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.

SMART WOMAN (1948)

Constance Bennett

SMART WOMAN (1948). Director: Edward A. Blatt.

Prosecutor Robert Larrimore (Brian Aherne) is brought to town to clean up after the corrupt district attorney Bradley Wayne (Otto Kruger). In Wayne's employ is Frank McCoy (Barry Sullivan), who pressures attorney Paula Rogers (Constance Bennett of What Price Hollywood?) into helping them by suggesting harm could come to her young son, Rusty (Richard Lyon). Larrimore and Bennett face each other in court, but in spite of this a romance develops. But just when things are getting good for the couple, they find themselves on opposite sides again when McCoy is accused of murder.

Mad as a wet hen: Otto Kruger and Brian Aherne

Larrimore is convinced that McCoy is guilty, but while Paula knows McCoy is a crumb she doesn't believe he is a murderer. During the trial, a secret comes out about the relationship between Paula and McCoy, further threatening her future with Larrimore. Smart Woman is billed as a "Constance Bennett Production," but she should have been smarter and chosen a better script. Despite romance, murders and other assorted skulduggery, as well as dramatic courtroom revelations, the main feeling you get from Smart Woman is how overlong, hopelessly contrived, and essentially dull it is. Aherne seems miscast, Bennett is good if a little too breathless at times, but Otto Kruger is as good as ever, Sullivan [Pyro] makes a decided impression, and there's nice work from Isobel Elsom as Paul's dithery mother, Richard Lyon as Paula's appealing son, and Selena Royle [The Big Hangover] as Mrs. Wayne. James Gleason and Michael O'Shea have smaller roles. Bennett has some good moments in court and talking to her son about his father.

Verdict: There's a reason why some movies are forgotten today. **. 

WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?

Neil Hamilton, Constance Bennett and Lowell Sherman

WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD? (1932). Director: George Cukor. Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. John.

"By midnight you'll have forgiven me."

"By midnight I'll have forgotten you."

Before there was A Star is Born -- all three versions -- there was What Price Hollywood?, which had a similar plot line and was greatly influential on the later films. Mary Evans (Constance Bennett), who works as a waitress at the famous Brown Derby, is a Hollywood hopeful who meets famous, heavy-drinking director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman) at the restaurant. Carey takes Mary under his wing, and after a false start or two, gets her started in motion pictures. But as her star rises, alcoholic, unreliable Carey's is on the wane. In the meantime Mary marries wealthy Lonny Borden (Neil Hamilton), which leads to rather stupid developments.  Sherman and Bennett are okay -- Hamilton is Hamilton -- but their characters are one-dimensional and not very likable, and Bennett was always a cold fish as an actress, talented but not sympathetic [and portraying innocence is not in her metier]. Gregory Ratoff is cast as Julius Saxe, essentially the same kind of producer part he would essay years later in All About Eve. The picture does have some sharp and on occasion daring dialogue. When Borden sarcastically suggests that Carey would be more comfortable in his bed instead of the guest room, it's as easy to imagine Borden is suggesting Carey wants to sleep with him as it is that he wants to sleep with Mary. Interestingly, there is no hint of a romance between the two main characters -- A Star is Born would fix that problem -- and if Carey has any particular feelings for Mary, Sherman never quite gets it across. George Cukor later directed the second version of A Star is Born with Judy Garland and James Mason.

Verdict: Gets credit for its influence, but much better movies about Hollywood were to come. **.

OUR BETTERS

OUR BETTERS (1933). Director: George Cukor.

"Think of the people who have married for love. After five years do they care for each other any more than those who married for money?"

An American gal named Pearl (Constance Bennett) marries an impoverished British Lord and becomes Lady Grayston, only to learn on her wedding day that all her husband is interested in is her money and that he already has a lover on the side. Thereafter cynical, sophisticated Pearl becomes the giver of some of England's most notorious parties. Her friends include gossipy Thornton (Grant Mitchell, the father in The Man Who Came to Dinner); Duchess Minnie (Violet Kemble Cooper) and the gigolo, Pepi (Gilbert Roland), that she's keeping; and Arthur (Minor Watson), a pleasant middle-aged man who's in love with her. Then there's the dance instructor, Ernest (Tyrell Davis), who shows up at the end and is as ludicrous a gay stereotype as anything in The Producers. Taken from a play by Somerset Maugham, the movie is full of good dialogue and has some funny scenes, especially a rib-tickler involving Pepi. Bennett is arch and hard and very good, Roland is amusing, and Cooper nearly steals the picture as the somewhat unrealistic, addle-pated, but hopelessly romantic Minnie. As Pearl's more upright younger sister, Bessie, Anita Louise gives one of the worst and most affected performances ever seen in a movie.

Verdict: An amusing, occasionally trenchant, trifle. **1/2.

THE LAW OF THE TROPICS

THE LAW OF THE TROPICS (1941). Director: Ray Enright.

Jim Conwoy (Jeffrey Lynn, pictured) works for a rubber company in the Amazon and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the woman he's to marry. When she changes her mind and never arrives, he winds up married to woman-on-the-run Joan Madison (Constance Bennett), an entertainer in a nightclub, who accompanies him back to his stomping grounds and pretends to be the original fiancee. But a lawman is poking around asking questions... Lynn and Bennett make a good team and give good performances in a very entertaining light romance and drama which has some mild suspense to it as well. Regis Toomey is a married co-worker's of Lynn's, and Craig Stevens plays the boss' obnoxious son. Paul Harvey is the equally obnoxious father, who finds he's no match for Bennett.

Verdict: Minor but snappy. ***.

TOPPER TAKES A TRIP

TOPPER TAKES A TRIP (1939) Director: Norman Z. McLeod.

The first sequel to Topper is a charming and amusing film in which Roland Young as the harried banker Topper discovers that lady ghost Constance Bennett is not quite through with him, taking him to the French Riviera to win back the delightfully befuddled Mrs. Topper (Billie Burke, pictured), who has decided to divorce her Cosmo. It seems that Mrs. Topper's “friend,” Mrs. Parkhurst (Verree Teasdale), is part of a group who match young gigolos with wealthy widows and divorcees, and there's a certain baron (Alexander D'arcy) who has his eye on Cosmo Topper's millions by way of his wife. [The baron asks Mrs. Parkhurst if Clara Topper is pretty. “Well, she has scads of money,” Parkhurst replies. “She's pretty,” says the baron.] Franklin Pangborn is his usual riot as the hotel manager who is an associate of the baron's and Teasdale's, and Alan Mowbray is as excellent as ever as the wise, long-suffering Topper butler. Burke, Young, and Bennett are all in top form as well. While the movie isn't full of belly-laughs as such, it is consistently entertaining and funny. The third and final movie in the series, Topper Returns, is also worthwhile and well-acted.

Verdict: Great fun! ***.