STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

Helene Thimig

STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (1944). Director: Anthony Mann.

Sgt. Johnny Meadows (William Terry) has exchanged letters with a young lady named Rosemary, and is on his way to Marteflores to finally meet her in the flesh. But he encounters another young woman, a doctor named Leslie (Virginia Grey), on a train and the two are immediately attracted to one another. Leslie turns out to be the new doctor in Marteflores, and pays a call on Rosemary's family, as does Johnny. There to greet them are Rosemary's mother. Hilda (Helene Thimig), and Hilda's companion, Ivy (Edith Barrett of I Walked with a Zombie). But where the hell is Rosemary? Most viewers will figure out what's going on, but there's still a twist or two. The leads are fine, but the picture is stolen by a wonderful Barrett, and Thimig is outstanding in her portrait of a seriously disturbed and lonely woman -- she is beautifully dramatic without chewing the scenery. Anne O'Neal is also notable as Leslie's nurse. This is a compelling little "B" movie, less than an hour long, that is bolstered by the acting. The appealing Terry also starred in Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Anthony Mann turned out lower-budgeted movies like this for Republic before going on to bigger and better items like The Furies and many others.

Verdict: Loneliness kills. ***.

RUTHLESS

RUTHLESS (1948). Director: Edgar G. Ulmer.

"You're the only friend I have." -- Horace

"And I hate your insides." -- Vic

Horace Woodruff Vendig (Zachary Scott) makes an announcement of the formation of a sort of charitable trust and tries to convince a gathering of victims that he's changed his self-centered tune, but his "best friend" Vic (Louis Hayward) isn't convinced, as flashbacks show their history since boyhood. Raised by a fairly wealthy small-town family after saving the daughter from drowning, Horace is determined to gain riches and power at any cost, going so far as to drop even those who helped him when he no longer requires their assistance. Victims include said daughter (Diana Lynn), who is desperately in love with him and is even affianced to him for a time; second fiancee Susan (Martha Vickers); wife Christa (Lucille Bremer); her ex-husband Buck (Sydney Greenstreet); and worst of all Bruce McDonald (Charles Evans), who helped Horace get his start in a profitable stock business but is turned down when he goes to him for help. Other cast members include Edith Barrett as Lynn's mother, Raymond Burr as Horace's father, and Bob Anderson in a fine turn as Horace as a boy [Arthur Stone as the young Vic is also notable]. Ruthless could have used twenty or so minutes more of character development, but it's a very interesting picture, the entire cast is excellent, and Werner Janssen has contributed an evocative score.

Verdict: One of director Ulmer's best movies. ***.

THE LADY GAMBLES

THE LADY GAMBLES (1949). Director: Michael Gordon.

While her husband David (Robert Preston) works on a dam in Nevada, Joan Boothe (Barbara Stanwyck) wiles away her time in a gambling casino. There she meets Corrigan (Stephen McNally), the pit boss who is attracted to her, and uses her in certain schemes and high-stakes card games. But Joan's bigger problem is a growing addiction to gambling, which eventually jeopardizes her marriage and even her life. While today we would simply refer to Joan as a "gamblaholic" and be done with it, The Lady Gambles comes up with some dime store psychology involving Joan's neurotic sister Ruth (Edith Barrett) to explain her addiction. In spite of that, the movie is absorbing, in no large part due to Stanwyck's typically riveting performance. McNally is also excellent as Corrigan, adding some interesting dimension to an underwritten role. Barrett certainly delivers as the tormented, jealous sister. Preston is fine in the least interesting role of the husband. Dyspeptic John Hoyt (Attack of the Puppet People) is his usual acerbic self as a doctor. Tony Curtis has a bit part as a bellboy, and William Hudson also has a bit. At one point in the film Corrigan tells the two sisters that his first name is Horace, which is how McNally was originally known when he appeared in such films as Laurel and Hardy's Air Raid Wardens.

Verdict: Stanwyck is one hell of an actress and this is a very interesting story. ***1/2.

LADIES IN RETIREMENT

LADIES IN RETIREMENT (1941). Director: Charles Vidor. 

Ellen Creed (Ida Lupino) is secretary-companion to wealthy Leonora Fiske (Isobel Elsom) on a large, isolated estate. Learning that her two somewhat "eccentric" sisters are about to be tossed out onto the street and possibly into an institution, Ellen importunes her employer to let the women come and stay with them for awhile. But even the kindly Mrs. Fiske can only take so much, and after a time the dithering, rather batty women drive her to distraction. When Ellen protests her treatment of them, she is fired -- so now all three sisters have nowhere to go. What to do? What to do? Ellen eventually comes up with a solution... Lupino is good in the movie, as are Elsa Lanchester and Edith Barrett as the sisters. Louis Hayward, who at the time was married to Lupino, is fine as Ellen's roguish nephew, and Evelyn Keyes sparkles as maid Lucy. Isobel Elsom practically steals the picture, however, as the charming if practical Mrs. Fiske. The macabre movie is pictorially interesting and absorbing, but when all is said and done the characters are almost all unsympathetic and after awhile you don't really care what happens to them. There isn't nearly enough suspense or tension, and Vidor never really brings it to a full bloody boil. 

Verdict: Portrait of a lady not so retiring. **1/2.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943). Director: Jacques Tourneur.

One of the better-known horror films produced by Val Lewton, this is typically tasteful, moody and interesting, if it never quite jells. Although Lewton is said to have appropriated the plot of Jane Eyre for the movie -- and there are plot similarities -- this is really nothing like Jane Eyre (the first film version with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles, with a score by Bernard Herrmann, is far superior to this, for one thing). Frances Dee comes to Haiti to care for Jessica Holland, who acts as if she's been lobotomized but supposedly suffers from the disastrous effects of a fever. Dee learns that there is bad blood between her husband Paul (Tom Conway) and his half brother Wesley (James Ellison) because Jessica and Wesley had been planning on running away together. Conway is supposed to be such a fine man -- and Jessica a viper -- but we never really get to learn her side of things, and Paul -- although Conway's performance is good -- never seems like that nice a fellow. Dee is fine, but James Ellison is a little too lightweight to convincingly get across Wesley's torment over the sad fate of the woman he illicitly loved. Edith Barrett (one of the wives of Vincent Price) nearly steals the picture as Wesley and Paul's mother. There is some very interesting dialogue in Curt Siodmak's screenplay, such as when Conway tells Dee that most of the inhabitants of St. Sebastian were brought over in slave ships and had miserable lives. Which is why they "weep when a child is born and make merry at a funeral." The atmospheric photography is by J. Roy Hunt. Of the African-American cast members, Theresa Harris as the maid, Alma, and calypso singer Sir Lancelot, make the best impression, while Darby Jones certainly has a memorably eerie look as the purported "zombie" Carrefour. There is much to admire in I Walked with a Zombie, but if you're not tuned into its charms, you're liable to think it's much ado about nothing.

Verdict: Okay, but give Jane Eyre a try, too. **1/2.