THE GIRL FROM 10TH AVENUE

Bette Davis and Ian Hunter

THE GIRL FROM 10TH AVENUE (1935). Director: Alfred E. Green.

Geoff Sherwood (Ian Hunter) has been tossed over by his fiancee Valentine (Katharine Alexander) for a wealthier man, John (Colin Clive of Bride of Frankenstein). On her wedding day Geoff gets good and drunk and encounters the sympathetic Miriam (Bette Davis), who eventually imbibes with him and winds up getting married to him that very night. Miriam agrees that he can end the marriage whenever he wants to, but she sticks to him as the weeks go by. Then Valentine, dissatisfied with her marriage to John, comes a'calling ... The young Bette Davis appeared in many forgettable movies but The Girl from 10th Avenue is actually not a bad picture. Davis is terrific and luminescent as Miriam, and she not only has credible support from Hunter [Call It a Day] and an excellent Colin Clive, but a very good playmate in Alison Skipworth [The Devil is a Woman] as her landlady, Mrs. Martin. The best and funniest scene in the movie has Miriam telling off the rather horse-faced Valentine in the dining room of the Waldorf-Astoria. John Eldredge and Phillip Reed also have small roles as Geoff's friends, and Mary Treen shows up briefly as well.

Verdict: Not bad early Bette. ***.

HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT

Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur

HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT (1937). Director: Frank Borzage.

Ship builder Bruce Vail (Colin Clive) is pathologically jealous of his innocent wife Irene (Jean Arthur) until finally she's had enough and wants out. Vail will do anything to prevent the divorce, to that end paying Irene's chauffeur in Paris to pose as her lover. Interceding in this phony scenario is head waiter Paul Dumond (Charles Boyer), whose good intentions pave the way for all sorts of problems when Vail decides that he must be Irene's lover and frames him for murder. Believe it or not, it all builds up to a [post] Titanic-type shipwreck. Because of its rather ridiculous plot -- Dumond quits his job to follow Irene to America after knowing her one day, and even drags along the chef Cesare (Leo Carrillo)-- History almost becomes a shipwreck were it not for its romantic intensity and, most importantly, the wonderful performances of the leads. You wouldn't think that Arthur and Boyer would make a good pair, but they play marvelously together and are completely convincing no matter what the story line throws at them -- and it throws a lot. The bit with the ship hitting an iceberg is well-handled on the technical side and the wind-up is moving as well. It's also fun to watch the sharp Boyer taking over an American restaurant and getting everyone to snap to it in record time. Carrillo and especially Clive also offer sterling performances.

Verdict: Quite absurd but also quite entertaining due to the two stars. [It also helps to be an incurable romantic.] ***.

JANE EYRE (1934)

JANE EYRE (1934). Director: Christy Cabanne.

This 1934 version of the famous story, while certainly not awful, can't compare to the later version with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. In this version Virginia Bruce is Jane and Colin Clive of Frankenstein fame is Rochester -- both of them are more than adequate although Clive doesn't summon up the haunted quality of Orson Welles in the remake. Beryl Mercer is fine as Mrs. Fairfax, but while young Edith Fellows is cute as little Adele, she's not an especially talented child performer (she was acting up until 1995, however!) and Adele comes off a bit as a cloying klutz. Aileen Pringle isn't given much to do as Blanche Ingram, who nearly marries Rochester. Claire Du Brey appears briefly as the mad Mrs. Rochester, and an unrecognizable Ethel Griffies has the small role of Grace Poole. Some lovely music plays over the opening credits, but otherwise this film has no score and needs one. Bernard Herrmann's score for the remake is another reason why it is vastly superior.

Verdict: A little on the dull side. **.

FRANKENSTEIN

FRANKENSTEIN (1931). Director: James Whale.

Made the same year as Dracula, this is a much more successful and entertaining film, although, like Dracula, it takes great liberties with its source material. The performances are all good, with Colin Clive properly manic and intense as the obsessed Henry Frankenstein, and Mae Clarke appealing as his troubled fiancee. Although his performance mostly consists of pantomime, Boris Karloff is superb as the monster. Dwight Frye is perhaps more effective as the helpful if psychotic hunchback Fritz than he was as Renfield in Dracula. John Boles, Edward Van Sloan, and Frederick Kerr are all good as, respectively, family friend Victor Moritz, Dr. Waldman, and Baron Frankenstein, who serves as a bit of comedy relief (mercifully there isn't too much of it in the film).The scenic design is excellent and atmospheric, and the movie is very fast-paced. Bernhard Kaun's music for the opening and closing credits is good; one wishes there had been music all through the film, which cries out for it. An interesting aspect of the picture is that Henry Frankenstein goes completely unpunished for his grave-robbing and assorted malfeasances as well as the deaths caused by his rampaging monster! Followed by Bride of Frankenstein.

Verdict: Classic Universal horror. ***.

MAD LOVE

MAD LOVE (1935). Director: Karl Freund.

One of the most fascinating horror films ever made, this features a superb performance by Peter Lorre as brilliant surgeon Dr. Gogol, who is tormented by his unrequited obsession with a beautiful actress,Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake). Gogol buys a life-like statue of Yvonne from a wax musem and sets it up in his living room. When her husband, a great concert pianist named Stephen Orlac, has his hands hopelessly mangled in a train wreck, Gogol operates but tells no one that he has replaced Orlac's hands with the hands of a murderer, a knife thrower, who was recently guillotined. The hands take on a life of their own, as Gogol plots to remove Orlac from the scene so that Yvonne will belong to him alone. Lorre's portrait of what seems like a decent man (in contrast to Orloc's hateful step-father, who comes off as a real monster) driven to insane, evil acts by a torturous and maddening infatuation, holds the film together despite the bizarre moments and disruptive comedy relief of a nervous reporter. Fine script (various writers), vivid direction, very atmospheric photography (Gregg Toland, Chester Lyons), impressive art direction (Cedric Gibbons), a fast pace and not a dull moment.

Verdict: Great. They don't make 'em like this anymore. ***1/2.