: Easy to take but forgettable. **.